Bell Acres Council will soon decide whether one more footprint will disturb the great blue herons and other residents. An alternative-energy demonstration site - involving a single 66-foot-high wind turbine, a 15-foot-high turbine, some solar panels and a trailer - has been proposed by a collaboration of Metal Foundations (Ambridge), Vox Energy (Allison Park) and Jet Industries (Ellwood City) for a site near the intersection of Big Sewickley Creek Road, also designated as the Red Belt, and Turkeyfoot Road.

Wind turbines in Juniata Township sometimes make annoying and atypical noise, but not enough to violate the township's ordinance, a Vermont company has concluded. RSG Inc., which specializes in environment, energy and acoustics studies, has issued a 36-page report determining that noise made by Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm turbines in Juniata Township is less than 45 decibels, the maximum level allowed by ordinance.

Black Creek Township residents' concerns weren't eased by testimony Thursday from a wind power company that plans to construct 22 turbines on the Buck Mountain ridge. ...Resident Edward Vergari said the township should collect more information and mandate that all applicable state, county and local permits be secured by Penn Wind prior to zoning approval.

A Blair County judge has upheld all but two civil charges brought against two wind companies by a Juniata Township couple, who have complained that 40 wind turbines on Blue Knob Mountain are noisy and cause light to flicker in their home. ...Milliron refused to strike a charge of fraudulent misrepresentation against Gamesa and a similar charge, plus others, against Allegheny Ridge.

New documents filed in an ongoing civil lawsuit by a Portage-area couple against the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm say that wind energy experts duped local officials into believing the turbine sound was insignificant. Todd and Jill Stull of the Blue Knob area say that developer Gamesa Energy USA and owner Babcock & Brown misled local officials by supporting development of an ordinance addressing higher noise levels.

Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron on Friday dismissed the counts against Gamesa, which made and installed the turbines, but left intact the lawsuit against Allegheny Ridge because he believes the complaints deal with operational problems. Allegheny Ridge operates the wind farm.

A local doctor and his wife have filed a lawsuit against the operator of a nearby wind farm saying they are losing sleep from the the constant ''whooshing'' and ''screeching'' caused by the wind turbines. Blair County Judge Daniel J. Milliron on Friday concluded his initial review of the lawsuit brought by Todd and Jill Stull of Portage RD, Blair County. Milliron kept the lawsuit largely intact although he dismissed several counts of the legal complaint including one that charged Gamesa Energy and its subsidiary, Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm LLC, with creating a public nuisance.

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.

Construction of the 35 windmills in the second phase of what will be one of Pennsylvania's largest wind farms is completed and should be in operation before the end of the year, an official with Gamesa Energy USA said. News of the anticipated startup comes as sound experts working on behalf of Portage Township completed the study setting the level of the existing - ambient - noise at and near North Allegheny Wind Farm, which is adding nine turbines to the skyline in the Blue Knob area of the township.

A Springhill Township man concerned that his sound recording equipment may be rendered useless if a proposed wind turbine project is built near his home brought his concerns Tuesday to the Fayette County commissioners. Thomas John Bozek III, who lives on Wymps Gap Road, asked the commissioners to "consider the people the proposed project is going to affect." "I'm asking you to protect my investment, my property and my life. All I want to do is be left alone and play my music," Bozek said.

The Stulls first filed a lawsuit in April, but according to Jill Stull, after Gamesa objected to their claims that the noise coming from those turbines has been more than a nuisance, it has impacted their health, they've refiled. Stull said this time they have an environmentalist and a sound engineer on board. While their problems are still the same, they hope the words from the experts carry a little more weight.

Following action taken by the Mahanoy Township supervisors, nuisance laws, particularly in regard to dilapidated buildings, are becoming stricter. "We are amending our present ordinances to make them stricter. It is not fair to neighbors to have to live next door to these places," said Chairwoman Sharon Chiao following the meeting. She did not name specifics of the amendments. ...The supervisors agreed to approve the plans for Phase 2 of the Locust Ridge Wind Farm as soon as an agreement regarding the 12 proposed windmills is signed. Chiao said during the first phase, it took an extended amount of time and legal wrangling to come to an equitable agreement regarding the windmills. Chiao said after the meeting that during Phase 1, the township agreed to a stipend of $18,000 a year for the 12 windmills. This time they are seeking $23,000 a year for the 12 new windmills as costs continue to rise.

