BANGOR, Maine — After exhausting all of their local options for halting an industrial wind farm proposed for Pisgah Mountain, the owners of Rebel Hill Farm in Clifton are taking the matter to court.
In a complaint filed at Penobscot County Superior Court, Peter and Julie Beckford allege that town officials in Clifton erred in granting Pisgah Mountain LLC a permit for construction of a $25 million five-turbine wind facility.
They are asking that the court rule on several issues they raised and send the matter back to the planning board for additional findings of fact and “a decision consistent with this court’s holding.”
“We were undecided about this but due to the huge harm this development will do to us, and due to the support we have received from our community and neighbors, we feel bound to continue this fight,” Peter Beckford said Wednesday during a news conference in front of the Penobscot Judicial Center.
“The encouragement from people in our town and neighboring towns who do not want this built has energized us,” he said.
The Beckfords, who operate an organic perennial plant and maple sugar business on their 60-acre spread off Route 180, have opposed the project from the start. They say the wind farm would harm their health, happiness and quality of life and they intend to do everything in their power to stop it.
“We have confidence in the judicial system and look forward to the legal issues receiving a fair hearing. So far, we have basically been fighting city hall on their own turf,” Beckford said.
“Now we will have an impartial judge looking at the planning board’s violations of our town ordinance and their biased approach to the permitting process,” he said. “We have a lot of faith in Maine law and the common sense application of it and are hopeful that the permit will be revoked.”
Also speaking against the project at Wednesday’s news conference was Tom Duffy, who lives on Springy Pond in nearby Otis, where about 30 property owners signed a petition opposing the wind farm.
Duffy said that the turbines would affect the quality of life of people who have homes on Springy Pond, which straddles Clifton and Otis, but that Clifton officials ruled that the project would have no impact on Otis residents.
Pisgah Mountain LLC, a local partnership, already has the key permissions in hand as well as approval from residents and expects to have financing in place shortly. The partnership also has an agreement in place to sell electricity to Bangor Hydro Electric Co.
“It’s unfortunate but it’s due process. It’s what we in America have right to do,” Pisgah Mountain partner Paul Fuller said in a telephone interview after the news conference.
Though he noted that the appeal filed with the court temporarily clouded the financing for the project, Fuller noted that construction isn’t scheduled to start until next year.
“Legally with the permits we have in hand we could start construction now,” he said.
Fuller said the Pisgah partners are confident they ultimately will prevail because the issues on which the complaint is based have been addressed “multiple times.” He also said that Clifton planners drafted some of the strictest wind farm rules in the state.
In the complaint, the Beckfords allege that the turbines are located too close to two cabins on their property, that the developer’s own sound study predicts sound levels in excess of the town’s limit and that the developer has a nonbinding letter of interest from Camden National Bank but no actual financing.
The complaint also alleges that Pisgah Mountain did not submit an adequate environmental impact statement and did no inventory of mammals, plants and birds in the project area.
“Their site is a flyway for eagles and other migratory birds. I understand that if an eagle gets killed, someone will be paying a hefty fine and going to jail,” Beckford said.
I hope the farmers win. Wind farms are a sham. They account for less than one percent of the power consumed in this country and they create their own problems. Good luck farmers. You are in the right.
They account for less than 1 percent because there’s so few of them, not because they’re not effective. Sorry to burst the bubble :)
Actually, the U.S. has the second highest installed capacity in the world. There are actually quite a few wind farms, but they are incurably intermittent and their capacity factors typically run around 25- 30% max. The number of wind turbines needed to even budge the percentage of U.S. electricity produced by wind into the double digits is astronomical in terms of turbines and in terms of dollars spent on the equipment and thousands of miles of new transmission lines that would have to be built.
The Dutch have been using wind power for CENTURIES. I would say look beyond our own borders if you want to see what is effective and what is not. The BIGGEST drawback to efficient wind power is the lack of consistent WIND.
There are issues that can be very real to neighbors. Sound is one, but you need to be quite close for it to hinder. What would bother me more is the light flicker. If a turbine is turning and it is between you and the sun, there is substantial constant flicker. Also reflecting sun that makes the flicker is also an annoyance. I’d be most concerned about that if there was a wind mill coming near me.
In fact, I’m wondering about Camden High School’s new wind turbine being installed this week. We now can see if from Route 90, and it sure look like the Rockport elementary is going to get some flicker from it. We may be reading about that as time goes on too.
