The comments below were given on April 29, 2015 to the public at the Barker, NY fire hall.
I'd like to begin by giving
you my personal feelings about wind energy.
I oppose industrial wind turbines
anywhere.
Apex Clean Energy LLC is now
cultivating your community attempting to set up shop in Somerset and Yates with
a project called Lighthouse Wind consisting of up to 70 turbines 570' tall. We know little more about this project right
now than we did in October.
Somerset and Yates are
identified by Apex Clean Energy as a host community and this is wrong. Instead
of being called a host community both Somerset and Yates are victims of
Apex Clean Energy and NYS
Wind Power Monthly online - 27 November 2014 by Diane Bailey interviewed
Apex Clean Energy’s President Mark Goodwin and reported Goodwin expects that
Apex will continue to look to sell projects as they come into operation.
Think about Apex President
Goodwin's goals - “sell projects as they come into operation”. Apex sold
the Canadian Hills wind project in Oklahoma in 2012 to Atlantic Power and the
operation began functioning in late 2012. Apex sold the Hoopston Wind project
in Illinois in 2014 to Sweden’s Ikea and the Hoopston Wind project isn’t even
finished yet. Apex also sold the Cameron Wind project in Texas to Ikea and it’s
also not finished either. And numerous
plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit against Apex Wind Construction to
prevent them from building an Oklahoma wind factory near their homes in
Canadian County.
This month Apex is into a new
dilemma regarding their 49 turbine Mills Branch Wind project slated for Kent
County, Maryland. Kent County Commissioners have voted unanimously against the
project for numerous reasons including including
Apex’s questionable tactics.
Last year the Oklahoma Wind Action Association filed lawsuit against Apex over the
Kingfisher wind project involving over 300 turbines citing health and safety
concerns of residents near wind factories, including low-frequency sound and
“shadow flicker” from the blades at certain times of the day and the loss of
use and value of landowners’ property.
In Corpus Christi, Texas -
Nueces County Commissioners are attempting to block the Apex Chapman Ranch wind
development. Both the City and County have gone on record in opposition to the
APEX wind farm development.
A year ago Apex had decided
not to pursue the Clear Spring Wind Energy project in LaGrange County, Indiana
due to “a lack of landowner participation - how lucky for LaGrange landowners.
Would you like Apex Clean Energy
LLC doing business in your community with this record?
Apex Clean Energy LLC is not clean. What's clean about the slaughter of birds and bats?
Did you know that every turbine has powerful magnets within the nacelle that
are made from rare earth materials mined and processed in China leaving
enormous amounts of toxic waste behind? What's clean about the numerous serious
health issues caused by noise & low frequency noise generated by the
operation of the turbines? What's clean about the visual pollution turbines
bring concerning aesthetics? What's clean about shadowing by the massive rotor
blades, light reflecting from the blades, the loss of darkness that many people in
rural areas cherish and much more. And
worst of all - the whooshing sounds and the infra sound that causes
sleeplessness, headaches and any number of health issues that will
affect those living near these industrial giants that desecrate your community.
If this project is built and there are noise problems, TV or cell phone reception
issues - who will mitigate these problems? The town board, NYS siting board -
they have no authority to correct these problems. Sell your home and move??? You
would be lucky to sell your Yates or Somerset home right now.
It is disgusting that both
Yates and Somerset town boards have done nothing to protect their community
from the Lighthouse Wind project. Somerset supervisor Dan Engert said repeatedly
there is no project. Engert is wrong.
There is a project forthcoming and he knows it. Apex signed Somerset land leases as early as May 2014
This is an election year for
both towns. Somerset supervisor Dan Engert and Councilmen Randall Wayner and
Jeffrey Dewart are up for election if they decide to run for office again. Yates
supervisor John Belson and Councilmen Steve Freeman and Wes Bradley are up for
election if they decide to run for office in Yates this year. Do NOT elect these people again.
I cannot tell you how important it is to elect anti wind candidates into your
town government. Your weak town boards have failed taxpayers miserably.
A
few weeks ago I sent 2 questions to all Somerset and Yates TB members asking if
they supported this Lighthouse Wind project or if they would fight it and asked that they
return my question page and I did not get one back. These town boards seem
content to permit Apex to rape this community. What kind of stewardship is
this? Where's the transparency? Why are they hiding in the closet? They seem
willing to make their towns a prostitute for the money.
