So, the onerous deed of steamrolling Stetson II is done. But isn't it interesting that the hired guns of First Wind and Lakeville Shores so rabidly attacked someone with a medical degree, Dr. Steinberg. Could it be that the masters of propaganda, manipulation, deceit are getting nervous because the litany of negatives about industrial wind turbines is being presented to LURC and DEP? Noise and vibro-acoustic effects on health are at the top of that list. When it comes to medical concerns, who will likely have a better understanding and more credibility, a doctor or a lawyer? Especially the First Wind lawyer! And Matt Kearns, did you really make your claim with a straight face? First Wind's hired gun for sound really needs to go back to school and learn that dBC has a lot of science, that protective equipment and time exposure limitations are required, and low level frequency is used as a weapon. Of course First Wind doesn't want to acknowledge this problem. It just might, someday, if the LURC or DEP staff are actually allowed do their job of protecting people from environmental harm, be the reason to not allow these tax subsidy plantations in Maine.

deanhornblower-your statement about Matt Kearns needing to go back to school, I agree totally! When we asked him questions out here at Stetson Mountain when this whole mess started ,he told us he was just an "English Major" thats how he answered our questions at the time. Said he didn't know, he was JUST AN ENGLISH MAJOR .But in trying to be friendly with the "natives" he did ask us if we would meet him on the top of Stetson Mountain for a beer..Now thats a real proffesional! Oh, we declined his offer of a beer.

Ruby Rose ..I had forgotten about the English major that is an expert on all things wind farm but couldn't answer but a few questions from the natives.Those answers weren't shall I say factual. Nobody went for beer that day. He probably wrote it up as a great community event sponsored by Evergreen. That was their name back then. Did you ever see the movie Flim Flam Man?

Of course the lawyers from Lakeville Shores and First Wind say studies of low decible level sound are not relevant. They are making money off of wind farms. There is no excuse when elected govt. officials haven't heard about them. They are paid by taxpayers to protect Maine. Let's get the facts straight.....The small town of Lee was asked a while back to "lend" First Wind $20,000.00 to hire a team of lawyers to look for tax loopholes for their wind farm so the town could make lots of money. Stetson II will begin construction as soon as they find some investors. First Wind bought a wind farm corporation Wynergy ... and formed Deepwater Wind five months ago which landed a 1.5 billion dollar contract with the state of R.I. for a 100 turbine off shore wind farm. They are going to hire 800 people in R.I. The promise of jobs won the contract for Deepwater...First Wind is the parent company. Their Gov. got huge wind farm donations . Any "reporters" who want to fact check can google. A brand new company with a broke parent company did just fine with our particular kind of govt. It is who you know and how much money is in it for me instead of good govt.

So the one guy is an English major and drinks beer. Another group is building in R.I.

How about the wind farm? Not the jokers who might be pushing it, the physical plant itself? I'm assuming youall live close by. Since the nearest resident is over a mile away, you are saying it will affect you? Are your tax dollars bailing them out? Is your land affected?

I'm betting that if you wanted to have a dog kennel on your land and the state intervened, youall would be the first to scream "SOCIALISM". But since it is somebody else's land and somebody else's project, you want to stick you nose into it.

If you are going to comment, keep them germane.

Like, "I live 500 ft from it and won't be able to sleep" But to comment so negatively on something that is miles away is a case of NIMBY.

ACoutian....Typical First Winder ...Fascism = the bush administration giving billions to the banking industry with no accounting of the way the funds had to be spent. Hard earned tax payer money. Fascism=the bill in the Maine Legislature sure to be passed...LD 155 which wll give the towns no input as to where the wind farms will be sited.

Fascism=The bill Harry Reid will introduce to the Senate which will give the states no input as to where the transmission lines wll be sited.with emmnent domain .

I am sure Larry Summers had input into the Senate bill as he has a huge stake in First Wind....VIP with Obama

Read the comment about the beer party again. It had nothing to do with drinking a beer but everything to do with criminal activity with First Wind and ME state employees.

