Published today in the " Mount Desert Islander" : Oakfield revisited !
Hello All: The Mount Desert Islander published the following letter in today's edition, Lynne
Without even bothering to begin construction on the Oakfield Industrial Wind facility that was permitted by the Department of Environmental Protection in January 2010, Evergreen Wind LLC quietly submitted an application for a large expansion of the project. The new application would increase the number of turbines from 34 to 50, and increase the height of the turbines from 389 feet (a 39-story high rise) to 459 feet (a 46-story high rise). Evergreen Wind LLC, a subsidiary of First Wind, submitted the expansion application in June 2011, but the details of the application have only recently come to the attention of local residents.
While there was some opposition to the original application, as well as an unsuccessful appeal based on noise issues, there is extensive opposition to the expansion. Just seven days ago, “Protect Our Lakes,” a group of folks who live and/or recreate on land that will be negatively impacted by the Oakfield Wind Project Expansion, posted an online petition, which asked people to sign to indicate their opposition to the Oakfield Expansion.
In just seven days, this petition received over 500 signatures and is now being submitted to the DEP. The signers are very aware that these lakes and the land surrounding them not only have incredible scenic and wildlife values, but historical values as well. A leading opponent of the project expansion, Donna Davidge, notes that she is “ancestrally attached to [the land and these lakes].” Donna is the great-granddaughter of Bill Sewall, Teddy Roosevelt's Maine guide. As one petition commenter noted, “This piece of Heaven will forever be tainted if this goes through. It is absolutely tragic and unfair for these to be built. In the spirit and memory of great men like Bill Sewall, Teddy Roosevelt, and my grandfather Florence McAuliffe who built Camp Roosevelt on Pleasant Lake in the 1920's, we need to exhaust every option in the short time that we have before these are scheduled for construction.”
The opposition to this project expansion encompasses concerns for scenic degradation, wildlife habitat fragmentation, negative impacts to the lakes' fisheries, and general concerns about a process that did not even include a public hearing by the DEP. According to Bar Harbor attorney Lynne Williams, who represents opponents, “To date, the DEP has refused to hold a single public hearing on an industrial wind facility application. It's about time that the agency decided to open up their decision-making to public scrutiny.”
Views: 126
Comment
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Comment by Dan McKay on November 24, 2011 at 10:34am
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The DEP has become it's own worst enemy as it cowers further and further away from the public. A sign that they are in dysfunctional mode. They've lost several key people involved in the wind project application process. The next legislature needs to take a good look at this department and the problems taking place. Making them a scapegoat defending the tangible benefit , sound , financial capacity and decommissioning rules thrust upon them is extraordinarily out of sync with their mission to protect the air, water and soil.
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Comment by alice mckay barnett on November 24, 2011 at 8:23am
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Comment by Long Islander on November 24, 2011 at 12:51am
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That the state would even consider allowing a factory of Boston skyscraper-sized noisy flashing turbines which they now full well know produce almost no net electricity, into this magnificent area is a problem that we all need to recognize and address. Something is rotten here. This is OUR government. They are us. They are not an organization that ensures revenues for Cianbro or makes sure Reed & Reed can pay for its turbine crane.
The 59 mile long transmission line through wetlands is another issue that we as good citizens will not allow to be swept under the carpet.
See: http://www.windtaskforce.org/page/oakfield-chester-line
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/
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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/
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