What fool in their right mind
would buy or build a new home in Somerset or Yates at this point in time
knowing that their new home may take a 50% hit on value because you don't know
if a turbine might be located near your home along with the noise and numerous
other overwhelming problems associated with wind energy? What business would
locate in Somerset or Yates knowing
their investment would be sullied by a wind factory that's already divided the
community
There is a new spectacular
and innovative electric energy project soon to begin construction in eastern NYS called the Champlain Hudson
Power Express. This endeavor will bring 1000Mw of electric power directly from
Hydro Quebec 333 miles to NYC via an 5.5" diameter submerged electrical
cable under Lake Champlain and then
submerged under the Hudson River to NYC.
The power express avoids and
overcomes every weak point wind energy brings and more. It didn't take Sup.
Engert long to criticize the new exciting power express energy project unveiled
for eastern NYS. Engert claimed the
power express would threaten the AES Somerset power plant by stealing business
from AES. Former state Sen. George Maziarz, of Niagara Co., also bad mouthed the power express yet
Maziarz sponsored the horrible Power NY Act of 2011 and its Art. 10 debacle
betraying New Yorkers in the process. Isn't it a hypocrisy that Engert didn't
waste time criticizing the power express yet he won't take a position opposing
Lighthouse Wind and is content buying time until the siting board approves this
project? Engert is using all the excuses he can muster to avoid taking a
position on Lighthouse Wind - denying for months that there's even a project
while Apex in the meantime is getting large land owners to sign leases and filing
documents on the Lighthouse Wind project, with the NYS Dept. of Public Service,
holding open houses, etc. And the Somerset TB is content to witness Engert's
actions. Ditto the Yates town board.
Yes - I'm a NIMBY. There are
dozens of good reasons for taking this attitude but I'm going to stress the
three main reasons why I feel wind energy should be rejected: (1) noise/health
problems; (2) unavoidable property value decline and (3) decommissioning dead
turbines.
Noise/health
The biggest problem with wind
factories is noise and since Apex has plans to install the tallest turbines
ever erected in NYS - the noise generated from this Lighthouse Wind project will likely be
the loudest of any wind project in NYS.
Wherever turbines exist -
some people have been forced from their homes because they could no longer
stand the noise from the turbines that
impacted their health or their children's health or their pets health or even their
livestock's health. The noise created is both mechanical and aerodynamic. The
noise is both audible and infra sound. And the noise from the Lighthouse Wind project will
impact people's health.
Apex is lying when they say
on their website:
That wind energy is one of the healthiest forms of
energy generation;
Measurements show this sound is no louder than a
kitchen refrigerator or air conditioning unit at a distance of 1,000
feet. Low frequency sound will be no different than waves on a beach and
weaker than highway traffic, air conditioners and other daily exposures.
Scientific evidence confirms this sound is not dangerous and that any
low-frequency waves produced are not harmful to those nearby.
Apex is lying to you by
peddling this information while attempting to get their foot in the door of your
community. Your quality of life and health are at risk.
Two other significant winds sins
are property devaluation and decommissioning.
Property devaluation
Apex Clean Energy on their
website flatly denies that property devaluation happens as a result of wind
turbines invading a community. The Lighthouse Wind website says this:
In fact, according to rural appraisers, farm acreage
with turbines often increases in value due to the stream of steady,
long-term income the property generates by the harvesting of the wind.
Increases in property value
does it? Who would possibly believe this lying garbage? If it's true the let
Apex offer property value guarantees as part of their plan to back up their
comments. But you know that will never happen. What about the value of farm
acreage of non-participating adjacent neighbors? Where does that value go? When
a wind factory devalues a person's property its known as an involuntary taking.
Decommissioning liability
Removing non-functional
turbines that will likely never operate again.
When the time comes for
removal of the turbines I estimate they will cost $1M each to remove. The (3)
11+ ton blades are not worth anything in salvage and not recyclable. It's
likely the project will then be owned by a foreign company that realizes that
removal of the turbines is too costly and simply walk away from the project
leaving the mess to the property owner to deal with. What happens then is
obvious. The property owner can't afford the removal costs so the turbines sit
there for decades rusting, stained with leaking oils and coolants, getting
filthy, and becoming an even worse eyesore. Decades from now, long after were
gone, your children's children will be asking about the Somerset and Yates town
boards of 2015 - what were they thinking that created the wind factory
graveyard! Where will the money come from to rid the community of these
eyesores? Buffalo wind attorney Dan Spitzer reportedly said the land owner will
be liable for damages and removal of the worn out turbines. The offspring of
the lessors wouldn't even accept their parents property as a gift because of
the liability of a wind turbine contaminating the land and the cost of removal.
