[W]ind farm neighbors are worried, however, about the safety of the turbines, which can leak chemicals if they aren't maintained properly. Those who live in the hills say it happens, and they are worried that the chemicals could leak into their watershed. Bill Cunningham says he has contacted Horizon Wind Energy, and they have been extremely cooperative. He says they hired a private research company to study the wind turbines, and found they indeed were leaking. Although the company says it wasn't a large enough amount to be concerned with, they still hired private crews to clean up. Now, with more turbines being erected, locals continue to worry about future maintenance.

Although the 400-foot turbines can sometimes delay air medical rescues, emergency personnel are trained to cope artfully with such situations, said Claire Rayford, spokesperson for Flight for Life ...The pilot decides what is safe and makes a decision based on many different factors at the time of the incident, Rayford said.

Wind power may be one of the cleaner, greener energy sources available, but turbine and blade failures point to dangers that were not anticipated, says Michael Connellan

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.

Kerry County Council says this month's record rainfall is at least partly to blame for the slide, which occurred during construction work on a roadway to an electricity wind farm. Large volumes of peat have so far travelled over 3km, sweeping away a bridge and preventing some residents from accessing their homes.

It's a plan, not everyone is thrilled about. On a stretch of land, just southwest of Fond du Lac, Curt Kindschuh lives near a windmill farm. It's an area where Flight for Life and Theda Star say landing could be extremely tough, and that's why pilots are being told to avoid it, even if there's an emergency.

The modern windmills may create clean energy but they are a clear and present danger to air ambulances. Milwaukee-based Flight for Life has notified first responders in Fond du Lac County that air ambulances will not land near the windmill clusters here. "They are up in the air," said Flight for Life's Claire Rayford. "We have to be aware of them. Depending on how high they are, they may not be lit."

The Ministry of Defence has finally withdrawn its objections to two major wind farms following the intervention of Gordon Brown. For years the MoD has fought the creation of two large wind farms off the coast of Northumberland and Norfolk because of fears of radar interference. It emerged last year that nearly half of all proposed wind farms were stuck in the planning process because of objections from the MoD, which has many RAF bases on the east coast of Britain. This meant that the Government had no chance of achieving its target of producing 20% of the country's total energy from renewable resources by 2020.

Plans for a major wind farm in Northumberland were approved by the Government yesterday. npower renewables' proposal to erect 18 turbines, 125m high, at Middlemoor, North Charlton, near Alnwick, was given the go-ahead by Energy Secretary John Hutton. But the wind farm cannot be erected until the energy giant comes up with a way to make sure the turbines do not affect RAF radar systems.

Two new wind farm planning approvals dependent on developers and MoD agreeing way of minimising radar disruption ...approvals are conditional on technical solutions being developed that mitigate the effects of the turbines on the Air Defence Radar at RAF Brizlee Wood and Trimmingham respectively. The government said that both the business and defence ministers must be satisfied the impacts on these air defence radar are acceptable for the projects to proceed.

Frontier Pro Services of Banning, California conducted an informal survey of approximately 75 wind farm operators in the United States. Designed to assess the specific operation and maintenance service needs of wind energy operators, the survey reveals potentially serious threats to wind farms owing largely to the industry-wide shortage of qualified turbine technicians.

The permits for the 14 turbines were tabled at the board's June 14 meeting upon request of the wind farm developers after rural Walnut resident Kurt Geldean opposed the turbines, saying they would interfere with the use of his private airstrip. Addressing the zoning board Wednesday, Mike Donahue, representing Walnut Ridge developers Midwest Energy, said a verbal agreement was reached with Geldean just prior to the start of the meeting. The verbal agreement called for the withdrawal of five turbines, with Geldean agreeing not to oppose the other nine.

Repairs have started to a giant wind turbine between Sheffield and Rotherham after it was knocked out by a gale. A crack was spotted in the blades of one of two turbines yards from the Sheffield Parkway during high winds last month. A special failsafe device cut in to prevent further damage - and the crippled blades were allowed to fall to the ground. Since then, investigations have been going on into the damage at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, where the University of Sheffield operate the two turbines.

Earlier in the inquiry the MoD said the proposed 100m-high turbines could interfere with radars, which were vital in guiding aircraft and identifying threats. ...However, on the day when final submissions were heard, the Ministry withdrew its opposition to the plans. It accepted an offer of mitigation by RidgeWind to provide coverage through a non-military radar. The MoD withdrew its objection on the condition that: "Ridgewind meets the capital costs" of implementing the system.

Lewis calls the whole proposal, its implications and its aftermath "just weird." For instance, he didn't receive the letter from Schumacher until July 5 - almost three weeks after the board's decision. "This letter was the first anyone knew about it," Lewis said. "We were just shocked this could happen without notifying anybody." Galvin is mobilizing the neighborhood and hopes people will show up at a school district meeting tonight to complain. "It's imperative we show opposition to this thing. Otherwise it's going to get shoved down our throats, which is what the school district has done already," she said. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Windaction.org has been informed that this project has since been canceled due to complaints filed by residents in Torrance.]

National security, not renewable energy, will win the day in a battle being fought over two pending wind farm applications, the Gazette has been told. A decision from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is looming on 18 turbines proposed by npower renewables at Middlemoor, which was subject to a public inquiry last November. And a further hearing is about to launch into more at neighbouring Wandylaw ...But according to a well-placed source, both are doomed to certain failure because of Ministry of Defence (MoD) concerns over the effect of the turbines on both early warning radar systems and low-flying fast jets.

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.

The Gentry County wind farm's turbines are undergoing refurbishment in a national retrofitting program initiated after manufacturer Suzlon Energy Limited found cracks in the blades of its S-88 wind turbines. ...The national retrofit program calls for the strengthening of 1,251 wind turbine blades, 930 of which had been installed by March, according to a press release. During repairs, Suzlon will employ temporary replacement blades to minimize the time wind turbines stand inoperable.

Aviation experts are set to clash over the impact a proposed wind farm at Routh, near Beverley, could have on radar installations. Twelve huge turbines could endanger aircraft flying over the region, a public inquiry into the controversial development will hear on Tuesday. Wind farm business RidgeWind Ltd is appealing against East Riding Council's refusal to allow the development at Hall Farm in Routh.