Need advice: First Wind trying to redefine expedited zone again.
Kossuth Plt has very few residents. In fact, DeLorme lists no population whatsoever. Still, the Task Force made a conscious decision to bisect Kossuth: north of Rte 6 is in the Expedited Zone but south of Rte 6 is not. The only possible reason for protecting the southern part of Kossuth is that it includes Pleasant Lake, one of LURC's 1A lakes. LURC has classified Pleasant Lake's Scenic Value as Outstanding, its Fishery as Outstanding, its Botanical value as Outstanding and its Shoreline Character as Significant. Pleasant Lake is also home to the Maine Wilderness Camps -- an internationally known destination with a long history.
The Issue Unfortunately for First Wind, the hills they want to destroy are in the southern, non-expedited part of Kossuth Plt. just north of Pleasant Lake. They have therefore petitioned LURC to redraw the expedited zone border to include southern Kossuth, allowing them to erect turbines without having to submit to any of the normal scrutiny. This would put some of the 2.5MW, 490' tall towers on top of the highest hill in the area, completely visible from Pleasant Lake just 2 miles away. Here's a link to First Wind's application.
MY QUESTION IS THIS: what can we do to keep LURC from reclassifying southern Kossuth Plt? I know some of you have dealt with this issue with Transcanada's project. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Gary Campbell
Partnership for the Preservation of the Downeast Lakes Watershed (PPDLW)
www.ppdlw.org
Views: 215
Comment
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Comment by Karen Bessey Pease on July 4, 2010 at 4:18pm
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A bit of conflict of interest there, I think? Hmmm... And what is Maine Wilderness Camps getting out of the deal? Are there 'tangible benefits' involved? Free electricity or something similar?
Just wondering... I find this so disheartening, but it should spur us on, as well. Happy 4th. Kaz
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Comment by Gary Campbell on July 4, 2010 at 4:14pm
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Thanks for your input, Mary Beth. Unfortunately I think Maine Wilderness Camps is supportive of the wind project even though the turbines wil tower over their camp. And as for our rep, well he's Everett McLeod, and he gets about $85,000/year from First Wind in lease payments. We at PPDLW are exploring every avenue.
Thanks again,
Gary
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Comment by Mary Beth Nolette on July 4, 2010 at 11:21am
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Sorry Gary. This is disheartening. First Wind has dealt with so many barriers that they can predict pretty far in advance what to expect from the opposition.
Has anyone there contacted the folks at the Maine Wilderness Camps? They may be willing to contact prior campers to alert them that this is happening. Someone there might be willing to do some legwork and hopefully donate money for the fight.
We need to also stay on our representatives, even the ones that are not in our individual districts. This includes our Washington reps. Develop a consistant story that can be presented to their staff, who are often the ones screening all incoming correspondence. They need to know that there is a bloc of voters that is growing who will vote in this next election, patriots who are against corporate welfare, and who are educated on the facts.
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Hi Gary. I'm sorry... I've been behind the ball and hadn't seen your plea. Please email me at roomtomove@tds.net and I'll see if I can help you.
Chin up, my friend. There are loads of folks who support you... let see what we can do to get them involved.
Kaz
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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
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(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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