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DEQ urges study of how windmills affect wildlife

Richmond Times Dispatch|Rex Springston |July 1, 2006
VirginiaGeneralImpact on WildlifeImpact on Landscape

Virginia's environmental agency recommends that the developer of a proposed Highland County windmill project study the big turbines' effects on birds, bats and scenic views. The state Department of Environmental Quality passed its recommendations yesterday to the State Corporation Commission, which will approve or reject the project.


The DEQ's report is the result of an environmental review the department conducted with help from other state agencies. The report does not recommend approval or denial of the project.

Highland New Wind Development, run by Henry T. McBride of Harrisonburg, is proposing 19 windmills for two 4,300-foot-high ridges in Highland, about 150 miles northwest of Richmond.

Each windmill would stand nearly 400 feet tall -- about the height of the Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond. The project would be Virginia's first major wind farm.

The DEQ recommended, among other things, that Highland New Wind:

Submit a final site plan, showing exactly where the windmills would go.

Study, before construction, how birds and bats use those Highland …

... more [truncated due to possible copyright]

The DEQ's report is the result of an environmental review the department conducted with help from other state agencies. The report does not recommend approval or denial of the project.

Highland New Wind Development, run by Henry T. McBride of Harrisonburg, is proposing 19 windmills for two 4,300-foot-high ridges in Highland, about 150 miles northwest of Richmond.

Each windmill would stand nearly 400 feet tall -- about the height of the Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond. The project would be Virginia's first major wind farm.

The DEQ recommended, among other things, that Highland New Wind:

Submit a final site plan, showing exactly where the windmills would go.

Study, before construction, how birds and bats use those Highland ridges. State Scientists are concerned that the windmills could kill the flying animals.

Monitor the project's effects on birds and bats for at least three years after construction. That would include searches for carcasses.

Analyze the project's effect on Highland's views.

Assess the cumulative environmental impacts of the project since, the report said, 88 windmills are already operating and more than 900 are planned for the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden said, "Our submittal to the SCC says these are the issues, these are the questions we need more information on and it will be up to the SCC to determine how to proceed from here."

SCC spokesman Andy Farmer said the next big step will be a hearing in Richmond in which the opposing sides can present evidence and witnesses. No date has been set.

The case is so complex that it's impossible to say when the SCC will make a decision, Farmer said.

The developers' lawyer, John W. Flora of Harrisonburg, declined to comment yesterday because he had not read the DEQ report.

The project's supporters say it would provide much-needed power without polluting water or air or hurting wildlife.

Highland resident Rick Webb, an opponent, said the scenic ridges are the wrong places for the windmills. "The electricity benefits of this project are very low, and the environmental tradeoffs are very high."

The project would provide up to 38 megawatts of power, enough for 15,000 to 20,000 homes, supporters say. Opponents say it would provide much less.


Contact staff writer Rex Springston at rspringston@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6453.

 


Source:http://www.timesdispatch.com/…

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