EDMONTON - Edmonton will argue the planned Heartland power transmission line should go underground through the city at hearings starting next week, a lawyer said Friday.

Epcor and AltaLink want to build a 500-kilovolt line from the Wabamun Lake area to the industrial heartland region near Fort Saskatchewan, which would include lattice towers up to 73 metres high.

Edmonton, along with Strathcona County and other groups, is concerned about the impact of the project on esthetics, noise, potential health problems, wildlife, property values and planning, city lawyer Mark Young said.

The route the companies prefer would follow the transportation and utility corridor south of Mill Woods, along the east side of the city and across the North Saskatchewan River valley, he said.

If that route is followed, the Edmonton portion of the line should be buried to minimize the impact on about 5,200 homes within 800 metres of it, Young said.

“These massive towers will be visible for miles and have all sorts of impacts that a highway wouldn’t.”

City council voted in 2009 to intervene in the Alberta Utilities Commission hearings that start Monday and are expected to last five weeks.

“What impact would that (project) have on those people who are visiting our city?” Coun. Amarjeet Sohi said.

“Having this huge electrical fence around your city doesn’t send a message that our city is a good one to live in.”

The companies say more than 30 years of research, including some by Health Canada, has found there is no long-term harm to people, plants or animals from exposure to the electromagnetic fields associated with power lines.

They also say studies show transmission lines have little impact on property values.

Eliminating the towers would increase the cost of the project, although estimates of the difference vary widely.

The city contends burying the line throughout Edmonton would boost the price to roughly $755 million from $581 million, Young said.

The companies calculate going underground just for the most heavily populated 20 kilometres of the route between the Ellerslie substation and Baseline Road would hike the project’s budget to more than $1 billion.

If the line isn’t buried, council wants to use an alternate route that bypasses Edmonton to the north and affects fewer homes, which some municipalities oppose.

gkent@edmontonjournal.com