Please do some research on the cost effectiveness of wind power and it’s prevalence in the United States. Wind energy has been around forever. It is not a good source of energy and it ruins the landscape. Take a drive out west and you will see miles and miles of the rusted relics.
Bill Gates: Wind and Solar Are ‘Cute’
http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2011/05/05/bill-gates-wind-and-solar-are-cute/
You really should travel more George (or at least read something besides the BDN). Your statement of “there’s so few of them” is ridiculous. Been to California lately? How about Iowa? Kansas? Upper NY state? Wisconsin?
OK lets build a nuclear power plant there instead! Everyone will be happy then.
Actually, Maine could really use a Nuclear Power Plant about now. Our electricity prices are among the highest in the country, and we are importing a great deal of our power from Canada. Also, once construction is complete, there are no carbon emissions. Nuclear Power Plants are capable of producing a tremendous amount of energy. A typical nuke will generate on the order of ~500 MW or more. In order to generate 500 MW of energy, you would need 500 1MW wind turbines (mind you those are on the large side).
The closing of Maine Yankee was a shame- that plant made a ton of energy for our state and was also economically sound. Wind power just does not stack up economically, or ecologically. Think of all the mountain ridges we are blasting apart just to stick a few wind turbines up there. The only way wind power is even remotely feasible is offshore.
Don’t make inflammatory statements about Nuclear Power. Most people who are educated on the science behind Nuclear Power are in favor of it. Most who are against it are simply uneducated about the process behind nuclear power generation, and it is sad.
Here ‘s a good opinion article that discusses the safety of Nuclear Power: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/07/23/nuclear-power-is-extremely-safe-thats-truth-about-what-learned-from-japan/
Great article! It makes me want to move to Japan and live right next to Fukushima. Sure, not many people were killed by the accident, they were killed by the tsunami. And glowing in the dark will save on electricity.
Actually nuclear power is so subsidized that even with incredible government subsidies, the one they want to build in GA is having a hard time getting financing. This after the government has already promised to cover 80% of the liabilities associated with it. This is another example of socializing risk and privatizing returns. In other words, as long as nothing happens, the comapny can make money. But if something does happen, the taxpayers will pay the costs and the comapny can still make money.
I’m not sure if we should be using nuclear or not, but coming at it from a subsidy/not subsidized angle makes me prefer wind and solar. At least the gov’t is subsidizing something that won’t grow more toxic with the years.
“Don’t make inflammatory statements about Nuclear Power.” Who the he## are you to tell people how they should think?
“It makes me want to move to Japan and live right next to Fukushima. Sure, not many people were killed by the accident, they were killed by the tsunami. And glowing in the dark will save on electricity.”
Based on the intelligence reflected in your last statement I don’t think anyone here is making ANY assumptions about your ability to think! If you knew anything about the subject you’d know that there are totally new technologies that have been developed for nuclear power than was present 30-40 years ago when some of these facilities were built. Do a little research before demonstrating your lack of knowledge on here.
I wasn’t telling people HOW to think. I was telling them TO think before they speak (or post). I apologize if I offended your thought process.
Sorry if I over reacted.
actually 500 mw of base power = 4 times the wattage as WIND is under 25% capacity.
so 500MW = 2000 1 MW WIND turbines
Yeah that just what needed A NUCLEAR PLANT. Are u people nuts. Rather have problems like’
Japan??? There was a Nuclear Plant in Ny State. Asked the people who live around how much
They liked it. That’s if they are still alive. The area has a large Cancer problem. Of course the
people lied about the plant giving off a charge of deadly gas. I don’t consider myself uneducate..
Just smart to know the outcome of what THEY CAN DO…… I never heard of fresh air giving
you cancer????? Think about that for a while….
If you are assuming that a large percentage of cancer is caused by radiation (which is likely correct), consider that one of the largest sources of radiation you receive is from sleeping next to someone. People are receiving more radiation from habitually smoking cigarettes than they are from living near, or working in nuclear power plants. And if New Yorkers hate the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station so much, why doesn’t their site license expire until 2034?
Not only the fact that we taxpayers are heavily subsidizing these windmills, but windmills and their technology require large amounts of Rare Earths (as do computers, cell phones, etc.), of which China has a large share. China is now refusing to export their Rare Earths because there is a finite amount left on earth.
