Nova Scotia's environment minister wants more information about a proposed $150-million wind farm in Pictou County before he will give it the go-ahead. Mark Parent sent a letter last week to Shear Wind, developer of the Glen Dhu wind farm near Merigomish, Pictou County, asking for details on the proximity of the wind turbines to nearby homes and the anticipated noise levels. "During the review, many local residents expressed concern about the potential for noise from the wind farm," Mr. Parent wrote last Wednesday in a two-page letter to Ian Tillard, Shear Wind's chief operating officer.

Appeals against Berwick Borough Council's refusal of planning permission for three wind farm proposals are due to be heard in late April next year - almost a month after the authority has ceased to exist. Members of the council's policy committee were told the planning inspectorate had agreed that all three appeals should be heard in a single inquiry, and had initially offered a start date of February 10 next year.

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday appointed Planning Board members Barry Bunten, Mark Henry and Randy Orr to the local Planning Commission to address a deficiency in the town's comprehensive plan. With help from John Maloney of the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, the commission's job is to create a section on renewable energy.

"We had been all over the world looking for some place to live and we left our heart here in the Finger Lakes and this is where we came back to. We absolutely loved it here...until...we knew about the wind project," Judi Hall said. The back and forth over First Wind's bid to build wind turbines ended with the company's success. Champions of the project like Tom Casey, who sits on the town/village planning board, say the project puts Cohocton on the cutting edge of new energy and helps the economy.

[A] BP representative explained that the project could be phased in with 60 windmills possibly becoming available next year, and the remaining 40 coming some time later. Of the 60 windmills, David Gonzalez said, the majority are planned in Archer County.The change in the proposal was not met with enthusiasm by commissioners. ..."The prospect of an abatement has been based on a 250 megawatt buildout," Precinct 2 Commissioner John C. Bullock said. "The prospect of a phase in was not mentioned. If we had know that, it likely would have been different."

Headaches, disrupted equilibrium and inner-ear ringing are typical symptoms of a night on the town. But they may be the result of a night spent at home-if you live near high-powered wind turbines, according to a study by Dr. Nina Pierpont, a New York pediatrician. Pierpont's book "Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment"-due out this fall-details the adverse health effects of wind turbines. Her report is based on a study of 10 families living near turbines in Canada, England, Ireland, Italy and the United States.

Residents in the East County are sounding an environmental alert about future wind farms in their community. The battle is heating up over plans to build hundreds of wind turbines near Boulevard. ..."And we're talking over 500 to 600 turbines for now, over 400-feet tall silhouetted on that ridge line," she said. That ridgeline to the south is in Mexico, where Sempra Energy - the parent company of SDG&E - Is planning on building a massive wind farm. So big, in fact, it will be visible from San Diego County.

Taking easterly winds in a new direction could provide South Weber and Layton residents near the mouth of Weber Canyon with an alternative energy source. That is, if zoning issues can be remedied, costs met, regulations drafted and not-in-my-backyard battles kept to a minimum. Layton Mayor Steve Curtis is interested in his city pursuing wind turbines as an alternative energy source. ...But before officials in any community turn their face to the wind in search of an alternative energy source, an expert associated with the work done on the small wind farm in Spanish Fork has some advice.

Some 150 people today protested against the construction of wind turbines in Poland and the Czech Republic at a Czech-Polish tourist border crossing. According to the protesters, various investors plan to build up to 400 windmills in the area - the Czech and Polish side of the Orlicke hory mountains. They say the construction of up to 200 metre high windmills would go against the character of the landscape.

Controversial plans for a wind farm on top of a scenic wilderness has come under fresh attacks from worried residents. Energy firm nPower wants to put up 19 turbines - some as high as 400ft - on Mynydd-y-Gwair. Campaign group Save Our Common Mountain Environment, who have been fighting the scheme since 2004, recently won the backing of TV botanist David Bellamy. Now locals in Pontlliw have thrown their weight behind the plan to kick out the scheme.

Residents that spoke out against plans to build a wind farm in the area of Bailey's Brook have had their concerns heard. Environment minister Mark Parent has denied Shear Wind Inc. permission to go forward with the Glen Dhu Wind project, saying the registration information submitted by the company is insufficient.

The city committee that rejected Ottawa's first application for a residential wind turbine did so because the proposed location of the turbine is too close to neighbouring property lines, not due to its noise or visual impact. ...Zoning bylaws require that accessory structures to a house not exceed 4.5 metres in height and that their height must equal their distance from property lines. The committee rejected Mr. Findlay's proposal after a public hearing on Oct. 1, but only released its rationale on Friday.

That denial came after an appeal to Superior Court that had resulted in the court remanding it back to the board for reconsideration. After considerable discussion of the Howlands' application to build wind turbine on their residential property, the board voted 5 to 2, with Douglas Shearer and new board member Louis R. Gallo dissenting, to deny the request based on public safety concerns. The Howland turbine was the first to be reviewed under the town's Residential Wind Energy Conversion System bylaw.

The Westfield Town Board adopted a Final Scoping Document for Babcock & Brown's proposed Ripley-Westfield wind turbine project at its October 1st meeting. The Final Scoping Document was prepared by the Town Board, as co-lead agency with the Ripley Town Board, in conjunction with consultants from Environmental Design & Research. The Ripley Town Board is expected to discuss the document at an upcoming meeting.

A proposed wind farm at Thorpe Marsh has moved a step closer after Doncaster Council gave the go-ahead for tests to be carried out. Members of the borough's planning committee unanimously backed the request for permission to set up equipment to measure the wind strength at the site in fields at Arksey Common Lane. But Coun Mick Jameson asked council officers to ensure developer Simon Kerrison fully restored the site to its original state when the tests were completed.

Construction of a residential wind turbine east of Lebanon is being challenged by neighbors who claim the tower is not only a threat to their children and the environment, but illegal. ...Douglas and Nancy Miller, 1265 John Bart Road, want a court to overturn the BZA's approval, saying the 4-0 decision was "illegal, arbitrary and capricious." They filed suit on Sept. 28 in Boone Superior Court I. The Millers are represented by Krieg DeVault LLP, a Carmel law firm.

An application to build two wind turbines in Almondsbury has been re-submitted. In August Almondsbury Sports and Social Club made an application to South Gloucestershire Council to build two 15-metre high wind turbines. ...last month the application was withdrawn because of concerns raised by local Highways officials. The application has now been re-submitted after alterations were made as to where the two turbines would be located on the club's site.

The township has received an application for a conditional use permit from a company that wants to build a wind turbine facility. BP Alternative Energy plans to build a facility with as many as 89 turbines in the southern part of Wyoming County, within the boundaries of Noxen, Eaton, Forkston and Mehoopany townships. On Tuesday, Supervisor Randy Ehrenzeller said the application permit calls for 17 turbines.

The inquiry will look into the appeal by Pennant Walters Hirwaun Ltd against the failure of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council to determine within the statutory eight-week period an application for planning permission for 12 wind turbines and ancillary infrastructure on the mountainside south of the A465. In April councillors rejected the wind farm plan following a recommendation from planning officers that it be refused.

The first step in getting wind towers in Iroquois County was passed last night. The Iroquois County Regional Planning Commission approved unanimously the conditional use of 47 properties in the Milks Grove Township. The township, in the northeastern most corner of the county, would have just a portion of the wind tower farm to be spread across Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston and Ford counties.