Town supervisor at fault for wind problems

Watertown Times
opinion piece
TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2009
Link to article

What a mess we have in Cape Vincent. The wind developers are knocking on the door, and we do not have a wind power zoning law to control what they do once we let them in the door. It was all created by the ineptitude of our town supervisor, Tom Rienbeck.

He likes to blame the Wind Power Ethics Group for the town board's failure to pass a new law, but let's look at the facts. On Aug. 28, 2006, the town board discussed the cost of an Environmental Impact Study (EIS). By state law, an EIS would be required before the proposed amended zoning law could be passed.

Clayton panel seeks to alter wind law

FOUR-PAGE PROPOSAL: New noise limits, setbacks for turbines pushed; separating small, big wind eyed
By JAEGUN LEE
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2009

CLAYTON — The town's wind committee submitted a four-page proposal for a revised local law on wind energy production to the Clayton Town Council at its regular meeting Wednesday.

The recommendations cover a range of issues, including noise limits and setbacks for wind turbines. The committee recommended:



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"New York's Thousand Islands Are Being Ruined" (Letter to Sen. Schumer on the blight of government-dependent windpower)

"New York's Thousand Islands Are Being Ruined" (Letter to Sen. Schumer on the blight of government-dependent windpower)
by Roger Donway
April 19, 2009

ALBERT H. BOWERS III
NAVAL ARCHITECT & MARITIME CONSULTANT
CHAUMONT, NY 13622
April 17, 2009

Senator Charles E. Schumer
Washington, D.C.

New York’s Thousand Islands are being Ruined

Dear Senator Schumer:
Unfortunately, this beautiful scene will not be visible in this form again due to the construction of large wind turbines, visible in the following photo, just across the river on Wolfe Island in Ontario. Similar wind turbine developments are now under consideration for Cape Vincent, Clayton and Lyme, New York as well as surrounding communities:



We need your help. We and many neighbors in surrounding communities have been concerned for the past several years about the arrival in northern New York of very aggressive developers seeking to build large industrial wind turbine facilities in our small communities. In neighboring Ontario, these large wind turbines have recently been installed on Wolfe Island, just across the river from Cape Vincent, New York. Below is a photo, taken previously, of the Tibbits Point lighthouse in Cape VIncent, marking the point where Lake Ontario flows into the St. Lawrence River:

Please act to save our communities from such insensitive and destructive development. As you know, the Thousand Islands area is a prime vacation destination, due to its natural beauty. Many people from other areas summer here to enjoy the peace and tranquility that has always been a feature of the region. Many local businesses are supported principally by the summer residents and tourists, drawn by the beauty of the islands and the availability of scenic tours, fishing, and other water based recreation.

Northern New York needs the income it earns from summer residents and tourists. If we permit the area to become an industrial zone, overrun with large and noisy wind turbines, who will want to summer here? I have asked Governor Paterson to enact an immediate moratorium on wind turbine development pending an investigation, , and development of a sensible plan for the proper siting of such facilities.

Sincerely,

Albert H. Bowers III

Wind Power Ethics Group posts Web petition for governor

Watertown Daily Times | Wind Power Ethics Group posts Web petition for governor

By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2009

The Wind Power Ethics Group is taking its case to the Web.

Members of the Cape Vincent-based citizens organization's legal committee wrote and posted a petition online for Gov. David A. Paterson, which had more than 390 signatures as of Thursday evening. The group opposes large-scale wind power development.

Group member Arthur D. Pundt cited the governor's Jan. 11 visit to Watertown, when he told local residents that siting along the St. Lawrence River and other culturally sensitive areas should be done carefully.


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www.gopetition.com/petitions/moratorium-on-wind-energy-development.html

Cape Vincent ~ Reinbeck's Town Board ~ Unanimous ~ Attorney General~ Ethics do not apply to us.

letter submitted by James Wright, Executive Director of DANC RE: St. Lawrence Wind SDEIS

Wind developer offers more details

By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2009

CAPE VINCENT — St. Lawrence Wind Farm developer Acciona is offering a more precise explanation of what the project's effects on the environment will be in its supplemental draft impact statement.

The statement, released March 25, includes several changes and decisions:
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 Watertown Daily Times Wind developer offers more details


ON THE NET

Supplemental Draft Environmental Statement

Acciona's St. Lawrence Wind FEIS Document Collection 

http://www.scribd.com/collections/3713005/Acciona-s-St-Lawrence-Wind-FEIS


Lisa Linnows of National Wind Watch responds to Miss Madsens article

~~~
On Sun, Apr 5, 2009 at 8:42 AM, Lisa Linowes wrote

Dear Ms. Madsen,

Thank you for your reporting on the wind issue in the State of New York. Given your balanced approach, I was taken aback to read your article in today's paper where you highlight the assertions made in the Acciona's draft impact statement. If you changed the developer's name and the location of the project site, the article would read the same. In short, all applications prepared by the wind developers in the State, whether in Jefferson County, Franklin County, Wyoming County, Clinton County read the same and they're often prepared by the same "experts". But the fact is, their poorly formulated arguments and methodologies designed to ensure specific scientific outcomes have been challenged by qualified people. You've reported on these challenges in the Watertown Daily Times. To give Acciona this kind of press is surprising and does not serve your readership.

Respectfully,
--Lisa Linowes
executive director
www.windaction.org