The city of Larned has been facing an issue that will have long-term effects on the town. The Energy Transmission Corridor project has presumably been on the government’s radar for some time. So, what exactly is this project, and how will it impact the residents of Larned?
According to KSN News, the Corridor, if built, will take up five miles of land in and around Pawnee County. The project has been officially named the Midwest-plains Corridor. “It’s one of 10 possible corridors across the nation, and the DOE plans to reduce the number of corridors before the next official comment period and focus only on the areas with the greatest needs.” (KSN News, Branson, Carina)
A survey that went out to all LHS students proved that only 1 in 10 students knew about the forthcoming issue that is arising, and one of the biggest unanswered questions for the student body has been “Why does this affect us?” To answer this question, one must understand the route of the corridor plans. However, this knowledge has been undetermined and withheld from public view, which has caused some distress among the students and citizens of Pawnee County. The city of Larned held a meeting with some of Senator Marshall’s representatives to address a few of the concerns that the people of Larned, and other surrounding areas may have. In the survey sent out to LHS students, the meeting was voted beneficial by the students of LHS because it allowed people to talk about why this affects them and why they believe it should cease to exist. Many concerns were brought up at this meeting. One of the most common ones that were stated include the government using eminent domain to be able to force a purchase on whichever properties they would like. This would mean that many townspeople, including a number of students here at the high school, would lose their property to the government. This includes both land property and farm property. When asked how this would affect him, Freshman Jax Johnson stated “The powerline will go straight through our house, so we would lose it.”
Similarly, Senior James Seeman had quite a few things to say while discussing this issue. He stated “The corridor has a proposed path that follows along the Santa Fe Trail. The Acreage that Pawnee County will lose will never justify what they will make from the people on the coast.” James also talked about how he knows an abundance of classmates who will lose land or be affected by this. He talked of the Seeman’s, Kelty’s, Hagerman’s, Josifiak’s, Dipman’s, Fleske’s, and many more. It is scary to think about how many people will be affected considering this is just a kernel in a cornfield, from what is to come.
