If it’s April, that means it’s foraging and nesting season for the wood turtle, a state-threatened species in Wisconsin. It also means our crews are busy installing fences on many of our construction projects to protect the turtles. Turtles have an affinity for transmission line rights-of-way; they especially like to build their nests in open, sandy soils. Well-maintained utility corridors also provide easy access for foraging.

Project updates  

Substations in the towns of Vienna and Westport in Dane County are being upgraded in preparation for construction of a new transmission line between the two. Easements also are being acquired from landowners on the eight-mile North Madison-Waunakee line. A pre-construction open house is planned for early summer, and the 138-kilovolt line is proposed to go into service by mid-December.

Preliminary construction activities also are underway on the Jefferson County electric reliability project, a 17-mile 138-kilovolt line needed for local area reliability due to increased population growth. Legal challenges to the project are now resolved, allowing us to meet with landowners to acquire easements. Soil borings also will be conducted in the corridor to determine conditions that influence the height and location of transmission poles, as well as foundation depths for those structures.

ATC recycling efforts recognized

Veolia Environmental Services presented us with its Environmental Stewardship Award for electronics recycling, noting that we have “successfully integrated programs that protect the environment while continually looking for ways to improve performance.”

Since 2004, we have recycled more than 1.55 million pounds of scrap metal, oil and batteries from transmission substation projects. In 2005, we became the first utility and one of the first Wisconsin companies to participate in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Green Tier program. Through that program, we established an environmental stewardship fund to assist non-profit groups with environmental preservation projects, education and community-based conservation programs.

Veolia is the largest recycler of lamps in the country, and its Technical Solutions division turns more than 14 million pounds of waste into new products each year.

ATC in the community
We partnered with We Energies, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Friends of the Cedarburg bog to install three osprey nesting platforms along a transmission corridor in the Ozaukee County bog last month. The osprey, which is listed as a threatened species in Wisconsin, build large nests, often more than three feet in diameter, and platforms provide more stability than trees.

Earth Day activities

Our employees will be participating in activities to celebrate Earth Day all month long.

• Environmental stewardship and protection will be featured topics at an Earth Day-themed Business After Hours event in the De Pere office this month. We are hosting members of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce April 9.

•  Employees in Madison and the Cottage Grove Control Center will build Leopold benches, and work with local Boy Scouts to build bluebird houses that will be installed at the Cottage Grove site.

• Pewaukee employees will hear about endangered turtles and amphibians from Bob Hay of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

• We also will be sponsoring the clean up of a river site in Milwaukee County.

Environmental annual report now available    

Visit our Web site to browse through our 2007 environmental annual report. The document includes our environmental policy, reviews the grants awarded by our stewardship fund, and highlights our efforts to preserve and protect the environment.

Visit our site often….if you’d like to submit a story idea or have a question, send us a note at info@atcllc.com.