Maine officials say turbines are too loud

The three humming wind turbines in Vinalhaven, Me., have disturbed some residents. Last month I wrote about property owners driven to distraction by the noise of nearby wind turbines - including in the island town of Vinalhaven, Me.

In that case, a group of residents within earshot of the newly installed Fox Islands Wind Project complained that the noise of the turbines exceeded state guidelines, and that their lives were being made insufferable as a result.

Last week, in a letter to the wind farm's developers, Maine's Department of Environmental Protection concluded that the turbines do, under certain conditions, exceed state noise limits of 45 decibels. The agency further ordered the developer, within the next 60 days, to come up with a new operational plan to ensure that the turbines are in compliance at all times.

"The Department views the compliance issues identified at this facility as a serious matter," wrote James Cassida, director for the agency's division of land resource regulation.

The full letter is here.

In a press release, Cheryl Lindgren, one of the affected neighbors who led the formation of the Fox Islands Wind Neighbors, a group of local residents seeking to have the noise ratcheted down, said the department’s move was welcome, if a long time in the making.

“After a long year,” she wrote, “neighbors of the Vinalhaven wind turbines are heartened by this movement from the State of Maine to verify their complaint.”