Saying they never agreed to giant towers in their yards, "dangerous electrical fields" and contaminated groundwater, 60 property owners in Washington County sued Allegheny Energy and its subsidiaries Thursday, asking the court to void or amend agreements made decades ago over rights-of-way.

The property owners sold rights-of-way to the company during the mid 1970s when it planned to construct new electric transmission lines to serve the burgeoning steel industry.

At the time, property owners say, they were told to expect wooden poles, like other nearby transmission lines. When the steel industry flopped, so did plans for the new line, leading some property owners to believe the company had abandoned their easements.

According to the lawsuit, the company planned to build a substation for the new line, but by 1996 had written off the cost of purchasing the easements -- about $8 million. Property owners say that is further proof that the company abandoned the easements.

The easements are needed now for a 37-mile, 500-kilovolt power line the company plans to build through Washington and Greene counties. The line would serve local customers, but a much larger companion line would run from Greene County to northern Virginia.

The same lawsuit was filed by a similar number of property owners in Greene County last week.

The company has said that there is no time limit on use of an easement.

"We still maintain those rights-of-way are valid and remain so," said company spokesman David Neurohr.

Property owners said they never signed on for a high-voltage line which will require towers from 90 to 160 feet high or 200-foot rights-of-way, which some say are larger than originally agreed to.

"Such an intent simply was not contemplated," said Richard DiSalle, former Washington County and state appellate judge who is one of the attorneys representing property owners. "They were not told it was going to be the kind of power line that is currently proposed."

The lawsuit also cites potential health risks from electrical fields and damage to groundwater and livestock from the herbicides that would be used to control vegetation beneath the lines.

"That is going to completely destroy the water system," said Judge DiSalle, who is also critical of the company for offering some property owners up to $400,000 for agreeing in some cases to expand easements and not to sue the company or interfere with its proposal.

The property owners are asking the court to halt the company's plans and to prevent representatives from coming onto private property to take measurements. They want the easements to be declared invalid or to be held to the width specified in each easement agreement.

The company's plan now is under consideration by the state Public Utility Commission, which recently held local public input hearings. A decision is expected by June.

The U.S. Department of Energy on Oct. 3 designated much of Pennsylvania, and the northeastern U.S. as a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor, giving the federal government the ability to override state decisions on placement of electric transmission lines and to take private property through eminent domain, if necessary.