Hamlin Preservation Group - Aesthetics & Visual

Wind Turbine Blade Update: When?

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:44:01 -0500

It’s one of the most visible sights in Madison County; one of the blades on the Fenner Wind Turbines broke in mid-November, and is still not fixed.

A representative for General Electric, who built the huge turbines, says the weather has been too snowy, too cold, and too windy to get up and fix the blade. As soon as they get a stretch of more-mild weather, they say they'll be up there as soon as possible to make the fix.

Lakawanna's Towers

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 12:53:40 -0400

It is reported on a Buffalo TV station that some of the wind towers are up and getting ready to operate. Just for those who do not know, up close, what they are going to look like, here is your chance. At least you won't have to go to Lowville to see what they look like, now.

Proposed Wind Farm -Town of Gorham, Ontario Co

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 17:50:58 -0500

A law is on the table for our very rural town in the Finger Lakes region. The moratorium was extended another 90 days last week. I was the only one to speak to the town board re: concerns for size, set-back, and shadow flicker. No else spoke for or against except our local town officials who have nothing but nice things to say about them. It should also be noted that most of said officials live in the hamlet of Gorham or outside of the "preferred pink zone" on the wind speed map per windexplorer.com.

Maple Ridge: Annual Impact Payments and Property Settlements

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:13:30 -0500

One Community’s Experience with Wind Development:
An Interview with Richard J. Graham, Esq.
Lewis County Attorney
Town Attorney, Town of Lowville
as told to Katherine Daniels of the
New York Planning Federation

[skipping Q1..Q16]

Q17: Did the developer offer any other inducements to the towns?
A17: In our case, we’ve had several positive experiences with the developer in what I call "good faith" issues. These are instances where the developer has agreed to extend its good faith towards the communities. For example, from the very outset, Flat Rock agreed to pay all legal fees incurred by the municipalities, not only in the review of permitting issues, but also in any of the contracting issues that arose. Flat Rock absorbed the entire cost of the special counsel hired to perform the Empire Zone work. The developer has also agreed to fund the cost of a financial advisor to assist the towns with managing the increased revenues, and has offered to construct a visitors’ center to attract tourism.

Bethany Wind Turbine Committee's January Report

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 10:56:11 -0500

I have obtained a copy of Bethany's "final" wind report. You can download it at http://www.effierover.com/downloads/ReportFinal.pdf

Don't know at this time if the town will offer it on their website (they usually do) or what the general reaction is.

Dutch Moving Wind Turbines Offshore [Policy]

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:50:28 -0400

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- For centuries, Dutch windmills have pumped water out of the low-lying country, and old-fashioned wooden mills are as closely linked with the Netherlands' international image as its dikes and bikes.

But in the face of a large and growing lobby against the windmill's modern electricity-generating counterpart -- the wind turbine -- the country has started moving them offshore and out of sight.

Wind farms feel the chill of public rejection

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 14:49:20 -0400

They introduced the world to "environmentally friendly" energy, but now some of Europe's "greenest" countries are under pressure to backtrack on wind farms as public anger grows over their impact on the countryside.

Voters are outraged by the unsightly turbines, the loud, low-frequency humming noise that they create and the stroboscopic effects of blades rotating in sunshine. Opponents are dismayed at the proliferation of the turbines in some of the most beautiful areas of the continent. Conservationists complain that hundreds of birds are killed each month by the rotating blades.

German Wind Turbines

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:13:01 -0400

Seriously, this is not a doctored image. It was taken in Germany in 2003.

They'd like you to think turbines are about 60' tall

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:12:10 -0400

Or maybe smaller. I almost laughed when I saw this. They're very good at taking photos like this. What is not clear is that the turbine is quite a bit farther back from the house and the windmill.

Those boxes near the turbine are, I think, double-stacked shipping containers, which would reach the house roof if they sat right next to it. Imagine the house that small and you're getting closer...

Wind Nacelle and Station Wagon

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:52:16 -0400

A nacelle, which houses the generator at the top of the tower, and our car.

Credits: John Sweet, Mustoe VA
Backbone Mountain in Tucker County, WV
14 October 2002
Full photo set at http://johnrsweet.com/personal/wind/windpix2.html

Proposed Wind Development in NYS

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:41:42 -0400

(Courtesy CREDNY)

Towns Being Considered:

Alabama
Albion
Alexander
Altona
Andes
Arkport
Arkwright
Ashford
Attica
Bangor (probably)
Barre
Batavia
Beekmantown
Bellmont
Bethany
Bombay (probably)
Bovina
Brandon
Bristol
Burke
Canandaigua (not sure of the status)
Cape Vincent
Castile
Centerville
Cherry Valley
Churubusco
Clinton
Cohocton
Cold Spring
Covington
Dickinson

Turbines split environmentalists

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 13:17:53 -0400

Prince Charles, who has an abiding interest in environmental issues, has told senior aides that he does not want to have any links with events or groups that promote onshore wind farms.

— news.telegraph, UK, Oct 25, 2004

Sense from up top

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 13:17:53 -0400

The Prince of Wales believes that wind farms are a "horrendous blot on the landscape" and that their spread must be halted before they irreparably ruin some of Britain's most beautiful countryside.

— news.telegraph, UK, Oct 25, 2004

Size and Scale of GE Model Turbines

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 12:54:40 -0400

Wind turbines compared with the Washington Monument in Washington DC. The new GE turbine generating approximately 3-megawatts (shadow in background) would be shorter but have a larger rotor diameter (140 meters) than an experimental five-megawatt turbine.

Worker and Nacelle

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 13:31:41 -0400

Mike Yagelski, an ironworker from Livingston, Mont., is dwarfed by the huge rotor that he helped set Thursday, Oct. 6, 2005, high atop a huge wind-powered generator near Judith Gap, Mont.