CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Ohio EPA closed the permit file this week on an AEP Ohio Transmission Company project that spent the summer replacing eleven deteriorated poles on the 69-kilovolt transmission line between Chillicothe and Circleville — a job the utility filed, and the state approved, as an emergency project.
In a letter dated Oct. 26, 2026, Ohio EPA Director John Logue terminated AEP’s coverage under the state’s construction stormwater general permit for the “Camp Sherman – Circleville 69kV STR 43–177 Emergency Project,” effective that day. The termination ends a permit record that opened in June and documents, step by step, how an emergency power-line rebuild moves through Ohio’s environmental permitting system. J News Network reviewed the complete file in Ohio EPA’s eDocs public records portal for The Fallout Files.
According to AEP’s filings, the project replaced eleven deteriorated structures on the existing 69kV line between the Camp Sherman, Andersonville and Circleville substations. The work crossed two counties — Ross County and Pickaway County — along the Ohio 104 corridor north of Chillicothe, with the site listed at latitude 39.384031, longitude -83.011571. The receiving water named in the permit application is the Erie Canal and an unnamed tributary to it.
The project’s footprint was modest but spread out: a total project area of 6.01 acres, with a maximum of about 3.94 acres of disturbed soil, according to AEP’s closeout photo log. Crews upgraded roughly 0.02 miles of access road and laid timber matting across 1.85 miles of access routes to reach the structures. Before work began, AEP’s contractor, Hawkeye Solutions Inc., prepared a 30-sheet erosion and sediment control plan set for the corridor — the plan Ohio EPA requires to keep construction runoff out of waterways.
The paper trail moved quickly. AEP environmental manager Jennifer Walker electronically submitted the company’s Notice of Intent on June 18, 2026, seeking coverage under Ohio EPA’s construction stormwater general permit OHC000006. Ohio EPA approved coverage four days later, on June 22, assigning facility permit number 0GC05002*AG, with coverage effective through April 22, 2028. The company listed a planned construction window of June 30 through Aug. 31, 2026. The eDocs file contains two copies of the same June 22 approval letter.
Ohio EPA’s approval letter carried the standard warning that stormwater coverage alone does not authorize filling regulated waters, and that a separate Section 401 water quality certification or isolated wetlands permit may be required. AEP’s application answered “no” to each of those additional permits — individual 401 certification, individual NPDES permit, isolated wetland permit and U.S. Army Corps nationwide permit — being required for this project.
The closeout record is AEP’s own photographic log. Environmental technician Lisa Burton conducted the final field review on Oct. 5, 2026, and documented the restored access points — including sites on Canal Road, Ohio 104, Davenport Road and Harry Drive — in dated photographs showing regraded, revegetating ground at the structure sites. “Following a review of permit requirements and site conditions, no outstanding deficiencies were identified,” Burton wrote, recommending the company file its termination notice.
AEP filed that Notice of Termination on Oct. 9, 2026, certifying under penalty of law that all elements of the storm water pollution prevention plan had been completed, disturbed soil stabilized, and temporary erosion and sediment controls removed. Ohio EPA’s Oct. 26 termination letter states that any discharge previously authorized by the permit “is no longer authorized and continuation of the discharge is unlawful.”
Nothing in the file alleges a violation, and the record contains no Ohio EPA inspection findings, notices of violation or enforcement actions against the project. The documents also do not state what made the eleven structures an emergency beyond describing them as deteriorated; the emergency designation is the project’s own name in every filing. AEP’s named contacts across the record are Walker, facility contact Kathy Fickert, and Burton.
This story is based on Ohio EPA eDocs records for AEP Ohio Transmission Company’s Camp Sherman – Circleville 69kV STR 43–177 Emergency Project (facility permit 0GC05002*AG): the Notice of Intent (docid 4164125), Ohio EPA approval letters (docids 4164131 and 4164127), the erosion and sediment control plan cover sheet (docid 4164126), the Notice of Termination (docid 4298024), AEP’s termination photographic log (docid 4298025) and Ohio EPA’s termination letter (docid 4298027). J News Network will update this story with any response from AEP or Ohio EPA.
