Windmill Update

“For those not familiar with the issue, we are talking about a proposed windmill project along the Allegheny Front north of Dolly Sods in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. The project would be built by a Dutch firm known as NedPower (Ned deriving from Nederland).

Map reference is the Blackbird Knob quad. Referenced hills are north of Bear Rocks along the Allegheny Front, or the east rim. The project would be entirely in the Stony River watershed north of Dolly Sods and the eastern continental divide that forms the northern boundary of the Red Creek watershed.

NedPower offered a tentative agreement to the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy that would have cut out somewhere around 20 turbines from the southernmost mile of their proposed project.

Under that tentative agreement, the southernmost windmill would have been on Hill 3793 (elevation in feet) a mile north of Stack Rocks and two miles north of Bear Rocks.

This means that turbines on this hill and the one to the immediate north, Hill 3758, would have been visible from Bear Rocks and from the Allegheny Front south of Bear Rocks, based on a photo montage that NedPower supplied to the WVHC.

My proposal to limit the turbines to elevations below 3500 feet north of Hill 3758 was rejectd by NedPower.

There were other provisions in the tentative agreement, the most notable of which was a plan to monitor avian mortality along the Front, which is considered to be a major migratory flyway. Other parts of the tentative agreement were, in my mind, virtually negligible since there was no way of enforcing them.

The tentative agreement was presented to the WVHC board Sunday. It was rejected. At this point I am trying to find out from somebody on the board where we go from here. There was some discussion about filing for intervenor status with the WV Public Service Commission, and also about filing a suit. Neither course was approved, from what I can determine.

I find myself somewhat between the two sides. I did not like the tentative agreement because of the visibility of what looks like around 10 turbines on hazy days, more on clear days, from Bear Rocks and the Front south of Bear Rocks.

The Nature Conservancy, which owns the land from Bear Rocks up to Stack Rocks, apparently declined to get involved in either negotiations or and legal action. They do draw considerable funding from corporate donors.

I suspect the people serving on the board will need some time to come down from what sounds like a contentious meeting and figure out where to go next. Being new to the group, I have no feel for where it will go from here.

Many of us want no windmills, while others feel it is inevitable and we should get the best deal we can. I do not feel the tentative agreement is the best deal we could have gotten, but I am concerned there is no plan to get to where we should be.

Avian mortality is an issue. The turbines would turn at rates where a single blade would pass a given point in the arc every three or four seconds. That means a blade would pass a given point in the arc every second, which does not give birds much leeway to negotiate the windmills. I would expect avian mortality to be high. Nobody has come up with facts of figures from other windmill projects around the nation or the world.

Also, the windmill project now under construction on Backbone Mountain northwest of Blackwater Falls State Park has been cited by some of the WVHC people as an enormously intrusive monstrosity even though the towers are not fully constructed yet.

That is all there is to say at this point. Thought I'd keep you all posted.”

“at least it's not a nuke, right? maybe it'll just get starlings and pegions....”

“The project would run for some 15 miles along the Front, two and four rows deep. I think pretty much anything that tries to fly in that area is going to face a massive death trap. Towers would be 200 feet high with blades 35 feet long.

There is a group that bands migratory songbirds along the front from the overlook opposite the trailhead at Red Creek Campground. I talked with them in August, and they band and count massive numbers of small birds, some of which are already undergoing stress at that point in their migration.

These birds fly relatively close to the treetops up to I don't know how high, but certainly 235 feet would be in their mid to upper range I would think. The full arc of the 35-foot blades would be 70 feet, and if they are in rows, well, somebody needs to tell the birds to find another route!”

“Nederland?

What a bunch of maroons! They can't even spell their own country's name correctly.”

“Ya, iss all dat pottensillyschtuff vat dey is inchesting, ya?”

“Wind power proponents
stage open house event

A pair of landowners check out turbine locations on a map.


Nearly 100 area residents braved the fog and a light rain, Oct. 11, to learn more about one of Grant County's proposed wind-powered electrical generation projects.

That's the proposed $300 million 200-turbine NedPower - Mount Storm project. If approved by the state Public Service Commission, the project will occupy a 14-mile-long, half-mile wide stretch of the Allegheny Front.

The site of the open house was Vernon Hanlin's Grassy Ridge Road cabin, which has been rented by NedPower as its local office.

Inside, visitors had a chance to view video presentations about wind power and maps showing proposed turbine locations. The project would generate 300 MW of electricity.

A lot of the visitors had the same issues as those raised by Marsha and Bill Romano, Northern Virginia residents who have a vacation/weekend home in a New Creek-Scherr development known as The Preserve.

According to Marsha, the couple attended the session in hopes of learning if the project will affect scenery seen from their property. That's an issue known as "visual pollution."

"We're not so worried about the sound," she said about tower-mounted turbines. "What we are interested in is lights and the view. We wanted to check that out."

NedPower representatives told participants the massive turbines run quietly, being largely silent to a listener standing 250 meters away. Heard from that distance, turbines will make as much noise as a refrigerator motor.

NedPower was represented by its president, Jerome Niessen and a second official, Tim Heinle.

They said the impact of visual pollution will vary depending largely on where property owners are located. As part of the company's application process, computer-generated "viewscapes" have been created to show how towers will appear from various locations.

Supporters claim towers will appear very small from most locations, including the popular Dolly Sods Wilderness - Bear Rocks recreation areas. Niessen recently accompanied members of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy on a hike to Raven Rock to talk about visual pollution.

Niessen said a computer image revealed turbines will look very small from that location.

At night, turbine towers will be marked with lights. The shape, size and color of those lights will be determined once bird migration studies are completed.

Company officials have said initial studies have shown certain-colored lights pose less of a navigation/collision problem for birds. There are also studies underway to determine the project's potential impact on several rare animals.

The Romanos have already checked out similar turbines in operation near Somerset, Pa.

As part of the open house, entertainment was provided by the Maysville Elementary School chorus. MES is one of the company's local educational partners. The other partner, Union Educational Complex, provided a parking attendant.

MES Principal Mark Nicol is among those who have signed leases with NedPower.

Fostering additional local connections, NedPower turned to a local church, the Calvary Temple, to cater the event.

NedPower has promised to pay both schools an annual royalty from wind-generated power sales, up to $350 per turbine. That could come to $35,000 per school once all 200 turbines are in operation.

Turbine towers would stand between 215-265 feet tall. Employment projections are 200 during construction and 10-15 once the system is in operation. Grant County would receive a $500,000 boost in tax revenues, with annual leases bringing in $600,000 to property owners.”

“A sugar-coated report at best. The folks in Grant County seem to see this as pie in the sky.”

“progress sucks, don't it?”