RUMFORD — Wind turbine sound, safety setbacks and operational licensing were the major topics discussed at Thursday night's wind power ordinance workshop by selectmen.
The board has until Sept. 29 to draft their third attempt at a wind ordinance, if it plans to present it to voters on the Nov. 8 ballot. If unable to do so, residents would most likely have to wait till June 2012 to vote on it.
Selectman Jermey Volkernick, who took issue with trying to rush a wind ordinance to the voters by November, was absent Thursday night.
The operational license was the first item that was discussed with three concerns from Selectman Greg Buccina. Language to allow ongoing monitoring of a wind project, both pre- and post-construction, was discussed.
Buccina also suggested hiring a wildlife biologist for a pre-construction study of the area and also to allow a continuing study for up to three years after the wind turbines are in operation.
Erosion control was brought up because of recent concerns over flooding during Tropical Storm Irene and the effects of how a logging project could have factored into the destruction caused by the storm surge.
"I think we should take care of concerns ahead of time instead of dealing with issues after the fact," Buccina said.
Selectmen Brad Adley and Jolene Lovejoy said they believed there were already regulations with the state Department of Environmental Protection concerning erosion.
Selectman Jeff Sterling informed the board that the Board of Environmental Protection voted 5-4 to drop the decibel level of wind turbines from 45 to 42 from 7 p.m to 7 a.m. The regulation has to be passed by lawmakers before it goes into effect.
"If we went with DEP on sound decibels and it gets voted in, we are on the same page, and if it doesn't, then we are more stringent," Buccina said.
Lovejoy addressed how every community is different and that's why an ordinance needs to vary from community to community.
"We can't have the same set standards as DEP," Lovejoy said.
A resident mentioned hiring a unbiased acoustical engineer for a study on the matter.
Safety setback items were also slimmed down in the ordinance. Initially, the ordinance had language that included setbacks for property lines and residential lines. Selectmen agreed to do away with the residential line language and only have a property line restriction.
The safety setback language was changed to require a wind turbine to be 4,000 feet from a property line.
http://www.sunjournal.com/river-valley/story/1092304
Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Comment
U.S. Sen Angus King
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 - 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/
© 2025 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