Also, these windmills are supposed to last for 20 years. They won’t all last that long without breaking down, but for those that do, what happens then? We’ll be left with huge hulks of metals just sitting there, useless and ugly, because without more taxpayers’ money, these phony corporations aren’t going to fix them when they break.
And the man is wrong about eagles, hawks, and other raptors flying heights. They often fly lower than 400 feet, which would put them right in line with the windmills’ blades.
These windmill projects are just money scams to rip off Maine taxpayers; we can do better.
Conservation of electricity should come first, and we can do a lot with that. If non-essentials like unnecessary streetlights and lighted-all-night advertising were shut off, just for one thing (there are many more), we wouldn’t even need as much electricity as is now being generated.
We need to be sensible as a society – making money for phony corporations must not be the primary goal of our society.
We need good plans for how we go forward in light of the slowly falling economy, which will never come back to where it was. We need plans for helping regular people, not phony corporations only looking for a handout from us.
You are wrong on several points. The Chinese are limiting exports (not refusing to export) to cripple our plants that use them. The Obama admin. has filed a complaint with the relevant trade org. to force them to trade their minerals on the open market, just like we do.
Secondly, the windmills are routinely fixed when they break. I know somebody whose job is exactly that.
I do agree with you that conservation is the easiest way to help solve lack of electric generation. So far as pointing at the windmills as “phony corporations” because they are subsidized. Would you refer to oil, gas and nuclear as “phony corps.”? Because they also get lots of subsidies. Ditto for the lumber companies like Plum Creek that get lots of subsidies for cutting in the national forests.
“Forcing” the Chinese to sell their Rare Earths on the open market won’t work. I don’t believe the Chinese will be “forced” to do very much they don’t want to do.
Yes, windmills are repaired these days. How about in 20 years when their life is over? And no more taxpayer subsidies? What will happen to them then?
I say “phony corporations” because, as stated in article, this corporations has no funding, only a promise of maybe, perhaps from a bank. It has no money of its own, just looking for taxpayer money handout.
And yes, I think we should stop all taxpayer subsidies to corporations, unless people vote on them first.
While politicians rail against people misusing welfare (and some do), we see massive giveaways of taxpayers’ money to corporations, which is welfare on a much larger scale.
If they want to call themselves “corporations,” they should be able to make it on their own or go bankrupt and go out of business. Isn’t that real capitalism?
If a bird fly into one of these blades it must be blind
Of course they account for less than one percent. Its technology still being developed and running into problems w/ people who’d rather stick to the old unsustainable ways to generate power. Its free power from the sky for gods sake.
I know change is scary, but their primary argument is that they or someone in their cabin could be hurt if the wind tower collapsed while spinning. Its way too far away for that…its a bit over dramatic. Same w/ the bird thing. Birds migrate at heights greater than these turbines will stand, the eagle thing is grasping at straws.
The “problems” they create are far tamer than things like emitting gases into the atmosphere, running pipelines thru wildlife preserves, etc etc etc.
Do radio towers cause problems by just sitting there? With a turbine, you have no RF like you do a transmitter tower. You trade that for the occasional small bird collision, but birds also fly into windows, cats, and people’s bums. Should we get rid of those too? Are those things “shams”?
Discard above comment.. Wind power is a bluff in a poker game.. 16% effecient could never survive without governemnt handouts…
Actually electricity is lost at most turns in the process, and is pretty inefficient in itself. We lose power just transferring dc to ac and back to dc in our homes for many of the things we power. It’s just under scrutiny in wind farms because people always fear what they don’t know.
Why, how omnipotent of you to say to discard somebody else’s opinion. Like they say, “Who died and appointed you God”.
Also, can you explain you 16% efficiency comment? These numbers come from people who estimate what the potential power of a windmill would be if it were running at peak efficiency all the time. Great, but let’s use the same numbers for all forms of generation. How often do diesel generators go down for maintenance? How often are they running at 100% efficiency? And what about the pollution they cause. Maybe the farmer would prefer a large diesel plant built next door.
Wind generation might not be as “efficient” as some other forms of generating electricity because the wind is not always blowing, but if something goes wrong, nobody dies like when the Fukashima plant went kaboom. (Dead men walking, because they know how many were irriated trying to get water to the reactor.) Chernobyl has left large parcels of land uninhabitable for the forseeable future. Dams have broken and drowned lots of people. Coal results in large dead zones where they mine it, mercury poisoning downwind from where it is burned, and tons of toxic ash that can’t be used for anything. We all know that oil can be efficient, but it is subsidized, and about 1/2 of what we use comes from “friends” like Hugo Chavez.
