VOL 28 No. 5
PUC rules in favor of dairy farmers
BY SHEILA MILLER
STATE COLLEGE The
question of who is responsible for
the stray voltage problem in
Pennsylvania may have crane one
step closer to being answered
recently when the Public Utility
Commission reached a final
decision on the cases of dairymen
Larry Mills and Joel and Larson
Wenger versus West Penn Power
Company.
With a vote of 4-1 on Nov. 19, the
PUC charged West Penn Power
with refunding 75 percent of the
costs incurred by the dairy far
mers when they purchased and
installed isolation transformers to
correct their off-farm stray
voltage problems.
Although a motion by PUC
Commissioner Clifford Jones also
had called for the West Penn
Power to “establish necessary
tariff rates, rules and regulations
including a 25 percent contribution
in aid of construction and
minimum bill provision (revenue
Soil Conservation Service Chief Peter Myers, center, left his Washington D.C. office on
Wednesday and few to Pennsylvania to meet with the U.S. Dept, of Agriculture, Nor
theast state conservationists. During his visit. Myers announced a change in the guard
within Pennsylvania’s SCS staff prsent state conservationist Graham T. Munkittrick,
left, will be leaving for Washington as assistant chief on Dec. 12. He will be replaced by
James Olson, right, who is presently working in the SCS national office.
Mushroom growers dealt blow
KENNETT SQUARE -
American mushroom growers
were dealt a decisive blow this
week when U.S. Trade Am
bassador William Brock an
nounced President Reagan’s
decision refusing to restrict
Chinese mushroom imports which
continue to take their toll on the
U.S. mushroom industry, having
taken over more than 50 percent of
the domestic market.
Recoiling from the shock of the
Nov. 30 announcement, American
Mushroom Institute’s executive
director Jack Kooker expressed
his astonishment at the president’s
decision “against American
agriculture.’’
Kooker explained that Reagan
Four Sections
guarantee) that will enable the
company to recover their in
vestment in corrective equipment
over the useful life of the
property,” this section was
amended by Commissioner
Michael Johnson to postpone the
initiation of tariff rules and rates
until a stray voltage survey is
completed by July 31,1983.
Although this is not termed a
“landmark decision” by Mill’s and
Wengers’ attorney, Louis T.
Glantz, Esquire with S. Paul
Mazza & Associates, he said the
PUC’s decision “clarifies the
farmer’s rights” in stray voltage
cases and indicates that power
companies are “at least partially
responsible for correcting stray
voltage.”
“This will go a long way to
eliminate the problem” of power
companies refusing to install
isolation transformers on farms
affected by off-farm stray voltage,
said an excited and surprised
Glantz after learning of the PUC
accepted the decision of the two
members of the International
Trade Commission who had ruled
against a 21 million pound quota on
imported mushrooms and an or
derly marketing order on Sept. 30.
Details of the split-decision 2-2 vote
were reported in the Oct. 9, 1982
issue of Lancaster Farming.
Reagan’s message to mushroom
growers across the nation that
he believes imports from canned
mushrooms are not disrupting
trade in this country may soon
be bouncing off empty mushroom
house walls, according to Kooker.
“We (AMI) put every effort into
politicizing the president’s
decision,” said Kooker, explaining
that the mushroom industry’s
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 4,1982
In stray voltage case
ruling. He added there is a good
possibility that power companies
may decide to pay for the total cost
of isolation transformers at their
wholesale rates rather than
reimburse farmers who would
have to purchase and install them
individually at retail rates.
Glantz pointed out that some
fanners may now have a chance to
recover some of their damage
costs that resulted from production
losses and culled cows while stray
voltage was tingling through their
bams. But, he noted, damage suits
are difficult to plead because of the
problems involved in establishing
the dollar amounts and who is at
fault.
“There won’t be thousands of
these types of damage suits
maybe 10 or 20,” predicted Glantz.
Both Glantz and the fanners he
represented credited the support
they received from fanners and
farm organizations in playing a
major role in this precedent
setting case. He noted especially
national organization made per
sonal contacts with Congressmen,
staff members of the White House
and Cabinet members, plus en
couraging the writing of letters by
Pennsylvania’s governor and
secretary of agriculture.
“The president had the op
portunity to go either way, but he
decided against American
agriculture,” Kooker exclaimed.
“It’s unfortunate that two people
can control the mushroom in
dustry’s fate and overrule the
signatures of 125 Congressmen and
15 Senators who sent letters of
quota support to the president.”
