Friday, January 05, 2007

More Allegheny Township Public Hearings

Allegheny Township supervisors held another public hearing on their draft wind turbine ordinance on Thursday, January 4, 2006, at the Township Municipal Shed. The meeting was covered by Jennifer Garlasky in the Somerset Daily American.

Several Folmont owners presented testimony, including written statements submitted for the record by Terry Doran, FPOA's VP, and by Pete Weaver.

Among the main concerns expressed on behalf of Folmont residents are that the current draft would allow:
  • Turbines to be constructed at a proximity of 1.5 times the "Turbine Height" from the property line of an adjacent land owner.
  • Noise levels of 55dbA, as measured at the exterior of the neighboring occupied building.
Further, the escrow for decommissioning is set at only 25% of estimated decommissioning costs, with the result that turbine companies can walk away from abandoned turbines for a 75% discount, as against the cost of actual removal of the instalation. (Ownership of turbines is normally held by single-asset corporations created soley for that purpose, so that financial recourse for damages is virtually non-existent.)

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