Neighbors neutral on wind farm
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GORDON DRITSCHILO / Rutland Herald About three dozen people traveled from Rutland County to Lempster (above) as part of a bus trip organized by Vermont Community Wind Farm, a Charlotte-based company looking to put an 80-megawatt wind farm in and around Ira. |
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By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer - Published: June 29, 2009
LEMPSTER, N.H. — The turbine closest to Kevin Onnela's house produced two sounds, both of them barely audible.
The first was a gentle whooshing sound. The second was a whistle that could have been a bird call. Though originating about 500 feet away, neither could be heard over a conversational voice. There wasn't much wind in the New Hampshire town on Saturday, and Onnela said that made a difference.
"It's not going to be representative," Onnela told the crowd of Rutland County residents in his driveway. "They don't make a lot of noise, but they do make some."
About three dozen people traveled from Rutland County to Lempster as part of a bus trip organized by Vermont Community Wind Farm, a Charlotte-based company looking to put an 80-megawatt wind farm in and around Ira.
Company spokesman Jeffrey Wennberg said the terrain and types of turbines installed at Lempster by a Spanish corporation could give people a good idea of what his company wants to do in Vermont.
"We do want to hear your input, but to be valuable to us, we think it's important for your input to be informed," he said.
The trip, paid for and orchestrated by VCWF, included conversations with two local landowners and lunch at the local general store, which advertised "windmill T-shirts."
Onnela owns the land containing 10 of the 12 towers in Lempster. He said the 2-megawatt towers turn at a maximum of 18 rpms. Saturday, they were going closer to 10. The towers stand roughly 400 feet from the base to the tip of the blades' arc.
Onnela said the noise seems to only be an issue for people who already dislike the towers for other reasons.
"If you're the person who has it on your property, there's no problem," he said. "Most of the time, the problem is whether they think it's beautiful or not beautiful. … We have to leave the window open to hear it at night. … I don't think you could ever call this a noise that could bother you."
Onnela also said the whistle is not a typical noise for turbines, but happens at the one closest to his house because workers left a piece of tape on one of the blades during assembly.
"It's not an ugly sound," said Ted Molnar of Castleton. "None of us are going to be this close to it."
Molnar said he still was not sure what he thought of the proposal.
"We're all for clean energy," he said. "It's a matter of impact. I think the economic benefit for Ira would be very good, but we all have to look at these towers."
About a half-mile away, at the bottom of the ridge, several of the towers overlook a swimming hole across the road from Dave Kelsey's home.
"When it's going, you hear it 24-7," he said. "It's not an obnoxious noise, but it never goes away. If it's raining or snowing, it's magnified about five times. You think it's a plane coming at you in the far distance, but it never gets to you."
Kelsey said he got used to the sound quickly, but that it still sometimes annoys him when he's in his hot tub at night. Kelsey also said that while he finds the towers "cool" to look at, a neighboring artist who used the landscape for inspiration is selling her home.
Onnela said he experiences "shadow flicker" — a strobe-like effect created when the blades come between him and the sun — for short periods during a few days in the fall, and that it does not bother him. Kelsey said he sees flickering sometimes on the trees in his backyard, and thinks it looks "cool."
Kelsey and Onnela both said hardly ever notice the lights on top of the towers, and that their view of the stars is undiminished. They also said they hike in the area and have not seen any dead birds under the towers. Kelsey said migrating geese stop at his pond and seem undisturbed.
Kelsey said he gets no money from the company running the towers because none are on his land. Onnela said he is forbidden by contract to say how much he gets.
"The people that live on the other side of the ridge, they don't realize what it costs me in taxes to keep their ridge beautiful," he said. "If the towers hadn't gone in, in another 10 or 15 years it would've been houses up here. … I'd rather see a windmill than a guy from New York or Massachusetts moving up and telling me how to live my life."
Several people on the trip were tight-lipped about their impressions, and others remained noncommittal.
"No one can tell me yet that it doesn't adversely affect property values," said Jack Perry of Ira, saying he wants to see figures to that effect and hasn't yet. "I've got a substantial investment of my life in my property."
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
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