NAPLES - A grassroots coalition of nearly 100 citizens of New York, Vermont and other states, including Andrew McEvoy and James Salamone of Little Falls, have filed a federal anti-trust complaint alleging that an international cartel comprised of foreign and domestic business entities have conspired to eliminate competition in the newly emerging U.S. wind energy sector.

NAPLES - A grassroots coalition of nearly 100 citizens of New York, Vermont and other states, including Andrew McEvoy and James Salamone of Little Falls, have filed a federal anti-trust complaint alleging that an international cartel comprised of foreign and domestic business entities have conspired to eliminate competition in the newly emerging U.S. wind energy sector.

The complaint, filed with the Department of Justice's Anti-Trust Division, maintains that wind farm developers, suppliers, consultants, investors and, in some cases, public officials engaged in illegal geographic market allocation, price fixing and bid rigging in direct violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Bradley E. Jones of the Industrial Wind Action Group said that as a result of this "illegal conspiracy" thousands of landowners and hundreds of municipalities have been denied substantial monetary gains that otherwise would be available in a free and competitive market.

The 94 citizen complainants expect that the department will act quickly to assign appropriate resources necessary to investigate and prosecute the allegations and to punish any and all criminal wrongdoing to the full extent of the law. The complainants also expect that the department will take measures to ensure that the members of the international cartel are prevented from retaliating against any of the listed complainants.

According to the Department of Justice, price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation by individuals or companies are felonies currently punishable by maximum individual fines of $1 million, maximum corporate fines of $100 million and maximum jail terms of 10 years.

McEvoy and Salamone are part of the complaint as representatives of Fairfield Concerned Citizens, Inc.

The nonprofit organization was formed to bring attention to the problems which may result if the proposed industrial wind turbine facility in the town of Fairfield is built, and to bring legal proceedings if necessary. The group seeks to educate the public about the effects of wind turbines.

"Many state and federal officials are looking into the issues at hand regarding the turbines," McEvoy said. "State Senator Jim Alesi, R - Perinton, has called for an 18-month moratorium on wind turbine construction in New York state and Senator James L. Seward is reported to be a co-sponsor of the bill." Seward is also a sponsor of a bill that would prohibit the construction of any wind energy production facility within any town within 15 miles of a certain portion of the Route 20 byway. That bill was referred to the Tourism, Recreation and Sports Development Committee.

Citizens from the New York state communities of Naples, Cohocton, Wayland, Cape Vincent, Lowville, Stamford, Malone, Wyoming, Cherry Valley, Addison, Canisteo, Allegany, Rochester, North Bangor, Hornell, Fairport, Webster and Prattsburgh are also participating in the complaint.

Industrial Wind Action was formed to "counteract the misleading information promulgated by the wind energy industry and various environmental groups." Support for this effort comes from a diversified group of environmentalists, energy experts and ordinary citizens.

The group exposes the impacts of industrial wind energy on the environment, economy and quality of life through fact-based analyses; assists communities threatened with unwanted industrialization and advises officials at the federal, state and local levels regarding wind energy policy to counteract misleading information from the wind energy industry and some environmental groups.

Web link: http://www.littlefallstimes.com/articles/2007/05/0...