Large turnout at Goochland hearing voices unified opposition and demands for transparency on ValleyLink project

A long public comment period at the Goochland County meeting featured repeated, often emotional testimony opposing the ValleyLink Joshua Falls–Yeats 765 kV transmission corridor and demanding fuller disclosure of connected facilities and land purchases.

Christie Payne, speaking for a group of local citizens, said recent map changes and public records raise questions about whether the proposed line would actually begin at the existing Joshua Falls substation or at a newly identified 136‑acre parcel. She told the board that local activists had located a memorandum of option agreements covering roughly 10 parcels — about 1,100 acres — secured by Dominion Energy in December 2022 and expiring in December 2027, and she asked the board to press ValleyLink for disclosure of all substations, switching stations, staging areas and access roads connected to the project.

Other speakers echoed concerns about agricultural, environmental and historic‑resource impacts. Annette Jones, Nancy Morrison and several farmers said such a long, high‑voltage corridor would permanently fragment farmland and forest, threaten watersheds that feed the James River, risk erosion and invasive species along cleared right‑of‑way, and impose new burdens on already strained volunteer fire and rescue units. Multiple commenters mentioned local cemeteries, African‑American historic sites and small farms as vulnerable resources that they fear will not be fully identified in company routing materials.

Speakers also raised health and safety questions, citing studies they said show elevated leukemia rates near high‑voltage lines and urging that EMF and long‑term environmental risks be fully explored; Dominion representatives acknowledged the concerns and said EMF modeling is required in the SCC application and will be part of the regulatory record.

Several commenters framed the issue as one of fairness: they said data‑center development in and north of Northern Virginia drives the need for the corridor while the immediate burdens fall on rural communities in central Virginia. Others called for county policy changes — including revisiting the Technology Overlay District vote referenced by speakers — and requested that the board continue funding legal and technical review. Many residents said they will remain organized and engaged as the SCC process advances.

The Board did not take any new votes on the ValleyLink project at the meeting. Supervisors thanked speakers and asked Dominion to provide written answers to unanswered technical questions for public posting; the board reiterated its prior resolution opposing the project and its allocation of $250,000 for advocacy and independent review (referenced by presenters).