The wind industry concedes that, as with all tall things (buildings, for example, or trees), ice and snow can build up and, eventually, fall down, creating a hazard to people and structures below. But the industry denies that "ice-throwing" - another concern surrounding wind power - is a problem. ...But a 2006 publication by G.E. Energy, a maker of large wind turbines, warns that "rotating turbine blades may propel ice fragments some distance from the turbine - up to several hundred meters if conditions are right."

The setbacks in the proposed Enfield wind law are not large enough, according to a letter from the Tompkins County Planning Department to Town Supervisor Frank Podufalski, but following that advice could kill the wind farm proposal for a site near Connecticut Hill. The planning department recommends increased setbacks between property lines and the wind towers ...If the Enfield Town Board does not adopt the recommendations, it will need a supermajority, which means four votes on the five-member board, to pass the proposal into law.

It turns out that recent shipments of king-size wind turbine blades that cut through the heart of downtown Buffalo were not off course after all. Mary Joyce Permits of Randolph, which plotted the delivery trucks' course and arranged escort vehicles, purposely steered the bulky loads from the Peace Bridge, down Niagara Street to Niagara Square and up Delaware Avenue. ..."It's not ideal, but we've got the required city permits, and we'll continue to bring them through downtown until the construction situation changes," she said.

The oil cleanup at Dawson Point near Marysville was finished Friday afternoon, but residents in the area are still not allowed to drink from their wells. ...About 396 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled Wednesday morning during fueling of the Sea Hound, a tugboat operated by Nadro Marine Services Ltd., a contractor based in Port Drove, Ontario. ...The tugboats are used to push barges loaded with supplies and parts from Ogdensburg for Canadian Hydro Developers Inc.'s 86-turbine Wolfe Island Wind Project. So far, 28 wind turbines have arrived.

According to Canadian Renewable Energy Corp., three to four barrels of diesel fuel were spilled around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. The fuel was being transferred between tanks on Sea Hound, a vessel operated by Nadro Marine Services Ltd., a contractor based in Port Drove, Ontario. Nadro Marine has been transporting wind turbines from Ogdensburg for the 86-turbine Wolfe Island Wind Project. ...Mark O. Mattson, president of the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, an environmental advocacy group based in Toronto, finds the incident ironic. "It's a bit of a shock. The whole purpose of the wind power project was to help the environment," he said.

About 10 households on an island near Kingston, Ont., have been told to drink only bottled water after a tugboat spilled about 1,500 litres of fuel near shore. The diesel fuel spilled into Lake Ontario near Wolfe Island around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday from a boat carrying equipment for a controversial wind turbine project. Some residents have fought hard against the project, saying they are concerned about the environmental effects of installing 86 turbines on such a small island.

Four people suffered minor injuries Tuesday when their private helicopter crashed trying to land in snowy, foggy conditions near a wind farm in central New York, state police said. ...Simpson said the men were in the area inspecting land they owned and were preparing to return to Syracuse when the weather turned bad and they found themselves in a snow squall and low clouds. "They had zero visibility but they knew from their GPS that they were near those big towers," Simpson said. The pilot, Zachariah Bowers, 51, of Jacksonville, Fla., decided to land the helicopter in a farm field.

The windmills — officially called “Liberty 2.5 Megawatt wind turbines” — are the first of their kind to be used commercially. They brought national attention to Lackawanna for its creative reuse of an abandoned industrial site. The state-of-the-art turbines are so new that ClipperWind had anticipated a need for some tweaking here and there. But resolving the problem has been more difficult than expected. “This one’s a pain because you need a big crane,” acknowledged Bob Gates, ClipperWind senior vice president. The work is expected to take several months, Gates said. ...While the gear boxes are being replaced, Gates said a reinforcing bond will be applied to the fiberglass blades to prevent any major damage from tiny cracks that have developed on some.

It's one of the most visible sights in Madison County; one of the blades on the Fenner Wind Turbines broke in mid-November, and is still not fixed. ...They still don't know, what caused the blade to break; they say that this has happened at Fenner before, and hope to find out why once they're able to remove the blade.

One of the turbines at the Fenner Wind Farm hasn't been spinning since Wednesday night, because one of its blades has apparently been badly bent. ...A person who lives near the site says it sounded like a car crashing when the blade broke. There no word yet on when it'll be fixed.

John Rancich's proposed wind farm and set-back requirements have become issues of public interest at several town board and planning board meetings ...The wind debate in Enfield has primarily centered on the distance wind towers are set back from property lines. "I don't think it's proper to have windmills right on property lines," Fisher said. "I think there should be sufficient set backs for safety reasons."

A subject voiced at the March 8 Fairfield Town Council meeting was that a wind test tower located off Davis Road was beginning to fall apart, according to Jim Salamone, a resident living close by. He said he voiced his concerns at the meeting to Town Supervisor Frank Matthews and Codes Enforcement Officer Frank Ceneviva, because he was worried that the area's many children might get curious and investigate the situation. He said he was told that the tower, put up as recently as January, would be inspected by the company that owns it, and others in its vicinity would also be looked at. He said he was also informed that no one should be in the area that the test towers are in.

DRESDEN -- Hikers on Black Mountain reached the fire tower at the summit earlier this month to find a 60-foot wind turbine lying in the snow. Justin Kerner of Clifton Park said it looked like a tree fell on one of the wires that secured the tower and then the turbine fell over. The State Police own the turbine. Spokeswoman Maureen Tuffey said it fell because a guy wire gave way when a bolt sheered off. She said it might be spring before the turbine is fixed.

(Pavilion, NY, December 4, 2006) - - Recent gusts were powerful enough to break off the blades of a wind turbine in Genesee County. News 4's Al Vaughters reports the property owner is still picking up the pieces in Pavilion. Steve Rigoni said, "Well, the blade has got to come from Minnesota, so it'll be four or five days before they get here." This is all that's left of Steve Rigoni's wind turbine: three busted-up fiberglass blades and a 140-foot tower. The turbine has been blowing away Steve's electric bills, but Friday's wind storm was just too much.

Recent gusts were powerful enough to break off the blades of a wind turbine in Genesee County. News 4's Al Vaughters reports the property owner is still picking up the pieces in Pavilion. Steve Rigoni said, "Well, the blade has got to come from Minnesota, so it'll be four or five days before they get here." This is all that's left of Steve Rigoni's wind turbine: three busted-up fiberglass blades and a 140-foot tower.

Hikers on Black Mountain reached the fire tower at the summit earlier this month to find a 60-foot wind turbine lying in the snow. Justin Kerner of Clifton Park said it looked like a tree fell on one of the wires that secured the tower and then the turbine fell over. The State Police own the turbine. Spokeswoman Maureen Tuffey said it fell because a guy wire gave way when a bolt sheered off. She said it might be spring before the turbine is fixed. Black Mountain is in Washington County and the view from the top takes in Lake George and mountains in New York and Vermont.

Clusters of high-standing wind turbines similar to one proposed off the South Shore could pose security risks by compromising radar systems for missile-defense and air-traffic control systems, a recent U.S. Department of Defense report concluded. The study, prepared at Congress’ request, draws on previous reviews of the effects of wind farms by the British Ministry of Defense, which found the turbines can have “a significant impact on the operational capabilities of military air defense radar systems,” as well as a U.S. Defense Department review at a turbine field in upstate Fenner, N.Y., in April and May.