The Mass Department of Environmental Protection is stuck in regulatory capture.
Regulatory capture is the MassDEP a state agency that is supposed to protect your health and safety financed commercial wind turbines for a failed state wind turbine renewable energy agenda.
Mass Department of Environmental Protection: After Ten Years Of Wind Turbine Testimony Again Takes No Action.
For ten years no one has answered why the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has not upgraded noise regulations for commercial wind turbines.
Looking back on commercial wind turbine projects today it's reasonable to assume the reason the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has dragged its feet on new noise regulations is because they financed the horrendous wind turbine noise and shadow flicker problems taking health and property rights. ( regulatory capture )
The answer is simply follow the money and a commercial wind turbine agenda gone horribly wrong.
Falmouth, Massachusetts is ground zero for poorly placed wind turbines in the United States followed by twenty one other local communities due in part to the MassDEP and its use of federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The Global Warming Solutions Act requires that Massachusetts cut its greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.To achieve the renewable energy goal the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection helped finance wind turbines to have the state reach a renewable energy goal of 2000 megawatts of wind turbine renewable energy by the year 2020.
The Falmouth wind turbine project at the Town’s waste water treatment facility (“Wind II”) was funded with moneys provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”). The former DEP Commissioner at that time Ken Kimmell indicated finances through MassDEP and the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust.
The designation to the ARRA loan for the Falmouth Wind II turbine is designated, CWSRF-3297 Wind Energy Facility "WIND 2" CWSG-09-36, totaling $4,865,000.00. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Green Project Reserve of 2009, through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, provided funding for a wide variety of qualifying projects in the categories including the Falmouth wastewater treatment plant Falmouth Wind II turbine.
To be clear Falmouth Wind II was installed and commissioned in 2012. Its financing differs significantly from the Wind 1 financing. Wind 2 cost approximately $5,000,000 to acquire and install. It was financed by a loan/grant from the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust (the Trust). The loan funds originated with the United States under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
Between 2009 and 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) leveraged nearly $192 million of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to create or retain thousands of jobs and achieve lasting environmental improvements across the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection through the Water Pollution Abatement Trust went forward providing loans on commercial wind turbines that took the health and property rights of thousands of Massachusetts citizens to achieve the goals of the Global Warming Solutions Act.
The Town of Falmouth was warned in writing prior to installations their turbines were too loud for residential neighborhoods
Federal and state officials were well aware of noise tests done in Boone North Carolina in 1985 by the US Department of Energy by Scientist Neil Kelly. Those tests showed noise problems from wind turbines measured in decibels and human annoyance, nuisance noise or what was defined in 1986 as wind turbine infra sound.
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative in 2005 had warned Massachusetts citizens in basic wind turbine noise studies of two distinct types of noise from wind turbines regulatory measured in decibels and human annoyance or what is called infra sound. These nuisance and decibel warnings were hidden from the Falmouth wind studies.
Prior to the installation of the Falmouth Massachusetts town owned second wind turbine called Falmouth Wind II the town had received a warning letter from the manufacturer, Vestas a foreign wind company, that the turbines generate 110 decibels of noise.The installation of the Falmouth Wind II turbine is a political embarrassment for state officials as they helped finance what neighbors describe as torture from lack of sleep or unable to work in their yards during the day if the turbines operate.
The noise level of the Vestas turbine is double that of a General Electric a domestic wind company. General Electric refused to build a single wind turbine because of setbacks to residential property. A year 2005 KEMA Inc. decibel map showed a single General Electric turbine would exceed 40 decibels of noise on Blacksmith Shop Road a residential area.
The Falmouth Wind II turbine was the second of two 110 decibel wind turbines. It is obvious according to the 2005 KEMA Inc map that the noise levels on Blacksmith Shop Road would more that double noise levels.
Falmouth Wind II used federal stimulus funds which required a federal EPA waiver to buy a foreign made turbine because no domestic turbines were available. General Electric refused because of setbacks The EPA waiver was approved despite the refusal of General Electric to install one turbine. The EPA waiver was approved for a second foreign made turbine twice as loud as the GE turbine.
The federal EPA waiver made reference to the Town of Falmouth filing Special Permit 240-166. The special permit would have required additional studies and notifications to the neighbors of the turbines through the Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals . The town did not file the permit or provide additional notifications.
Everyone involved in the installation of Falmouth Wind II was aware the turbine was too loud. (Everyone)
There was no wind turbine noise study done for Falmouth Wind II or both wind turbines operating together.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust made a "mistake" providing Falmouth a loan/grant of $4,865,000.00 .
Today the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is stuck in regulatory capture. This is a a form of government failure that occurs when a regulatory agency, created to act in the public interest, instead advances the commercial or political concerns of special interest groups that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating.
The MassDEP put the commercial wind turbine agenda of 2000 megawatts of wind power ahead of the health and property rights of thousands of Massachusetts citizens .
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