Watertown attorney David P. Antonucci, representing Concerned Residents of Hammond, filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court here. The town has 20 days to respond to the lawsuit, once it is served. The lawsuit alleges the wind farm ordinance approved Oct. 27 by the Hammond Town Council should be overturned because the environmental review process was not followed properly. The ordinance created regulations for wind farms, including setbacks, heights and locations for wind turbines in the town.

Jill Stull from Portage says her life and farm have turned upside down ever since some unwelcome neighbors moved in 2006. "We want the noise to stop. I want my husband to be able to sleep in our home," Stull said. The noise she's referring to is from the six turbines surrounding her 100-acre farm. At least once a week, Stull says she can hear and feel the turbines humming, and it's a sensation she says comes at irregular intervals.

According to local officials involved in the project, a proposed Freedom- Farmersville wind park is on long-term hold. Noble Environmental approached the two towns approximately two years ago with its idea for a joint wind project that would be located on the border of the two Cattaraugus County townships.

This past summer Tom Stebbins, project manager at the Fredonia Branch of Horizon Wind Energy approached the Pomfret Town Board to update the progress of a potential wind farm within the town. At that time Horizon was eying a start date sometime in 2010. ...Stebbins said Horizon has run into many wetlands in Arkwright, and accompanied with the newly fallen snow, has delayed operations there, backlogging farms next in line like Pomfret.

In a few brief years, New York State has become famous for its wind farms. Thanks to government subsidies and aggressive targets for the production of clean energy, hundreds of turbines now dot the landscape upstate. But the planning and building of wind farms may be slowing. In late October, Noble Environmental Power has asked the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for more time to finish some of its projects.

A group in Hammond aimed at overturning the recent wind farm law has been growing steadily in numbers and influence. Concerned Residents of Hammond, which began in late October after the town enacted a law regarding the creation of wind farms, has grown from 25 to 70 members. ...The original goal of the group was to have the town enact a moratorium on further development of wind turbines and test towers.

Wind development in New York has hit a bit of turbulence. The nationwide financial crisis has put the brakes on a wind farm under construction in northern New York and another developer has aborted possible projects in eastern and central New York after trouble securing land. And wind energy companies are now being asked to abide by a code of ethics by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

The town wind law committee created to produce a zoning amendment to deal with wind farms added a sound measurement protocol and changed setbacks from roads during its meeting Thursday afternoon. The sound protocol came from recommendations from the acoustical engineering firm Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, Sudbury, Mass., based on a wind development zoning law written for the Association of Towns and rules for noise studies written by Cape Vincent resident Clifford P. Schneider.

Although the DEC has cleared the use of slag on wind farm access roads, the state Department of Agriculture and Markets has concerns. In a Sept. 8 letter to Invenergy regarding the High Sheldon Wind Farm, Agriculture Specialist Michael J. Saviola said ...the Department does not support the use of any adulterated industrial byproduct material (such as steel slag) as road base on, or adjacent to, structural lands used for the production of food and/or forage crops," Saviola wrote.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for a public investigation of an energy-trading deal that has cost municipalities millions of dollars this past year. "Conducting the investigation behind closed doors just won't do," Schumer said. "We need FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to open up the books and determine both how much this cost New Yorkers and if that money can be given back to consumers."

Noble Environmental Power's wind-energy projects in Cattaraugus and Allegany communities face an uncertain future both because of the global financial crisis and a legal snag. During a meeting of the Farmersville Town Board meeting Monday night, Town Supervisor Joe Brodka announced he had been advised that the area's development director for Noble was no longer employed and that the local energy projects may be shelved or assets sold, due to financing difficulties.

Planners at Cannock Chase Council have had to fork out the cash for a report about the noise impact the three proposed turbines for Bleak House open cast mine site would have. The decision on the application for the site between Heath Hayes and Chase Terrace has now been delayed until next year because the noise consultants require more information from Harworth Power.

A law in the town of Centerville regulating wind farms was annulled by the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division because the town failed to comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR). ...The decision, which was made on Nov. 14, was prompted by a lawsuit from the Centerville Concerned Citizens (CCC), a group of landowners in the town who claimed that the Centerville Town Board worked along with the Noble Environmental Power to craft a local law that accommodates Noble's proposed Centerville Windpark without fully looking at the environmental impacts.

Opponents of a proposed four-turbine wind farm in North St. Eleanors have received the support of the Medical Society of Prince Edward Island to delay the project pending a health investigation. In a letter to the city's mayor and council, long-time Summerside physician Paul Kelly made formal application to city officials that they delay the project calling for four wind turbines on the former landfill site in St. Eleanors. ..."The Medical Society of Prince Edward Island has been asked to address the issue of setback distances associated with wind turbines," he said.

During his community forum in Irondequoit last night, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told a group of Hamlin residents that he'd send an environmental attorney to look into the town's wind tower regulations and the circumstances under which they were passed. He was responding to repeated requests from a group of town residents, all members of the Hamlin Preservation Group.

Alfred residents found that where there is wind, there is a window of opportunity in a special Monday night meeting at the Alfred Station Fire Hall. Keith Pitman, president and chief executive officer of Empire State Wind Energy from Oneida, gave an hour-long presentation to Alfred residents to gauge how interested the community is in developing a wind project. So how did the Alfred community react to the possibilities of wind power? Compared to some other communities looking at wind, very peaceful.

The Farmersville Town Board voted Monday to replace its 2007 town law regulating wind farm projects with a shorter and more general version, while also lifting last month's temporary moratorium against wind energy facilities. "The old law had stuff that should have been in a host community agreement [between the town and the wind farm developer] and not in the law itself," said Town Supervisor Joe Brodka.

The passage of a resolution by the Legislature last Wednesday established Herkimer County's negotiating position regarding payment in lieu of taxes agreements for wind projects: Closing an interconnected effort amongst affected municipalities and school districts over four years in the making. Ongoing proposals by Iberdrola Renewable Energies to build wind turbines include: The Hardscrabble Project in the towns of Norway and Fairfield, with Owen D. Young Central School District; and the Jordanville Project in the towns of Stark and Warren, with West Canada Valley Central School District. The resolution sets a PILOT payment of $8,000 per megawatt.

While satisfied with existing wind turbines, town officials are looking to better regulate any future wind projects, both large and small. "We just want to make sure they are done to manufacturers' specs," Lowville Town Supervisor Arleigh D. Rice said. The Town Council earlier this month held a public hearing on a proposed wind power zoning law but is awaiting review by the Lewis County Planning Board before adopting it, Mr. Rice said.

Andrew Randall lives in King's Dyke, Whittlesey, with his pregnant partner Rachel Barford and one-year-old daughter Aimee, just 100 yards from the towering machine. He said the constant noise from the turning blades is causing sleepless nights and stress for Rachel, who is four months pregnant. Mr Randall (23) said: "Rachel's stressed all the time and she can't cope with the lack of sleep. I'm concerned about the health of the baby. ..."We've got a hot tub in the back garden, but it's a waste because we can't go out there, it's just too noisy."