Here is a reprint of an email about ice throw at Green Mountain Power's Searsburg wind energy facility in Searsburg Vermont. The email was written by John Zimmerman to an American Wind Energy Association listserv in 2000. Mr. Zimmerman managed the development of the Searsburg facility

Professor Terry Matilsky, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Rutgers University, addresses the kinetics of ice throw.

During a recent roundtable discussion concerning wind power projects at the Delaware County Historical Society a participant affiliated with two local wind development companies stated that there were three issues where the health and safety impacts were predictable and avoidable---- ice throws, noise, and flicker. Since the statement was made in the presence of planners who are advising towns in the process of writing regulations to protect the health and safety of residents, I felt that a fuller discussion of the known science of these issues was important, and have prepared this report to that end.

Editor's Note: Dr. Jaffe's presentation to the Town of Meredith Planning Board on the proposed industrial wind plant vis-a-vis Meredith's 'vision' is available via the link below.

Editor's note: This short document prepared by personnel at the Wind Application Engineering Group of GE Energy provides some insight into the risks of ice throw. The content of this document confirms that ice fragments can be thrown large distances from the turbines.

This short GE Energy document explains the risk of ice build-up on the turbines and any mitigation. Note, the document acknowledges the risk of ice-shedding as well as ice-throw. An excerpt is included below. The full document can be accessed by clicking on the link.

BBC Research & Consulting's 2005 report for the National Wind Coordinating Committee that studies 9 wind plant sitings in an effort to identify circumstances that distinguish welcomed projects from projects that were not accepted by communities.

"This paper provides an overview of the issues affecting wind turbine operations in cold weather with a special emphasis given on atmospheric conditions prevailing in the Northeast United States. The first section describes previous and more recent wind energy projects in cold weather areas. In the second section, environmental elements most likely to impact on the operation of wind turbines in cold weather are introduced: low temperatures, icing and snow. It also presents various climatic situations and their specific behavior in cold weather. The third section suggests some solutions to problems identified in the previous section. In addition, this paper suggests ideas of further research on the operation of wind turbines in cold climate. It also identifies organizations interested by similar issues whose cooperation would be beneficial."