Solar and wind alone won’t generate all we need, but rather than subsidizing more coul and oil plants, I’d rather see wind and solar get the money.
In the 2005 or 2006 budget, we were told that there were billions of dollars for “alternative” energy. When looked at closer, the numbers for wind, electric and geothermal amounted to about 10% of the package. Most of it went for “clean” coal and more efficient oil boilers. Where would we be if the coal, gas and oil companies weren’t running the show? They were then, and still are now.
Sure why not throw another 100 billion dollars of tax payers money at it, that should fix it.
Technology still being developed? It’s been around for over 20 years and getting taxpayer subsidies all the while. How long can they hide behind the new technology excuse? Actually, DOE Secretary Chu called it a “mature technology”.
Runnng into problems w/people? Not really. The majority of U.S. wind turbines have been sited away from people and don’t have that many local complaints. It’s that minority of projects built in close proximity to people or in sensitive areas that get the complaints. Blaming people who don’t want to live next to wind turbines for the low amount of electricity being delivered by wind turbines in the U.S. isn’t rational.
Bad news – we’re going to be emitting gases into the atmosphere and running pipelines here and there for a very long time if we’re going to try and rely on wind power. Wind turbines just don’t have the capacity to deliver the levels of energy we consume.
Isn’t it painless that some farming schmuck has to live with these ugly, noisey things and you are a team player for them but don’t have them in your back yard.
Put them in your back yard and then let us know how it works for you.
How many people think enncomment should have to have these in their back yard? Vote here.
It’s the NIMBY factor. They hate movoing forward, they would still be using kerosene lamps if they could. Clean, renewable energy escapes them. I’ve never seen a bird run into a pole but I’ve seen them all around glass buildings, dead. If they knew the RF going on (as they use their wireless stuff) they would be shocked. Did you see what they did at UNH with the methane gas from the dump? They are heating the school with it, what a comcept and free after the installation costs. Not to mention when the fall in the ocean, you get a SPLASH.
Your comments show such a lack of knowledge on the subject that you make it hard to respond. First of all, many of the newer wind power projects proposed in Maine will, if approved, stand 489′ tall. That’s the equivalent of a 49 story building, or for a more local perspective, it 2.5 times the height of Maine’s tallest building which is just over 200 ft. tall. Birds and raptors (including eagles) have been killed at wind power facilities all over this country, with an alarmingly high rate in California and the northwest where the turbines used are typically only 1/3 the height of those being used here in Maine. And they’ve been proven to be quite efficient killers of eagles and that is a fact you chose to ignore. The developers would rather pay the mere pittance of a fine that they receive for killing eagles then finding a way to help eliminate the problem.
On of the world’s highest concentrations of wind turbines is in Spain where a new report says that the number of birds, bats, and raptors killed is exponentially higher than previously suggested …or reported by the wind industry. They now say that up to 18 millin birds/bats/raptors are being killed by these turbines in Spain each year! Do you know that bats are killed in very high numbers by these projects? They don’t have to fly into the blades to be chopped up like birds and raptors. They just have to get close to them and they suffer from a condition that causes their lungs to explode! Pretty picture huh?
You mention running pipelines through game preserves. What do think these miles long strings of ridgeline wind projects are doing here in Maine? They’re fragmenting wildlife habitat on a scale we haven’t seen since they built I-95 so many years ago.
Do a little research on the subject rather than just using the wind lobby’s sound bite PR campaign as your basis of knowledge. You just might be surprised at what you learn.
Best of luck to the Beckfords.
There are kingmakers and KING breakers.
Angus King can’t like this:
http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/developing-u-s-senate-hopeful-angus-king-wind-project-cited-by-co
protect your livelihood and the farming way!! :)
Everyone associated with all of the Occupy movements are beautiful, beautiful people, and Eliot Cutler is a true son of Maine. Maybe this post will not be removed.
The Town wants the Tax revenue, Thats all this is about $$$$, windmills don’t produce enough to pay for themselves ever.. and they will abandon them when the fed funds stop coming in
Yes they do, that’s why they’re supported by electric companies who buy their power. Bangor Hydro in this case if I’m not mistaken.