Tourists
Somerset has a beautiful
historic lighthouse on Lake Ontario and adjacent state park that is a huge
asset to the town and would be envied by many municipalities. This is a lovely
rural agricultural community with nice farms and lucky to be situated along
Lake Ontario's south shore. The character of this community will suddenly be
vandalized by the invasion of wind turbines. When a wind factory is built -
there will be new class of tourists coming to town. The new tourists will be
rolling up and down Somerset's formerly quiet country roads looking at the 570'
monuments to lunacy, the tallest turbines in NYS, stopping to pose their kids
in front of the monstrosities for the mandatory Kodak moment before moving on
to the next roads. These tourists aren't your normal tourists - these are gawker
tourists - the same people that come to witness a crashed plane, train wreck,
burned building or some other disaster - then go home satisfied. Now ask
yourself - is this the kind of tourist you'd like visiting Somerset and Yates?
We have with us NYS wind factory
historical data to support the fact that wind factories don't operate almost 75% of the time due to the intermittency
of wind. Would you be satisfied
if your home electric or automobile worked only 25% of the time? Wind energy is
unacceptable.
What should the people of
Somerset and Yates do?
- nominate and elect 3 anti-wind TB members from each town this fall
- If you are a seasonal resident - modify your Voter Registration to vote in Somerset or Yates next time, to be able to elect local anti-wind officials, to protect your property
- review the Lighthouse Wind project on Apex website
- send a letter to your town supervisor advising him of your opposition to the LW project and the reasons why you're against Lighthouse Wind
- If turbines infect your community - sue Apex and by all means sue the land owner.
- Support the SOS group in the fight against LW
What should the town
boards of Somerset and Yates do?
- There are many things the towns can do right now to help themselves later on.
- both towns should officially reject this Apex wind factory and then pressure the county legislatures to do likewise and also pressure new state Senator Ortt and Assemblywoman Corwin to say NO to this project.
- pass a moratorium on wind energy until the town updates their wind zoning laws . The town wind ordinances are horribly out of date and very weak - especially noise and setbacks. Setbacks should be 1/2 mile minimum . They should have been given attention the moment Apex began sniffing around this area.
- refuse to sign a PILOT agreement of any kind (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) Why would anyone give an huge tax break to a project that desecrates their community?
- have the town planning boards get to work updating their wind zoning laws and pay particular attention to noise/health issues; property values and decommissioning. The PB should greatly strengthen noise parameters and define a maximum noise limit in decibels that can be measured with instruments. Review noise laws now on file in the towns of Castile, NY and Hammond, NY
- require Apex to leave $1M CASH in the hands of each town for decommissioning for each turbine installed and site cleanup. This requirement would also apply in the event of bankruptcy of the developer
- if the state siting board grants a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need allowing Apex to build this project - the towns should pursue this matter through the NYS court system vigorously. Article 10 has stolen home rule from the people of NYS
- Work to get the Somerset 675Mw AES Generating Station converted from coal to natural gas.
Unfortunately outright greed plays an
important part of this scenario and Apex takes advantage of this weakness by
luring greedy large land owners into
signing leases that allow placement of the turbines on their property.
So
who are the large land owners that have signed leases with Apex? Well
lets name them right now. As of April 1, 2015 these Somerset people have signed
leases with Apex according to the Niagara County clerk (dates after the names are the dates the leases were recorded with the count clerk):
Peter
E. Forrestel 5/21/14
Barbara
R. Eggert 5/21/14 alt Barbara R. Alt;
related to Somerset Councilman Gary Alt?
Keith
R. Rhodes 9/11/14
Sharon
L Rhodes 9/11/14
John
H. Voelpel 9/11/14
Jane
M. Voelpel 9/11/14
Floyd
E. Koerner Jr. 9/11/14
Marsha
A. Koerner 9/11/14
Stephen
B. Lee 9/11/14
Jenny
A. Lee 9/11/14
Benjamin
J. Atwater 12/9/14
Seth
E. Atwater 12/9/14
Susan
McNulty Atwater 12/9/14
Joseph
C. Czelusta 12/9/14
Jacqueline
K. Czelusta 12/9/14
Lyle
M. Whitford 1/8/15
Priscilla
P. Whitford 1/8/15
The
Orleans County clerk responded to my FOIL request for Apex leases saying she
did have 4 leases with Lighthouse Wind with these names:
Donna
Rae Bane 4/9/15
Richard
M. Austin 4/9/15
Barbara
J. Austin 4/9/15
Gary
L. Bayne II 4/9/15
2 leases
Faith
A. Bayne 4/9/15
These
are the Somerset & Yates land owners that have thrown their neighbors under
the bus.
Folks - you don't know what
you've got till it's gone. Somerset & Yates will become known as
Turbinetown.
My comments from tonight's
program will be found on the blog site - Beware NY Wind - the address is in the
handout that will be passed out later.
Alan Isselhard
Great Lakes Wind Truth
Wolcott, NY
Town of Huron
Wolcott, NY
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