How would you like an industrial wind turbine development surrounding your vacation dream spot? (BDN)
3/20/13
William Wilson: Saponic Pond value
In 2000, I purchased Black Island, in the middle of Saponic Pond, because of the beauty and majesty of Passadumkeag Mountain. A little bit of Maine not covered with industrial sprawl.
This was before the discussion of wind turbines being built on Passadumkeag. I already see 14 wind turbines with their nightly red pulsating lights, aircraft beacons, to the north of my island.
Now Texas-based company Quantum Utility is appealing the decision of the Department of Environmental Protection to deny its permit on grounds of “unreasonable scenic impact.”
Quantum Utility and Reed and Reed propose to build 460-foot industrial turbines to the east and southeast of my island. How will I be able to enjoy the starry night sky? I will be surrounded by 28 turbines, a victim of the cumulative effect of industrial wind turbine proliferation. Do people think they will stop there?
In reading Jackson Parker’s March 18 OpEd, “ Let wind turbines stand on Passadumkeag Mountain,” I took offense at his comments on water quality. We cook, swim, fish and wash with Saponic Pond water, and we have since we purchased our island.
It’s interesting to note that his piece primarily addresses the financial aspect of the wind development.
Continue reading here:
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/03/19/opinion/letters/wednesday-mar...
Views: 387
Comment
-
Comment by Donna Amrita Davidge on March 26, 2013 at 3:57pm
-
There are so many reasons and valid these need to be stopped..let's all not give up the fight and raising awareness in any way we can..
-
Comment by Martha thacker on March 24, 2013 at 7:18am
-
Don't remember the name ..but it was over the findings of Vinylhaven noise. The DEP seems to be bucking the system.
-
Comment by Mike DiCenso on March 23, 2013 at 2:36pm
-
Martha...Who was the head of the DEP who was fired? Thanks.
-
-
Whetstone-Willy
Interesting link.
"Kaheawa wasn't getting bills, so it wasn't aware it was delinquent." So the wonderful job providing environmental lovers didn' t realize they were supposed to pay taxes. And to think baldaci and his band of merry men gave up Maine for them..now LePage says he doesn't like wind farms but replaces the head of the DEP when he tells the truth about Vinylhaven. One admits his love of the corporate dollar over Mainers and the other one doesn't , but continues with Baldaci policy.
-
Comment by Whetstone_Willy on March 23, 2013 at 9:12am
-
Delinquent First Wind $1.5 million tax bill lost in paper trail
-
-
Ginny
I think Maine's best hope is that the money will run out for the subsidies.It is hard to believe that with cutbacks everywhere , they can still give away tax payer money to such a gigantic hoax.
Another hope is that since First Wind is noted for being non truthful..have no problems with making promises they can't deliver..that the shortfulls from promised revenues to townships will be more and more public knowledge.
Lincoln had a 1.2 million dollar unexplained "loss". It was attributed to book keeping. I am wondering if anything like this has happened before. The town manager who was so gung ho for the wind farm had already gotten out of Dodge. The new one made his announcement as to the shortfall to the press first and was promptly fired. It doesn't take a lot of intelligence to see that he smelled a rat. If he had wanted to keep his job, he definitely would not have gone to the press first.
We, as Mainers have so little power in the decision making process, we have to look at the less obvious and follow up. Lisa Linowes at windaction.org is a great resource. She knew early on , that Brookfield power , which was scheduled to close to make room on the grid for Stetson, was concentrating on transmission. She said they had a team of lawyers and documents an inch thick.
I still think lack of transmission for the wind farms is important. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to get much interest. But Stetson I and II were built with no room on the grid for their power..so obviously all the rest are too.
I wish you all the best in saving your land..and all of Maine.
-
Comment by Ginny Ward on March 23, 2013 at 8:00am
-
Your post is well understood and "hits home" to the very core. It is with great dismay that I learned that this appeal was overturned for Passadumkeag .... actually frightening.
The proposed "Bingham Wind" project, if allowed to happen, will be the biggest industrial wind project in New England, so far. First Wind is due to present their application to DEP within two weeks. The project consists of 63 turbines, each nearly 500 ft. tall, in the woods, on the ridge lines, by the lakes, ponds streams AND CAMPS, from Bingham through Kingsbury Plt. (a 15 mile stretch of monstrous machines). Transmission lines will run through Parkman and Abbot.
Our family camp, built by hand by my father-in-law and family members, in 1969, sits on 40 acres owned by us, on a small mountain top in Kingsbury Plt. Our place will be surrounded on three sides by 22 massive turbines, the closest being 1900 ft. from our camp.
The devastating rape of Maine's rural areas has to stop. There will be nothing left of the unique and special qualities that have defined our beautiful State.
-
-
Could the communication towers on Passadumkeag Mtn be lowered so they would not have to be lit ? That would send the message that the env. has the priority. All cell towers should be below the 196 ft (i think) height so they would not be required to be lit. Planes can crash into things in broad daylight as we see the last couple of weeks. The night lighting is the result of lobbying by the makers of the lights. GE? If cell phones are so important to so many people,(not me), they still do not need to be so high. I narrowly avoided a cell phone gabber last summer on the Nicatous Road. Part of getting away from it all is leaving it all behind.
Jack is a jerk. His position does not give him the excuse to ruin property values or destroy the mtns., not to mention degrading the habitat for fish and critters.
-
-
Penny
Nice visual there. Well..the positive in all of this is that the more conservative sports people have taken a stand and do not get side tracked . Maybe because they are actually in the woods and know that we need to protect our sacred treasures?
As opposed to those who say they want to protect the environment because it is politically correct or they took a few courses in school ..but have no first hand knowledge.Seems like the way that the political landscape is shaping up is same as it ever was. Those who are affected are the most committed. Those who only read or talk about the issues have a hard time, it seems , knowing how to make the right priorities. There are exceptions..
oh, I wrote to 350.org and democracynow which promotes them re . the truth..never heard back.
-
-
In comment to Martha, yes, Audubon, Sierra Club, (maybe) ABC Birds, 350.org (President was former Sierra Club executive), Wilderness Society appear to have made the decision to work within the "system." The only group that has not wavered from their environmental protection stand is the Center for Biological Diversity. They won on appeal to prevent a uranium mine from being built in the Grand Canyon. Their opponent was the Department of Energy. I donate to them and no one else.
Most are 501(c) 3 non profits and then the political arm - 501(c)4. The Sierra Club is by far the most political and pro wind turbines/PTC. Their materials disgust me.
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
Not yet a member?
Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?
We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi
Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!
Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
© 2024 Created by Webmaster.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine to add comments!
Join Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine