Wind project proposal draws ire

FLORIDA -- While the six-year legal storm over the Hoosac Wind project may have blown over, a new wind power dust-up is stirring on Florida Mountain.

A developer has proposed erecting a single wind turbine off Moores Road on private land. The proposal generated a 43-signature petition against the project from some nearby residents and others.

Opponents cite noise and what they described as potential health threats the turbine could cause.

"I hope we can stop this thing from going up," said Mike Fairneny, a 25-year homeowner on Moores Road. "This is a commercial wind turbine they're trying to put in a small residential area. It would degrade my standard of living and disrupt my pursuit of happiness. It would change my life."

Fairneny said he has seen Internet reports on "low-level frequency interference" allegedly generated by wind turbines that may cause a variety of maladies to humans.

Supporters say wind turbines are quiet, pose no threat to human health and safety and would help defray the local need for electricity generated by fossil fuels.

Margo Van Peterson, a Moores Road resident who would lease a small part of her 50-acre parcel to the wind project, said she is happy to be a part of the effort to rid the nation of its dependence on oil, especially after what has happened in the Gulf of Mexico.

"I think it is critical that our country get on an independent energy production pathway to reduce the huge risk connected with continuing to use oil as our primary energy source," Van Peterson said. "And this one turbine will generate enough energy to power the entire town of Florida."

She questioned the allegations of any health risk allegedly caused by inaudible low-frequency noise from a wind turbine.

"We should not base our actions on unsubstantiated Internet rumors -- I question the validity of any so-called report," she said.

Dean Iandoli, a partner in Quabbin Wind LLC, the developer, said the more than $3 million project would involve one General Electric 1.5-megawatt turbine located 916 feet away from the nearest structure and 1,530 feet from the Whitcomb Summit Motel. Its height would be 339 feet.

Iandoli said the energy produced would be sold to nearby commercial users at a rate below retail rates charged by electric utilities.

Because most commercial wind projects typically involve a number of wind turbines on one site, his one-turbine plan is a newly developed business model, he said.

"And if it works, you'll see a bump in green energy development," he said.

The Selectmen discussed the project at a special-permit hearing in June and at a board meeting earlier this week. They are scheduled to discuss it again during a meeting on July 20.

If town leaders approve the special permit, the developer would be close to moving ahead with the project, according to Iandoli.

"Once we get the special permit and the appeal period expires, we will begin work the next day," he said.

Construction would take four to six months, and Iandoli hopes to have the turbine in operation by the end of the first quarter of 2011.