Kooker expressed his belief that
the two ITC members who voted
(Turn to Page Al 2)
the efforts by Pennsylvania
Farmers’ Association in working
behind the scenes to inform PUC
staff members about stray voltage
and how devastating it is for
farmers.
Glantz filed a formal complaint
for his clients against West Penn
Power with the PUC in March.
Then came a May 6 hearing before
Judge Edward R. Casey during
which experts testified for both the
farmers and the utility company.
Mills, the Wengers, and Glantz
waited all summer for a decision
on their case. Finally, on Sept. 14,
Casey formally announced he had
reached a decision and
dismissed the farmers’ complaints
“due to insufficient evidence.”
After this surprising ruling,
Glantz and clients appealed their
case to the full PUC which over
turned Casey’s decision in favor of
the fanners.
Despite his decision to dismiss
the case, Judge Casey did
recognize the importance of the
Pa. gets new
state conservationist
SHEILA MILLER
HARRISBURG - There’ll be a
new but familiar face in the state
conservationist’s chair in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s
Harrisburg office of the Soil
Conservation Service. Effective
Jan. 24, 1983, James Olson will be
replacing Graham T. Munkittrick
as head of the federal conservation
office here in Pennsylvania.
Olson is no stranger to Penn
sylvania, having served as a
district conservationist m Pitt
sburgh from 1969-71, Somerset
from 1971-73; and as area con
servationist in charge of the
southeastern SCS field offices from
1973-76. Originally from North
Dakota, Olson, who has been with
SCS for 30 years, served as the
“top legislative man” in SCS
Washington D.C. headquarters
since 1976.
The announcement of the change
in SCS state conservationists came
Wednesday morning, as the
agency’s chief administrator, Pete
Myers, made his first visit to
Pennsylvania to attend the
meeting of the 14 Northeast state
conservationists here at the
Marriott.
Looking ahead to Farm Show
LANCASTER Well, the 49th issue of the LANCASTER FARMING
for 1982 is history today.
That means another year is rapidly drawing to a close. And the start
of a new year heralds, among other things, another Farm Show.
Already, we’re gearing up for the Farm Show Issue, which will be
stretching the seams of your mailbox on Saturday, Jan. 8. Farm Show
opens the following day, Sunday, Jan. 9, and continues to Friday, Jan
14.
So, advertisers and readers, get your material in to us early. The ad
deadline is Thursday, Dec. 30, and the news deadline is Wednesday,
Jan. 5. Contact LANCASTER FARMING. P.O. Box 366, Lititz, Pa
17543, or call 717-626-1164 or 717-394-3047.
$7.50 per year
action being taken by the three
dairy farmers and commended
them “for taking the initiative in
bringing this problem of stray
voltage to the attention of the
Public Utility Commission. If the
electric utility industry in Penn
sylvania responds to the challenge
(presented by stray voltage) in the
way it should, any improvements
in electrical service to dairy
farmers in the future will be due in
large measure to the efforts ex
pended by these Complainants and
their attorney.”
Glantz termed the effort of Mills
and the Wengers as “noble” and
said the costs of bringing this case
to the PUC far outweigh the
benefits of even a 75 percent
reimbursement. “Even if we
would have lost,” he said, “this
case would have been a benefit to
farmers just by letting them know
where they stand. ”
When asked how he felt about the
PUC’s decision last month, Larry
Mills of Clearville, Bedford County*
(Turn to Page Al 2)
An unplanned part of the mor
ning press conference, Myers
announced, “I’m going to steal
your state conservationist, Grahm
Munkittrick. As of today, he is
being promoted to be one of the
five assistant chiefs working on
staff in Washington, D.C. He will
hold a senior executive position
with SCS, (effective Dec. 12).”
Myers added that Olson
requested to return to Penn
sylvania as state conservationist,
considering it "a real challenge.”
“We’re getting an excellent man
in Mr. Munkittrick in Washington
... you've losing a good man but
you’re getting a good man right
back again," Myers remarked.
After Myers announced the shift
in state conservationists, which he
termed "appropriate,” he
discussed several programs that
are making their debuts in the SCS
job folders. The first to be
discussed was the Resource
Conservation Act, called RCA.
Myers reported that RCA of
ficially has not been released, and
that SCS is awaiting approval from
the Office of Management and
Budget on a transmittal letter
(Turn to Page A 32)