CONCORD - Public safety concerns began the first day of hearings yesterday for a proposed 99-megawatt wind park in Coos County.

On Friday, a wind turbine collapsed in Altona, N.Y., and sparked a fire in a deeply forested area. The mishap is being investigated by Noble Environmental Power, parent company to Granite Reliable Power, which is proposing a wind-generation project along high-elevation ridgelines in the Great North Woods.

Lisa Linowes of Lyman, representing the group Industrial Wind Action, asked if a fire at a remote tower at 2 a.m. on a Saturday in Coos County might be detected immediately, before it could spread.

"You better believe it," said Daniel Mandli, senior vice president for wind energy operation at Noble Environmental, noting a technician would be on the scene within 15 minutes.

The 33, 410-foot turbines from Dummer to Dixville Peak would be constantly monitored, he said.

Mandli said it is still too early to know exactly what happened in Altona, but that all of the company's 484 turbines from Texas to New York are monitored 24 hours a day from its Plattsburg, N.Y., headquarters.

In Altona, local firefighters were able to knock down the blaze, fueled by as much as 100 gallons of oil housed within the tower, which snapped in half.

Linowes asked if the company's technicians are equipped with fire suppression equipment. She was told they are not. She also pointed to the remoteness of the proposed North Country turbines and their distance from fire departments.

Local fire departments, she was told, have been in discussion with the project's developers.

Linowes, whose group is focused on monitoring the development of wind projects across the country, also asked if there was a chance that the Cohos hiking trail might need to be relocated ...

<Read more>