Friday, November 28, 2008

MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT CAPE VINCENT'S WIND TURBINE PLANS ~ Letter

This letter by Noel Bonvouloir was posted in the Watertown Daily Times Letters from the people   Nov 28, 2008.
In response to this letter, Harvey White wrote a rebuttal letter to the Watertown Times.
~~~~~

After the flip-flop decision by the Cape Vincent committee to move the setback of the wind towers, I started to notice the way things are apparently handled in this small town.
The committee set up by the town supervisor is to set acceptable noise levels and setbacks. The chairman of the committee is also the town supervisor. He then appoints other town and village officers along with property owners receiving towers and one or two outsiders.
I asked some questions from some members on why the switch from one week to the next about the setback in the agricultural district. I got comments like, "It's all swamp out there and it's useless land." I even saw them mentioned in the papers. Also, that it's agricultural land and that's what it is going to be used for.


Continue reading via this link to the [WDT archives]

Low-frequency noise linked to heart attacks

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2008


In an Oct. 9 letter to the Watertown Daily Times, I presented an article from the European Heart Journal authored by Dr. Stefan Willich et al. that suggested low-frequency noise may be related to heart attacks and that women seemed disproportionately at risk.
Dawn M. Munk of Three Mile Bay responded to my letter by bringing to our attention a critique by Dr. Wolfgang Babish (Oct. 25). Dr. Babish found fault with the way Dr. Willich's group had managed their data and took issue with the suggestion that noise affected women to a greater extent than men. In the meantime, Dr. Babish published a study suggesting men are at greater risk of heart attacks related to noise than women (Epidemiology, volume 16, 33-44, 2005). [Watertown Times]

Monday, November 24, 2008

Hammond anti-wind-law group growing

Hammond anti-wind-law group growing

TIMES STAFF WRITER
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008

HAMMOND — A group in Hammond aimed at overturning the recent wind farm law has been growing steadily in numbers and influence.

Concerned Residents of Hammond, which began in late October after the town enacted a law regarding the creation of wind farms, has grown from 25 to 70 members.
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 Continue reading

Hammond anti-wind-law group growing

Friday, November 21, 2008

Wind panel sets noise-level protocol

By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2008

CAPE VINCENT — The town wind law committee created to produce a zoning amendment to deal with wind farms added a sound measurement protocol and changed setbacks from roads during its meeting Thursday afternoon.

The sound protocol came from recommendations from the acoustical engineering firm Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, Sudbury, Mass., based on a wind development zoning law written for the Association of Towns and rules for noise studies written by Cape Vincent resident Clifford P. Schneider.

 Continue reading via this link to the Watertown Times

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Clayton, Orleans organizing wind law committees

Clayton, Orleans organizing wind law committees
By JAEGUN LEE
TIMES STAFF WRITER
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008

Link here

CLAYTON — Two towns involved in the proposed 62-turbine Horse Creek Wind Farm, Clayton and Orleans, will create separate committees to gather community input for a possible wind law.

The town of Clayton will soon form a 10-member "Wind Law Review Committee" to craft a local law setting noise limits for wind turbines and establish setbacks for wind farms.

 Link here

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Put brakes on Hammond wind law~ letter

Put brakes on Hammond wind law


WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2008

On Oct. 28, the Hammond town board passed the Hammond Wind Law, which will allow wind companies to erect 600-foot wind turbines in a large swath encompassing Hammond from the St. Lawrence River to Black Lake.

The Concerned Residents of Hammond (CROH) is apprehensive about this law for a number of reasons. Currently, the law states that a wind turbine has to be at least 1,500 feet from a home or school. This is roughly a quarter mile, and whoever lives or works this close to a turbine is going to have to deal with a lot of noise. There is also the annoyance of the flicker effect. As the blade rotates, it throws shadows. People living and working near the turbines will have to deal with the flickering shadows on a regular basis.


Continue ~ Put brakes on Hammond wind law

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Amend Clayton's wind-power zoning law ~ letter

Watertown Daily Times Amend Clayton's wind-power zoning law

Amend Clayton's wind-power zoning law
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008


Two years ago, the Clayton Town Council approved Local Law Number One. This law defines the requirements for siting wind-generating facilities within the township's boundaries. As with all zoning laws, siting requirements are provided to protect the public health and safety and the environment, and address other concerns, including aesthetics.

Over the past two years, much has been learned about operational characteristics of these giant wind-generation machines that requires a re-examination of this weak, ineffective zoning law. Specifically, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has a guideline recommending a sound increase of no more than 6 dBa (decibels) above existing levels at property lines closest to the generators. The Clayton zoning law allows noise levels up to 50 dBa with setbacks of 1,250 feet from off-site residences, hospitals, churches and public libraries, irrespective of boundaries. Given our very quiet residual ambient, which is typically in the range of 20-35 dBa, our 50 dBa represents untenable noise inside residences and other public locations.


Continue reading
 Watertown Daily Times Amend Clayton's wind-power zoning law

Friday, November 7, 2008

NYS DEPT of Health & Their position on Wind Turbine siting

November 7, 2008
The New York state Department of Health Gives Their opinion Wind Turbines and human health...




Here is a link to the document How-to guide to criteria for siting wind turbines to prevent health risks from sound

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Just add water

Just add water

By NANCY MADSEN

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2008

ELLISBURG — The concrete-based, glass-lined water tower under construction here is only the fourth in Jefferson County.

The others are in Antwerp and Cape Vincent, and one is being built on Route 3 in the town of Watertown.

“It’s the latest in tank technology,” said Kris D. Dimmick, vice president at Bernier, Carr and Associates, Watertown. “The actual water bowl has been around for the last 30 or 40 years, but the manufacturer’s ability to put it on a concrete pedestal is the new wrinkle.”

 Continue reading Just add water

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Panel seeking specifics on noise

Panel seeking specifics on noise
CAPE WIND ZONING: Group to ask engineers to evaluate gauging of turbine decibels
By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2008

CAPE VINCENT — Members of the committee formed to produce a zoning amendment to deal with wind farms want specifics.

During a meeting Thursday afternoon, the committee agreed to ask the acoustical engineering firm Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, Sudbury, Mass., to evaluate the noise-measuring methods in different laws. That firm panned Hessler Associates' ambient noise study in BP Alternative Energy's draft environmental impact statement for the Cape Vincent Wind Farm.
 Panel seeking specifics on noise

continue reading

Political battle brews over fate of Lee Memorial Hospital

Political battle brews over fate of Lee Memorial Hospital

by Carol Thompson

A letter sent to Senator Darrel Aubertine by Oswego County Legislator Louella LeClair has evoked a response from the Aubertine campaign suggesting that Ms. LeClair is part of the David Renzi campaign team.

Legislator LeClair, who represents the City of Fulton’s District 25, sent a letter to Aubertine Oct. 29 claiming he has misled the community with his political advertisements in which he states that he saved the A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital from closure. She followed her letter with an Oct. 30 press release that she issued herself.

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Political battle brews over fate of Lee Memorial Hospital