www.windaction.org

Rural Mainers turn out in force to back bills that would change wind energy law
March 27, 2013 by Robert Long in Bangor Daily News

Testifying neither for nor against LD 616, Patrick Woodcock, director of the Governor's Energy Office, urged legislators not to shy away from trying to improve the 2008 Wind Energy Act. He reiterated LePage's intent to streamline energy permitting processes in Maine, but in a way that does not favor one industry over another, which he said the current law does.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape]

Court tells DEP to lower nighttime noise levels on Saddleback wind farm
March 4, 2013 by Judy Harrison in Bangor Daily News

The court unanimously agreed with the groups' appeal of a ruling by the Board of Environmental Protection that backed the DEP's decision that the nighttime noise level for the windmills should be at or below 45 decibels.

Also filed under [ Noise]

Town of Industry might require a buffer zone for wind power projects
February 20, 2013 by Kaitlin Schroeder in Kennebec Journal

Citing possible noise or falling debris, town officials are proposing an ordinance that would mandate a buffer zone around any future wind power projects. ...Wind turbines 200 to 300 feet tall would need a 5,000-foot buffer; turbines 100 to 199 feet tall, a 2,000-foot buffer; and turbines less than 100 feet tall, a 1,000-foot buffer.

Also filed under [ Zoning/Planning]

The cost of wind turbines in Maine
February 19, 2013 in News 13 Waste Watch

The stimulus was supposed to create jobs in Maine. While hundreds worked to build the site, recovery.gov reports the project created 0 jobs. This project was built using a stimulus loan from the department of energy. "The economics of wind simply don't work - the wind industry would not exist without unduly favorable subsidies."

Roxbury wind project
February 17, 2013 by Jon Chrisos in 13 On Your Side

14 of the 22 wind turbines stretch 4 miles across the Record Hill Ridge in Roxbury. Roxbury residents approved the project but the town of Byron, where Paquette lives, turned it down. Philip Paquette: "No one wants it their backyard but it's not in my backyard it's in Roxbury's and they put it in my backyard when I said no."

Also filed under [ Noise]

Groups lined up to intervene on Bowers Mountain proposal
February 12, 2013 by Nick Sambides Jr. in Bangor Daily News

Three groups and a professional guide will get to cross examine First Wind officials who want to build an industrial wind site on Bowers Mountain when the state's top environmental agency reviews the proposal in late April or early May, officials said Monday.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape]

Opposition to second wind Project in Downeast Lakes region growing
December 10, 2012 by Gary Campbell in Partnership for the Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed

Boston-based wind developer First Wind is facing growing opposition to its second attempt to build an industrial wind project on Bowers Mountain in the scenic Downeast Lakes Region of Maine. In a related development, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Patricia Aho announced that DEP will hold a public evidentiary hearing on the application.

Spruce Mt. Wind neighbors complain of "aircraft" sound
July 26, 2012 by Allison Aloisio in Bethel Citizen

Woodstock property owners near the Spruce Mountain Wind turbines - particularly camp owners on Shagg and Concord ponds - said at a public informational meeting last week that noise from the towers is louder than expected, because it carries over water and bounces off nearby hills. Its effects, some said, include sleepless nights and headaches, as well as general annoyance.

Also filed under [ Noise]

Opposition grows against Passadumkeag wind project proposal
June 9, 2012 by Danielle Waugh in WCSH 6 News

For people living near Burlington, the Passadumkeag Mountain may look like home. But for workers at a Texas energy company, the mountain looks like wind power.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape]

Hush money offered to wind dissenters
October 19, 2011 by Paul Lefebvre in The Barton Chronicle

First Wind tried to end the appeal with a cash settlement that, according to one source, jumped to $2-million in a failed effort by the company to reboot negotiations. ...however, the company's offer stretched beyond the appeal. In addition to dropping their appeal, the members of the suit would have been required to sign off on a sound easement against their property. A gag order would have prevented them from talking about it.

Also filed under [ Vermont]

BEP approves lower turbine noise standards
September 16, 2011 by Clarke Canfield in Portland Press Herald

Petitioners who asked the Board of Environmental Protection to lower the allowable nighttime noise level of the turbines are unhappy that the standards were lowered by only 3 decibels, from 45 to 42, rather than to the 35-decibel level they sought, said Portland attorney Rufus Brown ..."So far it's the only time where the issues we've raised have been seriously. I think it's a landmark in that sense."

Also filed under [ Noise]

Environmental board debates wind noise
August 8, 2011 by Ken Christian in WCSH 6 News

That department's Board of Environmental Protection has been working since December to decide if Maine needs tougher noise standards. Acting DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho says the existing noise rules come from 1989, long before there were any wind farms envisioned for the state.

Also filed under [ Noise]

Wind turbine noise recommendation unlikely to end debate
August 6, 2011 by Kevin Miller in Bangor Daily News

Staff with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection have waded into the debate over noise from commercial wind turbines by recommending a slight reduction in the decibel level that could trigger a noise violation for wind farms located near homes or businesses.

Also filed under [ Noise]

Group alleges political meddling in Vinalhaven wind project
July 30, 2011 by Kevin Miller in Bangor Daily News

Fox Islands Wind Neighbors and other individuals are asking judges to nullify a June 2011 DEP order against the wind power project developer. Instead, the group wants the court to institute an earlier version developed by DEP staff that imposed tougher compliance requirements.

Also filed under [ Noise]

Expert speaks on wind turbine noise in Sumner
July 12, 2011 by Mary Standard in Sun Journal

Selectman Maryann Haxton asked how the sound problem could be corrected. James replied that guidelines of 35 decibels should be set for turbines and to require them to be located a mile and a half away from homes. ...Someone asked about home appraisals and James said real estate agents were no longer appraising any homes near windmills.

Also filed under [ Noise]

Nowhere's special
June 26, 2011 by Tux Turkel in Portland Press Herald

Guides and sporting camp owners are highly independent, but Bowers Mountain has led them to organize against wind power. Several are expected to testify Monday and Tuesday evening at public hearings in Lincoln before the Land Use Regulation Commission.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape]

Wind power noise dispute on tranquil Maine island intensifies
May 24, 2011 by Tom J. Zeller in Huffington Post

While thousands of wind power enthusiasts and industry representatives gather in Anaheim Calif. for Windpower 2011, the American Wind Power Association's popular annual conference and exhibition, some 3,300 miles due east, wind power is tearing a tiny island community asunder.

Also filed under [ Noise]

Report: Turbine noise a complex issue
May 1, 2011 by Tux Turkel in Morning Sentinel

The proposed minimum setback is longer than three football fields, but it's still way too short, wind opponents say, to keep people from being disturbed by the noise, low-frequency sound pressure and vibrations that turbines and their blades spinning atop 300-foot towers can make under various wind conditions.

Also filed under [ Noise]

Maine BEP denies Spruce Mountain appeal
February 4, 2011 by Tony Reaves in Sun Journal

Rufus Brown said it wasn't enough to let potentially problematic turbines be built before dealing with the consequences. He took offense to Smith's assertion that it was unfair to submit Patriot to another hearing. "That is exactly upside-down," Brown said. "It is fundamentally unfair to the people in this neighborhood to this project ... when there are so many uncertainties."

Also filed under [ Noise]

Guides, sporting camps oppose wind farm
December 15, 2010 by Tux Turkel in Portland Press Herald

A coaltion that includes professional Maine guides and sporting camp owners has joined an effort to stop a proposed wind farm in eastern Maine. The group also is asking Gov.-elect Paul LePage for a moratorium on large wind projects until cost-benefit studies of existing wind farms can be carried out.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape]

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