None of the Electric companies, including Bangor Hydro, would buy a killowatt worth of wind power if they weren’t forced by legislative actions to buy it. It’s very inefficent, sporadic, unreliable, and very expensive, AND it raises hell with the power grid because of it’s inconsistent nature. If you were Bangor Hydro, does thta sound like the type of energy you’d WANT to buy? Of course not. It’s shoved down the utilities’ throats by Baldacci’s past initiatives, and by legislators like Jon Hinck, Stacy Fitts, and a couple of other members of the EUT Committee in Augusta.
This sounds like a couple of NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard) who have no idea what to be upset about, but just know they don’t want a big wind mill they can see. I wish I could put a small one in my back yard…I know of people who have them and they absolutely do work. Bangor Hydro wouldn’t buy they power if it wasn’t substantial people :)
Don’t Kid yourself. If you were studying for a Doctorate in organic farming the Beckfords could easily be your Professors.(and people do come to them for farming education) They Know Exactly what they are upset about. They have both Heart and Soul living in every square inch of thier land. They are Compeled to do whatever is possible to save this Farm as it is. As Peter stated for an example of what the Judge wont be swayed by ” …This Developers a really nice guy, maybe this is OK”… The Beckfords are also very “Good Guys”
there is no farm to save or lose – these people are trying to control property rights they do not own. Ill bet the courts throw this out because there is no case
The Statement was ” They have no idea what to be upset about” answer is yes they do. they are informed. there was nothing stated about rights or who is right. so maybe just maybe you failed to understand what you were writing about and are just spouting off.
“Informed” Now that really is a joke. The Beckfords have told people that invisible energy waves will affect their minds and they won’t realize it is happening. That their children will fall sick. That the turbines emit radiation. That people will get cancer. Even people living MILES away.
OK, here’s one for you from the other side. Neil Kiely, who is an attorney and is the lead pitch man for First Wind, (the biggest developer of wind power in this state), stood in front of about 60 people at a town meeting and told them (with a straight face!) that wind power will significantly reduce the cancer rate in Maine. How about that one, you buying that too!
No, I don’t buy that one either. You see I actually study the issue and do not believe the bull from either side. Some of these wind farms have been poorly sited and there are legitimate problems. And there is also a lot of misinformation and outright lying going on from both sides as well.
It just happens that the proposed Clifton project is well sited with large setbacks, no mountaintop removal, little road work required, and no major transmission lines that need to be constructed.
Maybe just maybe the poster is tired of people telling other people what they can and can not do on property they do not own.
Maybe just maybe if the Beckfords wish to have influence over property they do not own they should buy the property to protect it for the Whales or blackflies or whatever they are out to save this week.
How can you say “They Know Exactly what they are upset about” when the plant has not even been built? They talk about “They say the wind farm would harm their health, happiness and quality of life…” Notice the tense of the verb, it is something in the fuuture. They do not hold themselves up as clarvoyants.
Maybe they can keep the plant from being built because of permitting errors, but since they have not suffered any damages yet, they cannot sue for future damages.
Explain to us all how the proposed wind turbines will stop the Beckfords from farming their land in any way.
I also used to think of the Beckfords as “Good Guys”. However, their actions over the past 2 years and code violations that have come to light put the “Good Guy” status in severe doubt.
You have it right. When the proposed wind farm first went public the Beckfords only issue was how they would look and how it would bother them to see the turbines. Then they started reading all the crazy stuff from the fringe and are convinced these things will kill them. The Beckfords are sincere and truly believe these things will harm them despite all evidence to the contrary. The Beckfords are afraid of and against almost anything and everything new.
His house is a full mile from where the nearest turbine is proposed. His nearest property line is 3000 feet from the nearest proposed turbine. Sound levels at the property line are estimated to be under 35 decibels worst case. Do any of you know how quiet 35 decibels is?
Calling their farm a 60 acre spread is a joke. Actually, even calling it a farm is a stretch. Most of the 60 acres is undeveloped forest. They have a few gardens near their house. (Look at it with google earth.) A local contractor finally refused to even come in with his tractor and try to cultivate some places Beckford wanted tilled because of how bad the ground was. Neither I nor anyone I have talked to has ever even heard of any maple syrup being sold by the Beckfords. I would really like to know how much he produces and where it is sold. And I would like him to explain how he thinks the trees will be affected?
I guess it’s pretty easy to take shots at these folks based on hearsay, but I just wanted to let you know , you don’t know what the f@(k you’re talking about!
