Saying wind power plan endangers bat, groups notify company of intent to sue
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
...The groups -- Sensible Wind Solutions, Mountain Laurel Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Allegheny Plateau Audubon Society -- yesterday served the Spanish-owned wind power company, Gamesa Energy, with a notice of intent to sue under the federal Endangered Species Act.
According to the notice, the site where the 404-foot tall turbines and 18 miles of service roads would be built on 22,000 acres of leased land is confirmed habitat for the Indiana bat, listed as an endangered species since 1967.
The formal 60-day notice is required by the federal law as a precondition for filing a lawsuit against an alleged violator.
The proposed turbine site, along the eastern edge of the Allegheny Plateau, has attracted widespread opposition because it's in the watershed of two of the state's "exceptional value" trout streams and is a migratory pathway for numerous raptor species, including the golden eagle. It's also located in a Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Area of Exceptional Significance.
Gamesa officials yesterday declined comment.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has informed Gamesa that if it intends to proceed with the project it must file for an "incidental take permit," which, if granted, would require the company to meet tough legal conditions. They include demonstrating that there are no feasible alternatives to killing endangered species and preparing a habitat conservation plan.
Gamesa has not filed such a permit application. Instead, the company has asked that it be allowed to go forward with the project based on its assessment that the project will have "low effect" on the species.
But the federal agency is concerned about the cumulative effects on the Indiana bat of this wind project and others, and told the company those effects could be significant.
"We believe [Gamesa] is proceeding with plans to construct the project and if it does will be in violation of the Endangered Species Act," said Eric Glitzenstein, a Washington, D.C., attorney representing the environmental groups. "This notice gives the company an opportunity to comply with the law and if it doesn't, puts us in position to proceed with litigation."
Pennsylvania has no regulations for siting wind turbine projects or assessing their impacts on wildlife. Instead, it relies on unenforceable voluntary siting "guidelines" negotiated by the wind power industry and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Complete article here.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
MD bans Turbines in State Forests
Maryland 12 Apr 2008 ~
Wind farms to be barred: Governor will reject proposal to clear state forests for turbines, Baltimore Sun
Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to announce today that his administration will prohibit the construction of wind turbines in Maryland’s state forests and parks, according to administration sources. The decision ends a hotly protested proposal by a Pennsylvania company to clear about 400 mountaintop acres in two Western Maryland state forests to build 100 wind turbines. O’Malley is ... Complete story »
HT: National Wind Watch
Wind farms to be barred: Governor will reject proposal to clear state forests for turbines, Baltimore Sun
Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to announce today that his administration will prohibit the construction of wind turbines in Maryland’s state forests and parks, according to administration sources. The decision ends a hotly protested proposal by a Pennsylvania company to clear about 400 mountaintop acres in two Western Maryland state forests to build 100 wind turbines. O’Malley is ... Complete story »
HT: National Wind Watch
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Blue Knob Turbine Noise Like Jet Circling
Concerns aired over wind farm proposal
March 27, 2008 by Cori Bolger in Centre Daily Times
A jet circling overhead, a neighbor's thumping bass or a train's brakes squealing as it rounds a curve. These are scenarios Todd Stull and Clair Chappell use to describe how the noise of spinning wind turbines have shattered their once idyllic life in the mountains. "We cannot escape the noise," Stull said. "This issue cannot be trivialized. It's nothing short of a pollution problem." Stull and Chappell, who live next to the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm in Blue Knob, warned borough residents not to chose a similar fate during a public forum Wednesday in Tyrone. ..."This project swooped in, and we didn't have the foresight to see it coming," Chappell said. "Tyrone needs to do their homework and find out if it's the right thing to do ... and keep in mind that you don't have to do it today."
HT: Industrial Wind Action Group
March 27, 2008 by Cori Bolger in Centre Daily Times
A jet circling overhead, a neighbor's thumping bass or a train's brakes squealing as it rounds a curve. These are scenarios Todd Stull and Clair Chappell use to describe how the noise of spinning wind turbines have shattered their once idyllic life in the mountains. "We cannot escape the noise," Stull said. "This issue cannot be trivialized. It's nothing short of a pollution problem." Stull and Chappell, who live next to the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm in Blue Knob, warned borough residents not to chose a similar fate during a public forum Wednesday in Tyrone. ..."This project swooped in, and we didn't have the foresight to see it coming," Chappell said. "Tyrone needs to do their homework and find out if it's the right thing to do ... and keep in mind that you don't have to do it today."
HT: Industrial Wind Action Group
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