Photos of Existing Power Lines
If left above ground, the power lines will be highly visible and unwelcoming for people entering the City from the Bay, suggesting an industrial backwater, rather than a lively waterfront attraction. An exciting proposal for a public destination at the Shooters site is under serious consideration by the RI Department of Environmental Management.
View of the power lines crossing the Seekonk River between India Point Park in Providence and Bold Point Park in East Providence, as seen by 10 million travelers a year on I-195 going to and from Cape Cod. When the George Redman Linear Park is completed in 2014, this is the view that cyclists and pedestrians on the highly popular East Bay Bike Path will see as they enter Providence.
The power lines loom over the highly popular playground at India Point Park. These wires produce 15 milliGaus (mG) of electro-magnetic field (EMF) exposure at the playground and three times that on the pedestrian bridge leading to the Park, according to National Grid. Public concern over the possible adverse health effects of EMF led the Children's Museum to reject a proposal to relocate in India Point Park when it moved to Providence in 1997. Burial of the wires will render EMF exposure "virtually nil," according to the Transportation Department's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) report on the I-195 relocation project. Although EMF has not been proven to cause diseases, epidemiological studies "suggest an association" between 24-hour exposure to more than 4 mG of EMF and childhood leukemia, according to National Grid.