Maine DEP staff advises rejection of Passadumkeag Mountain wind site

Maine DEP staff advises rejection of Passadumkeag Mountain wind site

Passadumkeag Mountain is seen in this aerial photo. Saponac Pond is in the foreground with the mountains of MDI in the distance.

R.W. Estela
Passadumkeag Mountain is seen in this aerial photo. Saponac Pond is in the foreground with the mountains of MDI in the distance.
Posted Nov. 01, 2012, at 3:52 p.m.

GRAND FALLS TOWNSHIP, Maine — Staff at the state’s top environmental agency recommended the denial Thursday of an application to build a 14-turbine site on Passadumkeag Mountain.

A draft decision filed with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection recommends that a permit for the project be denied. The applicant, Quantum Utility Generation, an alternative energy company based in Houston, “has not made adequate provision for fitting the generating facility portion of the development harmoniously into the existing natural environment,” the document states.

“The development will have an unreasonable adverse effect on existing uses and the scenic character of Saponac Pond,” the draft decision adds.

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Comment by Mike DiCenso on November 3, 2012 at 4:25pm

I am hopeful this recent good news is not the last. Paddling toward turbines is always distracting and at night it is most unpleasant, but I refuse to be housebound. Congrats to the Passadumkeag group and thanks to the DEP. This has to stick!!!

Comment by Brad Blake on November 2, 2012 at 8:41am

It is great to see the DEP finally morphing away from the "rubber stamp" mentality as it comes to industrial wind power and interpretation/application of the heinous "wind law", PL 661.  Earlier this year, Commissioner Aho pledged there would be a "New Tone" set in DEP regarding this review.

The section of PL 661 regarding Scenic Resources of State or National Significance (SRSNS)within the 8 mile scenic impact zone has always been there, the one hedge in a law that otherwise states clearly that scenic impact is to be ignored.  All one needs to do is ride around the Lincoln Lakes region, close by Passadumkeag Mt. to see the impact.

Sadly, the SRSNS was ignored in several previous wind project approvals.  Record Hill impacts on the Appalachian Trail, a designated State "Scenic By-way", and the Rumford Whitecap preserve of the Mahoosuc Land Trust.  The Spruce Mt. project turbines in Woodstock are within 1 to 3 miles of two parcels bought for protection by money from Land for Maine's Future fund:  Little Concord Pond/Bald Mt. and Speckled Mt.  The approval of Saddleback Wind in Carthage has Mt. Blue State Park within the 8 mile zone. 

There have been heavy impacts on other Maine treasures just beyond the arbitrary 8 mile zone, also:  We now see wind turbines from Mt. Katahdin--Gov. Baxter and Thoreau must be spinning in their graves!  Same for Myron Avery, the driving force behind the Appalachian Trail in Maine, as the turbines of Kibby are clearly visible from the peak named in his honor on magnificent Bigelow Mt.  Worse, the newly constructed turbines on Bull Hill are clearly visible from Acadia National Park.  Let's hope the "New Tone" in the DEP means that this significant section of the law is finally being honored to protect Maine's priceless scenic and natural resources!

Comment by Brad Blake on November 1, 2012 at 11:32pm

SAVED!!!  THANK YOU DEP!!!

 

Passadumkeag Mt. from Lee

Comment by Brad Blake on November 1, 2012 at 10:39pm

Saponic Pond is designated as having "significant scenic resources" in the "Maine Wildlands Lakes Assessment". Nicatous Lake, which is also in the 8 mile scenic impact area, was designated as "outstanding" in the same assessment.

Here is the significance of this ruling: Saponic Pond is impacted by the most southerly of the turbines of the Rollins Project. I have a photo taken at turbine #37 in Rocky Dundee showing the Passadumkeag massif and Saponic Pond. The same citation about Saponic was considered 4 years ago when that project became the first project ever to be reviewed by DEP under the heinous expedited wind permitting process. It wasn't even considered at that time; on this project, it is what caused the ruling. The DEP is starting to seriously apply the language of the wind law in regards to the 8 mile scenic impact zone with this decision!

I am hopeful that this precendent will be considered in the appeals of the Carthage & Oakfiled projects. It should also keep the resurrected Bowers project denied.

Comment by Jim Lutz on November 1, 2012 at 8:17pm

We are making steady gains . . . . Keep up the pressure!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Penny Gray on November 1, 2012 at 5:05pm

Fingers crossed that this remarkable "recommendation" by the DEP is taken.  Good job, DEP.  Downright amazing.  Thank you!

 

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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