NIMBYs are people who do not want their wind projects in their own state, i.e. FirstWind in Mass. LURC and the DEP should double check the "facts" and not rely on anyone's data. Isn't that why they exist? If LURC, DEP and the NRCM blindly support wind projects and no longer protect the environment then we might as well shut them down and save some tax money. Claiming no significant scenic values exist on Hot Brook is just plain STUPID. Ask the people with camps and other lake users if it is a scenic lake. It has beautiful sand beaches and is a NATURAL lake. The campowners will have the sunsets blighted by the ugly windmills and will probably have to listen to them too. Mars Hill has unresolved noise issues and FirstWind and the corrupt officials in Augusta are ignoring them hoping they will give up and move away. The real estate dealers hope that also, maybe they can sucker some new buyers. As usual, the only supporters of the Hot Brook debacle are the ones renting their camps to the PowerTel workers from Canada, people who do not appreciate or use their camp anyway. Stephen Wight had not even heard of the dB C scale. What the hell are they approving anything for if they have not researched it thoroughly? The Kibby erosion problems were swept under the rug by FirstWind quickly. Of course there will be erosion problems anywhere there are roads and trees cut on top of hills or ridges. Poohpooh. Backfill them and wait for them to wash out again. FirstWind is starting an offshore project off R.I.? We were told that the technology was 10 -15 years away by a Reed +Reed rep. What's up there? Maine's lakes need their scenic aspects protected, not just the lakes some Augusta bureaucrat deems pristine. Obviously the wind cos. do not care, all they want are subsidies while producing erratic energy no one wants. Barrels of oil saved so far by the Mars Hill project? 0!!! Number of fossil plants closed by replacement by wind energy? 0 again. Wind power in Maine is a scam worthy of Bernie Madoff.

you all are extremely shortsighted

how retarded ! "if there were anything to the idea ? ? ? who would know ? ? ? FCDC and Prevention???? IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT NOISES ARE POLLUTANTS AS WELL AS TOXANTS IN THE AIR !!! but, as is our air pollution IGNORED so are noise studies !!! AS FCDC has never acknowledged AIR Pollutants, why would we expect them to even know about 'noise pollution'.... they may have something else to address and that they do not want.

I BELEIVE THE PEOPLE OF MAINE VOTED NO NO NO TO A GRID ON EAST COAST ........ BUT IT IS SHOVED DOWN OUR THROATS AND THE COSTS WHETHER WE HAVE HOMES' TO LIVE IN OR NOT!!!!!! MAINE SHEEP !!!!

happycamper1...re. off shore wind farms.My state Rep. Everette McCleod is on the state utilities commission. He is not a big proponent of land based wind farms. The turbines wear out before their 20 years are up. Mr. McCleod was impressed with the off shore wind farms in France. They produce more energy ...and have been built quite a long time. He is the only govt. person I have ever corresponded with who seems to know something about wind farms.

When I called Robin Cluky of DEP to ask about the Mars Hill wind farm, she told me she had been project manager. But never even went to Mars Hill. She asked me if I wanted to breathe air from coal fired power plants. Maine uses gas mainly. She said there had been no formal complaints about the Mars Hill wind farm. There had been 10. Wendy Todd must have had the same problem because she met with Robin's boss , Robin and the regional director for the DEP, Neil Archer. They concluded the complaints were formal enough. Yet Robin said no complaints. Takes team work to keep the delusion going.

dBC is a weighted measure of noise emission that puts additional emphasis on noise frequencies in the low range - <100 Hz. Infrasound, the supposed culprit in "Wind Turbine Syndrome," which has yet to be proven to exist, is defined as sound in the frequency range below 2 Hz. In either case, frequencies in these ranges are UNDETECTABLE by the human ear. Perception of these frequencies is usually "felt" - not heard. According to peer reviewed studies (google Dr. Geoff Leventhall) low frequency noise would have to be measured at extremely high sound pressure levels - high dBC - in excess of 85-90 decibels, in order to be perceived. In order to be a health concern, it would require much higher levels, similar to those used by the military in their non-lethal weapons programs. No where in an operating wind farm can you measure low-frequency levels this high - therefore, there is no risk of low frequency noise from a windfarm. Your refrigerator generates more low frequency noise (that low hum you hear is not it) in most cases. A child on a swing experiences approximately 110 dB of low frequency noise - according to one study.