I happen to know them personally. I could actually tell you a lot more facts but when I have done so before BDN has removed my posts.
that tells me all about the kind of “facts” you like to post.
All it means is that they are not going to take the time to verify the facts and consider those facts to be personal attacks. The BDN can be VERY selective in what they remove from their site.
I have 6 sound modeling maps and they show 35-45 dBA at mile from turbine.
People living miles away are bothered by the noise.
The sound modeling maps are inaccurate.
Ask plaintives in Mars Hill lawsuit . Ask Roxbury Pond home owners. Ask folks along Concord pond in Woodstock, their TV and radio play to the swoosh of the blade.
Problem is no one is asking and no protocol is set for a complaint process.
You have 6 sound modeling maps for exactly WHERE and for what model and size wind turbine? That happens to make a difference.
The miles away thing is pure exaggeration and does your cause no good.
Mars Hill, Rollins Ridge, Record Hill, Spruce Mttn, Saddleback Ridge and Canton
Mtn.http://www.maine.gov/dep/ftp/Wind_Power_Projects_NOISE_Reports/
No exaggeration.
I looked at 3 of your maps. Not 1 showed a 45 dba level at a mile. Most places at a mile were closer to 35 dba with a very few spots even close to 40 dba. it’s not worth my time to look at them all. You might want to get an engineer or someone familiar with sound maps to show and explain to you how to read and interpret them.
Dude ever since the towers have been up, at my moms there is a weird noise like humming type noise and its ever since the towers were put up. ITS SUPER ANNOYING…. U can see the towers from there road if u go to the top too
That “humming,” noise is a blade or generator (hub) in motion. Yesterday (Wednesday), the ones that were spinning were doing 7+-RPM and since they blades can move up to 150 MPH, they can produce volumes of sound. The issue with the sound is not so much the dBa it is the frequency. Much like a sub (subwoofer), the frequency is low and omni-directional. It goes out in any and all direction(s). It can also carry a considerable distance. Another issue is that it is not constant like a flowing stream or babbling brook, it varies. As low as 47 dBa can affect sleep patterns. If your mom had 47 dBa all the time at night and it was every night, she would get used to it. She would adapt. People adapt to trains and their rumbling, but trains have a volume that increases and decreases almost at the same levels all the time. What happens to you when you hear a siren late at night? You wake up. Why? Because it is not usual and it varies, high volume low volume repeating. It’s by design. It is made that way to warn people. Does a pretty good job of it too. Also with a train most people know going in the train is there. With Wind Power people live there then they come in after. People were there first then BIG wind just comes in and takes over THE Entire area in one way or another. So for Angus King, and Record Hill to be under investigation is good for the people. “WE THE PEOPLE…” Scott: T Boone Pickens would have done$4.98 billion in electric transmission lines to connect wind farms in the Texas Panhandle to the electric grid. But it all fell through as he said they could not get connected to the grid. Even T. Boone knows WIND is not what he/they thought it was/is. Smart enough (seemingly) to get out of car with no engine, transmission, and tires.
Just how far is your mom from the nearest turbine? Which wind farm is she located near?
You are right about the sound causing problems for people sited too close to a wind turbine. The Beckfords are located well away from the proposed wind turbines. Sound levels at their property line are projected to be 35 dba or LESS. At their home 30 dba or LESS. This is a long way from the 47 dba that you are talking about.
I’ve been to Roxbury Pond several times this winter.
I never heard any noise from the turbines – even close-up on a windy day.
Local vehicle traffic is louder.
The wind in the trees is louder.
Anti-wind power nonsense is just plain blowhard hoo hah.
yessah
Have you woken up at 2 am with the noise and can’t go back to sleep? Byron residents are experiencing turbine noise and no place to make a complaint.
Sound modeling maps can be proven wrong.
Yeah, that’s right, turn this debate into a personal issue with the Beckford’s. Your characterization of them and what they do is totally uncalled for in this public format.
Nothing personal in this at all. Beckford happens to be a likable guy. I consider his views to be loony, and his scientific knowledge to be incorrect. Beckford had his press conference and did his best to spin things one way. There is a lot in the article that is misleading or is factually only telling part of the story. It is only fair that the WHOLE truth be said and that half truths be exposed.
Quiet the busy body aren’t you. What business is it of yours how much maple syrup the Beckfords sell and where it is sold? What business is it of yours how many gardens are on the Beckford farm?