The owner of a 100-acre wind farm in Juniata Township, Blair County, and three townships in Cambria County has asked a judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed by property owners complaining of noise and vibrations from the giant turbines. Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm LLC of Philadelphia said a court ruling in favor of a husband and wife complaining about the noise could "open the judicial floodgates to any neighbor to sue a wind farm after construction based on the wind farm's mere existence."

A Blue Knob couple is seeking unspecified monetary compensation and is asking a court to intervene to reduce noise and vibration from energy generating turbines in the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm. A Pittsburgh attorney representing Todd and Jill Stull of Pine Springs Lane, Portage, filed a 14-page civil lawsuit in Blair County court naming Gamesa Energy USA, developers of the wind farm in Portage Township, Cambria County, and Juniata and Greenfield townships, Blair County. ...At the urging of residents, the Portage Township supervisors say they will hire a sound expert to determine whether the turbines are being operated in violation of the ordinance. Similar action already has been taken by Juniata Township officials.

The Juniata Township couple seeking relief from noisy wind turbines has taken their complaint to Blair County Court. Todd and Jill Stull, in a lawsuit filed at the courthouse, accuse Gamesa Energy USA LLC and the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm LLC of destroying their quality of life and damaging their health. They're seeking an injunction ordering the noise to be reduced. ...The lawsuit also accuses Gamesa and the wind farm of securing permits and approvals to build on the basis that the turbines would cause no noise.

Unable to agree on an expert to gauge noise from Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm turbines, Portage Township and Juniata Township in Blair County will conduct separate studies. Portage officials said they likely will hire a company next week to conduct the sound study from their side of Blue Knob Mountain. "At this next meeting, we should have all of the information and I would hope we can come to some resolution," Supervisor Ken Trimbath said. ...Trimbath said the company doing the study must be acceptable to Babcock & Brown, owners of Allegheny Ridge. "My concern is the other way also: The results must be accepted if there is not a noise problem," Trimbath said.

Any proof that the operating noise levels of turbines in the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm are violating local ordinances, as claimed by residents, may be a while in coming. Paul Heishman, a Mechanicsburg sound expert who agreed last year to analyze the noise at the wind turbines, is no longer able to do the study, leaving local officials searching for a new expert. "The expert identified at the last meeting is no longer available, and we need to find somebody new," Portage Township Solicitor C.J. Webb said.

Complaints about wind turbine noise from the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm could find their way into the court system this year, depending on what happens in the coming weeks. A Jan. 31 deadline for repairs to be made has passed, and Juniata Township residents still are asking for relief. Engineer Paul Heishman of Mechanicsburg, an expert in measuring noise levels, has started a study to determine if the noise is louder than permitted by township ordinance. Portage Township in Cambria County plans to have Heishman conduct a separate study, Supervisor Ed Decort said. If Heishman determines the noise is excessive, Juniata officials say they will move forward with steps to enforce their ordinance. ...Jill Stull, whose property is closer to turbines, said she shuts her windows and stills hears the noise. ‘‘They're loud enough to make me wake up,'' Todd Stull said. ‘‘This is noise pollution.''

The Portage Township supervisors are jumping into the fray over what some residents say is excessive noise from turbines at the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm. Supervisors will hire a private sound engineer to determine the amount of noise made by the spinning turbines. The move comes at the urging of residents who say the windmills sometimes operate at sound levels exceeding ordinance limits. Two months ago, officials in Juniata Township, Blair County, ordered an independent sound study.

Some area residents are upset over the noise pollution from green energy. The Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm stretches through two counties in our region. Its turbines can be seen in Juniata Township, Blair County and Portage Township in Aambria County. Those turbines to generate electricity, but some residents say they generate too much noise. Residents that live in the area agree that the noise isn't a problem for everyone. They say the shapes of the mountains and valleys funnel all the noise right into certain homes