CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Ohio EPA has closed the permit file on AEP Ohio Transmission Company’s emergency summer rebuild of the 69-kilovolt power line between Chillicothe and Circleville, ending a paper trail that began in June when the utility replaced eleven deteriorated structures along the Ohio 104 corridor north of Chillicothe, according to Ohio EPA records reviewed by J News Network.
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 project, formally named the “Camp Sherman – Circleville 69kV STR 43–177 Emergency Project,” effective that day, J News Network reported from the agency’s eDocs public records portal. The termination means any discharge previously authorized by the permit is no longer authorized.
According to AEP’s filings, the project replaced eleven deteriorated structures on the existing 69kV line between the Camp Sherman, Andersonville and Circleville substations, crossing Ross County and Pickaway County along the Ohio 104 corridor, J News Network reported. The receiving water named in the permit application is the Erie Canal and an unnamed tributary to it.
The 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 as reviewed by J News Network. Crews upgraded roughly 0.02 miles of access road and laid timber matting across 1.85 miles of access routes to reach the structures, and AEP’s contractor, Hawkeye Solutions Inc., prepared a 30-sheet erosion and sediment control plan for the corridor before work began.
The timeline moved quickly at the start. 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, and the agency approved coverage four days later, on June 22, assigning facility permit number 0GC05002*AG with coverage effective through April 22, 2028, J News Network reported. The company listed a planned construction window of June 30 through Aug. 31, 2026.
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 being required for this project, according to the eDocs file reviewed by J News Network.
The closeout rested on AEP’s own photographic log. Environmental technician Lisa Burton conducted the final field review on Oct. 5, 2026, and documented 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, J News Network reported. “Following a review of permit requirements and site conditions, no outstanding deficiencies were identified,” Burton wrote, in a quote J News Network took from the log, 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, according to J News Network’s review of the file. Ohio EPA’s Oct. 26 termination letter followed seventeen days later.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed in the record: eleven deteriorated structures were replaced, the disturbed ground was restored, and Ohio EPA closed the file with no violations alleged. J News Network reported that nothing in the file contains Ohio EPA inspection findings, notices of violation or enforcement actions against the project. What the record does not state is what made the eleven structures an emergency beyond describing them as deteriorated — the emergency designation is the project’s own name in every filing, J News Network noted.
For residents along the corridor, the practical effect is that a stretch of the regional transmission backbone linking the Chillicothe and Circleville substations has been renewed before winter demand, and the construction access routes that crossed farm and residential ground this summer have been regraded and revegetated, per AEP’s own closeout photographs. Related local infrastructure coverage includes Chillicothe’s two downtown street closures starting next week and the city’s fall leaf collection by trash route starting the week of Nov. 2.
What happens next is largely a matter of record: the permit file is closed, and any future work on the line would require new coverage. J News Network reported it will update its story with any response from AEP or Ohio EPA, and the documents themselves — the Notice of Intent, the approval letters, the erosion plan cover sheet, the termination notice, the photo log and the termination letter — remain available in Ohio EPA’s eDocs portal under facility permit 0GC05002*AG for anyone who wants to read them firsthand.
Photo: Kkiefuik, CC BY