Opinions
It's particularly good news, they contend, for the state's only colony of great egrets on Wade Island north of Enola.
The egrets, an endangered species, take a southern route along the West Shore of the river and past the yard to feed around Sheets Island near the M. Harvey Taylor Bridge or the Conodoguinet Creek. Audubon feared this path would bring the egrets perilously close to the turbine.
But while we share concern for the egrets and all wildlife, no one knows for sure if the wind turbine truly would have been harmful.
This is a great example of why Pennsylvania needs a formal windmill-siting process that would include environmental and other research within a legal framework.
Norfolk Southern decided not to push the issue and will spend its money on wind turbines at other facilities. But that's not to say the railroad didn't have the right idea in the right place.
A siting process would have looked at factual data about the threat to the egrets in terms of the turbine's specific location in the yard, which as an existing industrial site is suited for this type of structure.
We again note the urgency to establish a siting system. As the state and nation look more toward alternatives to oil, and given topography in Pennsylvania conducive to wind farms, proposals like these are bound to increase.
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