Maryland must complete an environmental assessment before the Federal Communications Commission will consider allowing a 180-foot communications tower near two Civil War battlefields and the Appalachian Trail, the FCC says.
Federal regulators have determined the state failed to study the tower's potential effect on areas that could be certified as "rural historic landscapes," Jeffrey S. Steinberg, an FCC official, said in a letter to Paul Rosa of the Harpers Ferry Conservancy, a foe of the tower.
State agencies have proposed putting the tower atop Lamb's Knoll, a 1,758-foot peak on South Mountain, the forested ridge that defines the Washington-Frederick county line. The tower would be within the South Mountain Battlefield and near the Antietam Battlefield. The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems says the tower is needed to improve emergency communications. Opponents consider it visual pollution and say the state should consider alternatives.
