WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama are blocking Senate confirmation of a Defense Department nominee in an attempt to pressure the Pentagon into releasing a study that is holding up wind turbine construction in Illinois and other states.

Safety General Illinois

THE Ministry of Defence has confirmed it is investigating a windfarm proposed in Ceres amid fears that it could interfere with RAF Leuchars air base. MoD officials are concerned that the 13-turbine windfarm planned for the outskirts of the village could affect crucial radar signals from the base and pose problems to low flying jets in poor weather.

Safety General UK

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last week that it would miss a legal deadline in a suit that alleges the department is preventing wind farm construction across the nation. The department had until August 28 to file their response to the Sierra Club’s claim that it has created a virtual moratorium on the construction of new wind power plants by failing to complete a study of windmills’ impact on radar by Congressionally-mandated.

Safety General USA

This report focuses on the effects of wind farms on air defense and missile warning radars and the resulting potential impact on military readiness. Its scope is limited to these specific subjects and is based on the current level of understanding regarding interactions between such defense systems and state-of-the-art wind turbines.........The results from those flight trials documented that state-of-the-art utility-class wind turbines can have a significant impact on the operational capabilities of military air defense radar systems. The results demonstrated that the large radar cross section of a wind turbine combined with the Doppler frequency shift produced by its rotating blades can impact the ability of a radar to discriminate the wind turbine from an aircraft. Those tests also demonstrated that the wind farms have the potential to degrade target tracking capabilities as a result of shadowing and clutter effects.

Technology Safety General Zoning/Planning USA

May I draw attention to two relevant issues in the wind energy debate: 1) Radar and 2) Renewable Obligation Certificates.

Taxes & Subsidies Safety General UK

Blyth Valley Council refused planning permission to enable Aesica Pharmaceuticals to install two wind turbines up to 140 metres high at its plant in Shotton Lane. Although several members of the council's development control panel felt the application was a positive step towards using renewable forms of energy, a vote concluded that the turbines would impact on radar systems in the flight path to and from Newcastle Airport.

Safety General Zoning/Planning UK

An investigation into what caused a half-ton chunk of a wind turbine blade to snap off and crash into a field has dubbed a “manufacturing fault”. The verdict has caused concern among windfarm protesters, who have asked whether there may be faults in other turbines across the Westcountry - many of which are situated close to houses and roads.

Safety General UK

A Chugach Electric idea to put giant, electricity-producing windmills on Fire Island is giving its neighbor, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, a case of bad vibes. Radar experts recently found that electromagnetic waves from the proposed 33-windmill project would be so strong they would warp the signal of the airport's main air traffic control radar. On top of that, the sheer size of the windmills, whose blade tips could reach 400 feet in the air, would also physically block the signal of another key radar already on Fire Island.

Safety General Alaska

The mount albaceteño returned to give a new scare yesterday. A aerogenerador of the Aeolian park of the Anorias in Pétrola began to burn on the four with afternoon and caused a forest fire in the place known like the Cord. Editor's Note: This translation is not great but this fire in Albacete, Spain was caused by a wind turbine. Apparently this is the second incident.

Safety General Europe

EUREKA - Woodford County volunteer firefighters are asking for more than eight times as much money originally offered from the developers of a wind farm so they can be trained to combat potential emergencies involving the gigantic turbines.

Safety General Illinois

The Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Guidelines are reference documents designed to provide project developers, financiers, facility managers, and other decision makers with relevant industry background and technical information. This information supports actions aimed at avoiding, minimizing, and controlling EHS impacts during the construction, operation, and decommissioning phases of a project or facility.

Impact on Wildlife Impact on People Safety General Impact on Landscape Zoning/Planning

Illinois' senators are blocking President Bush's nominee for a Federal Aviation Administration post as they seek his administration's answer to whether wind farms interfere with military operations.

Safety General USA Illinois

BAE Systems has developed a bolt-on, two-chip radar signal processor that can negate the radar-confusing returns that wind turbines generate (Flight International, 11-17 July). The advanced digital tracker (ADT) does not interfere with the radar, but post-processes the signals before they are shown on the display, dismissing the clutter the turbines can create so "real" targets can be detected even close to large wind farms.

Safety General UK

"On Friday, June 23, we issued a unilateral order regarding the failure of their erosion controls and that it was a violation of the permits we issued," Tor said. "We ordered them to correct the control failures and submit a plan for addressing the problem areas."

Erosion Safety General Impact on Landscape Massachusetts

SIOUX FALLS (AP) — Developers and officials hope that three wind farm projects in the works for South Dakota will go forward despite military officials’ concerns that turbines might interfere with radar.

Safety General South Dakota

I would like to briefly discuss a few of the reasons why some of us, and perhaps the reader, would not want to have one of these power plants in our back yard.

Safety New Hampshire

Air traffic surveillance can be severely degraded unless planners are required to consider aircraft safety

Safety General UK

Elliott said the threat that the two proposed mega windmills -- which would be more than 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty -- pose to his home and family was dramatically demonstrated in 2002, when an existing shorter windmill malfunctioned and caught fire.

Impact on People Safety General California

...my role as a successful international maritime safety and security expert has persuaded me to express serious concern about the effect these projects will have on Buzzards Bay, Martha's Vineyard Sound and Nantucket Sound.

Safety General Massachusetts

Campaigners have sent details of 273 accidents worldwide to the Department of Trade and Industry and the Health and Safety Executive.

Safety General UK