C-weighted low frequency noise is just another attempt by those who don't like the idea of turbines to confuse the facts. Wind turbines are big. True. Wind turbines are not silent. True. Compared to other forms of development, wind turbines are low-impact. Which would you rather have: a coal plant, biomass, hydro, natural gas, nuclear, or a wind turbine??? Now, place any of the above IN YOUR BACKYARD.

I just got radiated 2-30 MHZ. 200 V/M Still alive for now.

So only those who will live 500' from a proposed wind farm should have any interest in it. That is not the way life in a democracy works. It would be a lot easier, I am sure , for big corporations and govt. employees with empty pockets if this were the case. Dream on. The movement against wind farms is growing faster than First Wind changes names. Now they are First Wind Maine Holdings LLC. ..as well as First Wind Holdings. Their financial situation means everything to the towns waiting for their hand outs.

put them on the coast so the tourists can enjoy them in the summer

windfuture.... why do you have to put ANY of these in anyone's back yard? Site these properly is all anyone is saying. Wind produces erratic power inland. The steady wind is offshore. Angus King is looking into that now. Maybe Maine's lakes and hills mean nothing to you but we Mainers think a lot of our beautiful state. I would personally go without electricity rather than see our hills and ridges destroyed. We like the views from the lakes and your windmill skyscrapers are an affront to anyone who loves the outdoors. Where do you hunt and fish?

why don't they put these wind farms in northern Quebec where nobody lives? They can connect them to the high voltage lines already in place for hydroelectric power.

There is still time to sue the state and first wind and get an injunction to either stop, delay, or remove the turbines. There is a good case for the people.

If you are interested in joining this class action, contact Steve Gonzalez at 954.817.3030

Stetson II is within 1 mile of my back door and Nobody from this government cared about my health concerns.They will pay, I promise.

Way to go Steve...will give you a call. I live near Stetson Mt. One neighbor has a messed up well and can hear the wind farm 3 miles away. Another has had splitting head aches and her dog paces . All similiar complaints coming from wind farm neighbors. I have a long list of lies that govt. employees from DEP and LURC have told me. Our Attorney General says it is not their concern. When I asked what was their concern ...they said they would send out a private detective. Never did. Neither First Wind or govt. has been very nice to us out here. Opens the door for law suits. In fact the director of LURC just made the statement nobody lived for miles from Stetson Mt. There is a whole community of people in the wind farm . They have to pass Keep Out signs to go in and out to their homes.

Winfuture, get your facts from the experts, and use current methodology

The common method used for establishing the background sound level at a proposed wind

farm used in many of the studies .....was to use unattended noise monitors to record

hundreds of ten (10) minute measurements to obtain a statistically significant sample over

varying wind conditions or a period of weeks. The measured results for daytime and

nighttime are combined to determine the statically average wind noise as a function of wind

velocity measured at a height of ten (10) meters. This provides an enormous amount of data

but the results have little relationship to the wind turbine sound immission or turbine noise

impact in nearby residents. The purpose of this exhaustive exercise often only demonstrates

how much noise is generated by the wind. In some cases it appears that the data is used to

‘prove’ that the wind noise masks the turbine’s sound immissions.

The most glaring fault with this argument is shown during the frequent nighttime

conditions with a stable atmosphere when the wind turbines generate the maximum

electricity and noise while the wind at ground level is calm and the background noise level

is low. This is the condition of maximum turbine noise impact on nearby residents. It is the

condition which most directly causes chronic sleep disruption. Furthermore, this

methodology is usually faulty, as much of the wind noise measured by unattended sound

monitors is the wind noise generated at the microphone windscreen resulting in totally

erroneous results. (See studies in Table 3, esp. Van den Berg)

Use real science , not some hack firm bought and paid for by Firstwind..

