http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.windaction.org/articles/26910 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:43:55 GMT The Fox Island Wind Farm is located in Vinalhaven, Maine, an island community about 12 miles off the coastline. The wind facility, consisting of 3 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines, was commissioned on November 17, 2009. Resident living near the turbines experienced problems with noise from the turbines as soon as they were turned on. This photo was taken near a home impacted by turbine noise. http://www.windaction.org/articles/26910 http://www.windaction.org/articles/26909 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:37:05 GMT The Fox Island Wind Farm is located in Vinalhaven, Maine, an island community about 12 miles off the coastline. The wind facility, consisting of 3 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines, was commissioned on November 17, 2009. Resident living near the turbines experienced problems with noise from the turbines as soon as they were turned on. This photo was taken near a home impacted by turbine noise. http://www.windaction.org/articles/26909 http://www.windaction.org/articles/15111 Sat, 05 Apr 2008 04:11:25 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/15111 http://www.windaction.org/articles/7985 Sat, 17 Feb 2007 12:23:26 GMT "People bought property here specifically for the silence," said Wendy Todd (with her husband, Perrin), in Mars Hill, Maine. http://www.windaction.org/articles/7985 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37893 Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:24:15 GMT Testifying neither for nor against LD 616, Patrick Woodcock, director of the Governor's Energy Office, urged legislators not to shy away from trying to improve the 2008 Wind Energy Act. He reiterated LePage's intent to streamline energy permitting processes in Maine, but in a way that does not favor one industry over another, which he said the current law does. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37893 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37618 Tue, 05 Mar 2013 02:50:03 GMT The court unanimously agreed with the groups' appeal of a ruling by the Board of Environmental Protection that backed the DEP's decision that the nighttime noise level for the windmills should be at or below 45 decibels. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37618 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37452 Thu, 21 Feb 2013 03:21:37 GMT Citing possible noise or falling debris, town officials are proposing an ordinance that would mandate a buffer zone around any future wind power projects. ...Wind turbines 200 to 300 feet tall would need a 5,000-foot buffer; turbines 100 to 199 feet tall, a 2,000-foot buffer; and turbines less than 100 feet tall, a 1,000-foot buffer. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37452 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37437 Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:59:49 GMT The stimulus was supposed to create jobs in Maine. While hundreds worked to build the site, recovery.gov reports the project created 0 jobs. This project was built using a stimulus loan from the department of energy. "The economics of wind simply don't work - the wind industry would not exist without unduly favorable subsidies." http://www.windaction.org/articles/37437 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37436 Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:38:19 GMT 14 of the 22 wind turbines stretch 4 miles across the Record Hill Ridge in Roxbury. Roxbury residents approved the project but the town of Byron, where Paquette lives, turned it down. Philip Paquette: "No one wants it their backyard but it's not in my backyard it's in Roxbury's and they put it in my backyard when I said no." http://www.windaction.org/articles/37436 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37360 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:34:08 GMT Three groups and a professional guide will get to cross examine First Wind officials who want to build an industrial wind site on Bowers Mountain when the state's top environmental agency reviews the proposal in late April or early May, officials said Monday. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37360 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36778 Tue, 11 Dec 2012 04:08:22 GMT Boston-based wind developer First Wind is facing growing opposition to its second attempt to build an industrial wind project on Bowers Mountain in the scenic Downeast Lakes Region of Maine. In a related development, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Patricia Aho announced that DEP will hold a public evidentiary hearing on the application. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36778 http://www.windaction.org/articles/35685 Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:08:43 GMT Woodstock property owners near the Spruce Mountain Wind turbines - particularly camp owners on Shagg and Concord ponds - said at a public informational meeting last week that noise from the towers is louder than expected, because it carries over water and bounces off nearby hills. Its effects, some said, include sleepless nights and headaches, as well as general annoyance. http://www.windaction.org/articles/35685 http://www.windaction.org/articles/35194 Sun, 10 Jun 2012 01:27:49 GMT For people living near Burlington, the Passadumkeag Mountain may look like home. But for workers at a Texas energy company, the mountain looks like wind power. http://www.windaction.org/articles/35194 http://www.windaction.org/articles/33354 Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:52:17 GMT First Wind tried to end the appeal with a cash settlement that, according to one source, jumped to $2-million in a failed effort by the company to reboot negotiations. ...however, the company's offer stretched beyond the appeal. In addition to dropping their appeal, the members of the suit would have been required to sign off on a sound easement against their property. A gag order would have prevented them from talking about it. http://www.windaction.org/articles/33354 http://www.windaction.org/articles/33035 Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:50:01 GMT Petitioners who asked the Board of Environmental Protection to lower the allowable nighttime noise level of the turbines are unhappy that the standards were lowered by only 3 decibels, from 45 to 42, rather than to the 35-decibel level they sought, said Portland attorney Rufus Brown ..."So far it's the only time where the issues we've raised have been seriously. I think it's a landmark in that sense." http://www.windaction.org/articles/33035 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32706 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:45:58 GMT That department's Board of Environmental Protection has been working since December to decide if Maine needs tougher noise standards. Acting DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho says the existing noise rules come from 1989, long before there were any wind farms envisioned for the state. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32706 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32697 Sun, 07 Aug 2011 01:44:51 GMT Staff with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection have waded into the debate over noise from commercial wind turbines by recommending a slight reduction in the decibel level that could trigger a noise violation for wind farms located near homes or businesses. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32697 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32623 Sat, 30 Jul 2011 13:40:15 GMT Fox Islands Wind Neighbors and other individuals are asking judges to nullify a June 2011 DEP order against the wind power project developer. Instead, the group wants the court to institute an earlier version developed by DEP staff that imposed tougher compliance requirements. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32623 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32441 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:09:27 GMT Selectman Maryann Haxton asked how the sound problem could be corrected. James replied that guidelines of 35 decibels should be set for turbines and to require them to be located a mile and a half away from homes. ...Someone asked about home appraisals and James said real estate agents were no longer appraising any homes near windmills. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32441 http://www.windaction.org/articles/32289 Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:46:07 GMT Guides and sporting camp owners are highly independent, but Bowers Mountain has led them to organize against wind power. Several are expected to testify Monday and Tuesday evening at public hearings in Lincoln before the Land Use Regulation Commission. http://www.windaction.org/articles/32289