The first wave of easements were returned Wednesday to property owners who were in the path of Allegheny Energy's planned high-voltage power line.

The commissioners and Allegheny Energy signed an agreement last month in which the power company promised to abandon plans to build the 500-kilovolt line through Greene County and to return the easements to property owners in both Greene and Washington counties.

Greene County Solicitor Farley Toothman said the county's register and recorder's office changed the deeds to the first 10 properties Wednesday. About 68 properties will be affected in Greene and another 130 in Washington.

The Greene County register and recorder's office can process just 10 deeds a day for any one company. The restriction is a policy put in place to prevent the office from becoming inundated with work from one company. Toothman said he will work in alphabetical order until all of the easements are returned to the respective property owners. In Washington, former Judge Richard DiSalle will help with researching the deeds, and the first wave of easements there should be returned to the property owners soon, Toothman said.

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