The developers of a $1.2 billion electric transmission system in New Mexico say they will end the project if their preferred route is rejected by the federal government.
The Department of Defense and others are concerned the route preferred by the company proposing the project and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management could threaten the training mission at White Sands Missile Range.
Federal authorities are to decide in September whether to approve the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project's application for right of way on federal lands and other amendments for property use.
Under the final environmental impact statement, SunZia's high-voltage transmission system would start in Lincoln County, N.M., traverse much of the state and end in Pinal County in southeastern Arizona.
___
Information from: Alamogordo Daily News, http://www.alamogordonews.com
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.