Duke won't build near sacred site

Duke won't build near sacred site

Aug 2 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Bruce Henderson The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Duke Energy won't build an electrical station near a sacred Cherokee Indian mound, possibly ending a months-long conflict in the N.C. mountains.

Duke said today it has secured two alternate sites to its first choice, which overlooked a mound marking Kituwah, the Cherokees' "mother town." The site has been occupied for at least 9,000 years, archaeologists say.

One of the new sites is in the Swain County Industrial Park. County commissioners agreed today to a $400,000 option to sell 13 acres. The other is privately owned and in the Shepherd's Creek area east of Bryson City.

Neither is within direct view of Kituwah, Duke said. The utility will choose between the two sites by the end of the year, after more engineering and permitting work.

"Finding a new location for this important infrastructure allows us to deliver on our commitment to customers, without impacting the landscape around Kituwah," Duke Energy Carolinas president Brett Carter said in a statement.

Michell Hicks, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, praised Duke's "understanding of these sensitive issues and their hard work to identify alternate locations" for the station.

The tribe had complained that it wasn't consulted about Duke's plans to build the station near Kituwah. Swain County placed a 90-day moratorium on such projects in March, and Duke temporarily stopped work.

The following month a citizens' group filed a complaint asking the N.C. Utilities Commission to stop the project. The group charged that Duke ignored the archaeological importance of Kituwah and broke utilities law in not seeking the commission's approval.

The commission's Public Staff, which represents utility customers, later agreed with Duke that it didn't need a permit to start work. The complaint, however, is still before the commission.

Duke says it needs to build the electrical station and upgrade power lines to meet growing electrical demand, including expansion of the Harrah's casino on the Cherokee reservation.

The Cherokees lost Kituwah in the early 1800s, when the federal government forced them off their land. The Eastern Band, who escaped into the mountains, repurchased 309 acres for $3.5 million in 1996.