I think you are the joke Mr. Governmentistheproblem. What does their personel business have to do with the discussion of wind turbines?
I happen to know the Beckfords and they are wonderful people. They don’t bother anyone. They home schooled their children and are very educated people. Their youngest son has won major awards for being a Master Bag Piper and is also an Eagle Scout all at the ripe age of 17.
Peter Beckford has volunteered for years doing odd jobs for the town and historical society. He is past president of Comins Hall. HOW IS THAT FOR SOME HOT BECKFORD GOSSIP?
I went to all the town meetings and planning board meetings. Anyone who disagreed with the turbines were treated like crap. I also have a great deal of film to back up that statement.
Funny I live pretty close to Cumins Hall, and the ATV club uses this hall, and I have never heard of him or his farm?? Must be from the far past.
No, this is the present. If you ever go to any of the dinners at Comins Hall he is usually there washing the dishes and helping out. Drive one mile up Rebel Hill Rd in Clifton the farm is on the right, sign says Rebel Hill Farm. Guess you need to get out more.
Well I’ve done some checking, from a very good source, been here their whole life, and also basically confirmed its a so called farm, if that’s what you want to call it, verified nice guy, but a bit out there.
As I said earlier, calling it a “farm” is a stretch.
Beckford claims to have a maple sugar business. This is the first anyone has ever heard of it. He is using this as a justification for claiming his farm will be negatively impacted. If he has a business then it should be easy to prove. Sales Receipts, tax records, etc. Or is this just another example of him making up things to try and justify his opposition to the project. (Rhetorical question.)
Of course, I STILL want to know how the turbines will negatively affect the trees. Do trees have ears?
Their personal business has nothing to do with wind turbines in general. It has everything to do with the Clifton project. They have made it so.
I agree, the Beckfords are wonderful people. There are lots of wonderful people in the world who also happen to wrong on certain issues. The two things are not mutually exclusive.
The Beckfords happen to be bothering a lot of people at this time. They are costing the town of Clifton a lot of money. A majority of people in Clifton voted to support the wind farm. So much for democracy.
I applaud their home schooling their children. What has that to do with the wind farm? I know they play the bag pipes. So much for appreciating the quiet solitude like they claim. And what does that have to do with the wind farm? Then again, considering noise pollution maybe it is pertinent after all. None of the rest of the things you mentioned have ANYTHING to do with the wind farm.
No one attended ALL the town meetings and PB meetings. I know you are upset and right into this rant, but exaggerations do your cause no good.
I have one in my back yard and it works about 20% of time. It is noisy. Thank God my neighbors cannot hear it.
I run my home on solar, 12 years and counting.
Bangor Hydro is mandated to buy GRID scale WIND.
Commercial wind turbines produce power 70-90% of the time.
Don’t confuse so-called capacity factors with power production – and don’t compare wind turbine capacities to to thermal power plant capacities – it’s apples and oranges.
There is no cut-in wind speed for a thermal power plant – and there is no thermal efficiency rating for a wind turbine.
I have been up close and personal with small wind turbines (Bergy, Skystream, Vestas etc.) and they are NOT noisy.
yessah
1000MW of Hydro would require 4000 MW of WIND capacity to equal power production’
That is alot of turbines. Where do you live? Any ridgelines around?
Sorry, but even hydro does not produce at full capacity 100% of the time. Especially smaller facilities without large reservoirs. Those located on streams and rivers often produce far under 100% for months every year when flows are low.
For people who don’t believe windmills are effective, how do you think we power ourselves now? It’s all about coils and turbines whether you’re burning coal to turn them, or using wind or hydro power for that matter.
I agree in general, but the difference is that you can control the input of oil, gas, coal, hydro, biomass, or whatever else you want to talk about. You can’t control the wind and that’s the achilles heal of wind power. It’s so sporadic and intermitant that it creates all kinds of issues for the grid and cause these other forms of generating plants to ramp up and down continuously, which leads them to be much more inefficient.
(Reply to PenobScot) Thank you for the link. Angus King is a con man. He is a lawyer from Virginia who moved to Maine to take advantage of all the naive people. He is friends with the “environmentalist” Brownie Carson who is responsible for having all the dams removed, his big claim to fame is preventing the Big A Dam. Funny, Brownie is also a lawyer who is from Virginia. Neither one of these guys has a degree in engineering. They are “environmentalist” con men, just like Al Gore. Go get them Beckfords!
