Forty pages of health and safety information surrounding the proposed wind turbine project in town may never have been created had it not been for some anxious residents. Ron Pitt, chairman for the health and safety subcommittee that researched and wrote the report, said interested and concerned residents, including members of the group Citizens Wind Watch, should be credited for pushing forward the process of learning more about wind turbines and the issues that surround them. ...Mr. Russo said the recent health and safety report spelled a certain end to the likelihood the turbine would be constructed at the high school.

A dozen opponents of the high school site were at the meeting to ask the committee to immediately declare the high school off limits, and they presented a 21-page report that, they contended, proves that the turbine would pose a physical danger and noise hazard to students. But committee members said they wanted to review the report and hear counter-arguments from the town's renewable energy committee, which has asserted that the device is safe. It has voted to give preference to the alternative site, which would be 1,000 feet from any house and have stronger winds.

When Portsmouth moved its proposed wind turbine site at the high school farther away from the town water tank, the Federal Aviation Administration raised a caution flag. Richard Talipsky, economic development committee chairman, said the town received a "notice of presumed hazard" from the FAA on Sunday that this new site could be in the flight path for Newport Airport. ...After talking to an FAA official about the notice, Mr. Talipsky said it seems to have been a technicality in response to the new application. Mr. Talipsky said he was told the FAA would have approved the original site at the high school, which is the direction that will now be taken.

The federal government has rejected a proposal to install a wind turbine at a high school in Portsmouth. The Federal Aviation Administration says the 213-foot-tall wind turbine proposed for Portsmouth High School would be too high. The FAA says the plan needs to be modified. The agency had earlier rejected a proposed turbine at Portsmouth Middle School. ...Voters last fall approved a $3 million bond to build a wind turbine at either the middle school or high school.