6/20/10 What are they saying about the wind project proposed for Brown County? AND Wind Siting Council Meeting tomorrow at 1:30

Wind turbine issue sparks resident debate

Green Bay Press-Gazette, www.greenbaypressgazette.com June 20 2010

Wind farm development has been a hotly debated issue in Northeastern Wisconsin, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette has received numerous letters to the editor, for and against.

Drawing the most response from readers has been a proposal by Invenergy LLC, a Chicago-based company, to build wind turbines in the Brown County towns of Morrison, Wrightstown, Glenmore and Holland. The 100-turbine wind farm would be the first major commercial operation of its kind in Brown County and the largest in the state. It has signed contracts for about $8,000 a year with numerous property owners permitting 400-foot turbines on their properties.

Many property owners and residents in the southern Brown County communities have spoken out against the project, citing negative health effects and the potential loss in property values.

Just last week, the Brown County Board of Health recommended that no wind turbines be built in the area of the proposed wind farm in southern Brown County, citing a potential threat to the groundwater. The area has a history of well contamination because of the porous bedrock peculiar to that region.

Invenergy is awaiting siting rules from the Public Service Commission, which is taking public comments on the wind turbine issue until July 6.

Uncomfortable with proposed turbines

DENMARK — In the Press-Gazette article, "Wind company tries to woo Brown County" (May 11), Kevin Parzyck, the project manager for the proposed 100-turbine Ledge Wind project in Brown County, is quoted as saying "(T)here is a high level of comfort … it's a benefit to the community." This is a misleading statement.

The people who are comfortable with this project are many of the turbine contract signers or those misinformed about the implications of it. Ninety-three percent of the Morrison residents attending a special town meeting voted to put higher restrictions on wind turbine development, as well as a moratorium on turbine construction.

The town of Holland is not comfortable with this project either, as the town has rewritten its wind energy ordinance to include stricter guidelines.

The town of Morrison's wind ordinance, which existed at the time the proposed turbines were located, was not adequate given the significant health and safety ramifications now coming to light regarding setbacks and noise levels of large industrial wind turbines. Presently, no utility in the state is interested in buying the energy produced by this wind development, due to the high cost of the wind energy and reduced energy consumption.

Jon and Lori Morehouse

Get facts straight

REEDSVILLE — Kevin Parzyck, the project manager for the Ledge Wind Project, stated in a Press-Gazette article (May 11) that the Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy "is extremely well funded and well connected statewide."

The BCCRWE is funded by donations of individual members only. BCCRWE is not connected statewide and does not have external funding sources. BCCRWE is for renewable energy that is sustainable and cost-effective. The Ledge Wind Project is neither. It is heavily subsidized by our tax dollars and higher utility rates.

What else is being said that is less than credible? It certainly makes a person wonder.

Kerri Schmidt

Turbines in southern Brown County a 'social injustice'

REEDSVILLE — In southern Brown County, the gently rolling hills may soon be covered with 100 industrial turbines, 40 stories tall, and the community is fractured.

The controversy stems from the negative impacts of wind farms, which have only begun to be studied. Even some wind energy proponents admit wind farms can cause adverse psychological and physiological effects in people. Turbines create flicker, noise, infrasound, low-frequency sound, vibration and electrical pollution. Scientific literature tells of numerous adverse effects from chronic exposure to these.

The area has fractured bedrock that can allow contaminants to leak into ground water. Building this wind farm may result in more fractures and poorer well water quality.

A frustrating aspect for the people of southern Brown County is lack of local control. By law, wind turbines are considered "farming" and go on agricultural land, even though they are no more agricultural than a hydroelectric dam or a nuclear power plant.

The decision to put one up is made solely between the developer and the farmer, who both profit, while the surrounding community suffers negative effects, loss of health and wealth (due to declining property values). To me, this is an incredible social injustice.

Lynne Knuth

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE WIND PROJECT IN BROWN COUNTY, CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE BCCRWE WEBSITE

WIND SITING COUNCIL MEETING NOTICE

Monday, June 21, 2010, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Docket 1-AC-231

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Flambeau River Conference Room (3rd Floor)
Public Service Commission Building
610 North Whitney Way, Madison, Wisconsin

[Click here for map]

Audio or video of the meeting will be broadcast from the PSC Website beginning at 1:30.

CLICK HERE to visit the PSC website, click on the button on the left that says "Live Broadcast". Sometimes the meetings don't begin right on time. The broadcasts begin when the meetings do so keep checking back if you don't hear anything at the appointed start time.

Agenda

1) Welcome/Review of today’s agenda

2) Review and adoption of meeting minutes of June 15, 2010

3) Background information on questions raised by Council regarding the draft rules

a. Statutory interpretation
b. Enforcement
c. Commission rulemaking authority
d. Notice requirements
e. Emergency services
f. Vestas manual reference
g. Decommissioning
h. Stray voltage
i. Complaint resolution
j. Commission noise measurement protocol

4) Discuss proposed amendments to straw proposal for Council’s recommendations to
Commission regarding draft rules

5) Next steps/Discussion of next meeting’s time, place and agenda

6) Adjourn

This meeting is open to the public.

If you have any questions or need special accommodations, please contact Deborah
Erwin at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin by telephone at (608) 266-3905 or
via e-mail at deborah.erwin@wisconsin.gov.

Posted on Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 08:20AM by