News Subscribe  to Our Newsletter Sign  up for Email Updates CGF  In the News Press  Inquiries Past  Articles Calendar			Transmission towers threaten San Bruno Mountain by Lennie Roberts  When PG&E proposed to install huge transmission  towers and power lines across the Peninsula Watershed as part of its project  to meet increased demand and avoid outages, Committee for Green Foothills  and other environmentalists caught notice - and spoke  up for the protection of the views and critical habitat of this area. After months of consideration and input from huge numbers of citizens and groups, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in June announced a tentative decision to require that lines in the entire southern section of the project (between the Jefferson Substation in Redwood City and Trousdale Avenue in Burlingame) be installed underground. This is a great victory: the PUC's decision  will protect habitat in Edgewood  County Park and Natural Preserve as well as in the Peninsula Watershed.  Installing this line above ground would have required taller towers and  wider foundations, disrupting views for miles around and impacting some  of the most important habitat for native species, including the threatened Bay  checkerspot butterfly.  Now our attention turns to the northern route of  the project, where another prime area of habitat could be jeopardized  by a PUC order to study an aboveground route that would place huge transmission  towers over San  Bruno Mountain . Committee for Green Foothills  and others are following this closely and providing input to ensure that  the sensitive habitat and viewsheds of the State and County Park are protected. Published July 2004 in Green  Footnotes. Page last updated July 13, 2004 .