BTW, suits are on the way, they are going to continue, and contnue , and continue, until there is state action to protect citizens in this state from these scoundral companies that have no assets to even start their projects, (but are in bed with the state government.).

"The simple fact that so many residents complain of low frequency noise from wind turbines

is clear evidence that the single A-weighted (dBA) noise descriptor used in most

jurisdictions for siting turbines is not adequate. The only other simple audio frequency

weighting that is standardized and available on all sound level meters is the C-weighting or

dBC. A standard sound level meter set to measure dBA is increasingly less sensitive to low

frequency below 500 Hz (one octave above middle-C). The same sound level meter set to

measure dBC is equally sensitive to all frequencies above 32 Hz (lowest note on grand

piano). It is well known that dBC readings are more predictive of perceptual loudness than

dBA readings if low frequency sounds are significant.

We are proposing to use the commonly accepted dBA criteria that is based on the preexisting

background sound levels plus a 5 dB allowance for the wind turbine’s immissions

(e.g. L90A +5) for the audible sounds from wind turbines. But, to address the lower

frequencies that are not considered in A-weighted measurements we are proposing to add

limits based on dBC. The Proposed Sound Limits are presented in the text box at the end of

this paper.

For the current industrial grade wind turbines in the 1.5 to 3 MWatt range, the addition of

the dBC requirement will result in an increased distance between wind turbines and the

nearby residents. For the generalized graphs shown in Figure 1, the distances would need

to be approximately double the current distance. This will result in setbacks in the range of

1 km or greater for the current generation of wind turbines if they are to be located in rural

areas where the L90A background sound levels are 30 dBA or lower. In areas with higher

background sound levels, turbines could be located somewhat closer, but still at a distance

greater than the 305 m (1000 ft.) or less setbacks commonly seen in U.S. based wind turbine

standards set by many states and used for wind turbine developments"

E-Coustics

I support this wind turbine project. In time, I hope the small group of NIMBY's fighting this progress will embrace the wind turbines as most Mainers do.

I agree with Brad. This is a great time to be living in the great state of Maine.

I for 1 would rather see white windmills than billowing black clouds of oil and coal smoke!

Why cant they paint them green or blue?

Eastman...Maine doesn't use coal and minimal oil. Mostly natural gas...along with hydro and bio mass. That is what DEP and First Wind says. Not true.

no comment

Dirigo (Latin) literally translates to "I lead", and is used as the state's motto because Maine held its primaries in September before the other states, for a time.

Someboby neeeds to explain to (bald-scuitchi) that his administration is Dirigo us off a high cliff with nothing but pain and broken dreams waiting at the bottom

Windmills are a waste of time and tax payer money. You would roughly need 1200 windmills for 10,000 homes!

I proudly show my "Support Wind Power" bumper sticker in Washington County. Everybody complains about jobs being scarce and then you disapprove when there is something that bring jobs to the area. I have been employed by Reed & Reed Inc since 2006. They are a great employer and I think they are doing a good thing. I personally like to look at the windmills. I don't think they are an eye sore. I can't wait to tell my son one day that I was there when theose were being put together. My father also had a part in it as well as my fiance. And First Wind Rocks!!! What do ya thing about that all you complainers???

I hear that brad blake is for wind power. way to go brad.

Low level noise is generated from a variety of sources. True, low level hum, drone or noise generation is extremely difficult to isolate, and to some very troublesome, for more information do an internet search. Wind farms are a possitive step in progress toward lessening our dependance on external sources of energy, while at the same time showing promise in the area of jobs creation. I have a 1000 watt wind turbine and it does make some noise, however, farm mills are much larger. I guess it comes down to a choice. Do you wish to seek alternative forms of energy or would you rather continue endlessly discussing and discussing. there are only two choices either do something or do nothing. Progress always comes with a cost..