If we ever want to save this planet from fossil fuel poisoning we will have to use every available source of renewable energy we can find.
Wind Farms on our mountains are an environmental nightmare. These people that live near them are being abused in the process.
I hope they win their case.
If you lived on the Gulf Coast when BP’s oil well had it’s malfunction you might really have a clue as to what a real environmental nightmare is.
Please don’t eat fish from Maine lakes – they are contaminated with mercury from coal-fired power plants in West Virginia that are fueled with coal from mountain top (removaql) mining.
But since we can’t see this, it cannot be NIMBYed.yessah
coal fired plants in mid west are buying carbon credits so they can keep spewing toxics our way.
Clean up the plants use scrubbers, recapture.
There’s only one answer to all this fighting and hand wringing over our energy needs;
GO NUCLEAR!
A nuclear paper mill? Toxic Dump readily available! A viable nuclear alternative to a National Park says local Down East Toxic Avenger!!! A glow in the dark Henry Thoreau.(with snowmobile)
No thanks – LePage wants to build 2 nukes in Maine – the 2 under construction in Florida will cost $18-22 billion.
Florida rate payers are being charged hundreds of millions of dollars per year to build these plants. What will you electric bill look like if these were built in Maine.
and Oh Yeah – thanks to Ronald Reagan, We the People own the spent fuel produced by those plants. We own the stuff stored down in Wiscasset – and will bear the lion’s share of the cost to get rid of it.
The last estimate for the Yucca Mountain spent fuel repository was $100 billion.
Nuclear Power – Corporate Welfare at its worst.
yessah
“Nuclear Power – Corporate Welfare at its worst.”
Try this one on for size.
Federal subsidies per megawatt generated by Nuclear facilities = $1.57
Federal subsidies per megawat generated by Wind Power = $56. and change.
So which industry is the worst at corporate welfare?
Nonsense – and made up numbers.
Plant Votgel in Georgia received $8 billion in federal loan guarantees for two new MW AP-1000 nuclear plants.
Corporate Welfare
yessah
No, real numbers from the Feds. This informatiomn is quite easily found if you’d spend 10 minutes researching something instead of just trashing anyone or anything you don’t agree with on here. But then again, that’s the munebaght way.
How exactly does a wind farm harm your health? Maybe Don Quixote was the last book they read at their book club?
From the outside looking in, Peter Beckford is afraid of progress, change and warm, soapy water.
I expect it may have something to do with the fact that he was there first, and would not want to hear his new neighbors high pitched whine 24/7.
The fact that wind power on a large scale is stupid has nothing to do with it in my opinion.
Leave people alone to live their lives as they see fit on their own property.
I kind of agree with you in the sense that I’m not sure large scale wind power may be the answer, but if wind is going to help us be more energy independent than it needs to be in the mix of alternatives.
Where did you get the high ptched whine.. I went to Mars Hill Maine and spent the afternoon there listening to the wind turbines and watching the wildlife interact. And as someone on here stated when the wind blows the turbine noise dissappears into the leaves rustling. What I took home was the impression that it sounded like a clothes dryer running across the house or down cellar. And that my picture windows kill more birds when they reflect the clouds making it hard for birds to tell which is which. My bad!
Well if property rights is your issue, why shouldn’t a landowner be able to build a windmill on his/her property?
How about you put five of these ugly eyesores in YOUR backyard pal. Then you can talk to us who live near this site. These things are a waste of money, dont produce enough electricity to be worthwhile and kill birds and other wildlife. Enough said. We dont want them and arent going to have them. Yet another idiotic liberal idea. Wait what am I saying? ALL liberal ideas are idiotic.
I’m no fan of liberal ideas. Trust me. I’m not even a fan of wind power. I’m just less of a fan of hippies that want to get to their tie dye in a bunch every time someone wants to put up a wind turbine, cell tower, radio tower or building anywhere that there might be three cat tails and a woodpecker with a learning disability.
It seems to me as though this is a project that could put some people to work with assembly and maintenance.If this guy wants to live off the grid and away from stuff like this then he should have moved further out into the sticks or bought more land or bought land in a place with like-minded neighbors that would also not sell or lease their land for wind farm use.
OIL and COAL are ZERO% efficient, WIND and SOLAR are 100% efficient, when you consider consuming natural resources…!!!
If you consider all the energy and resources used to manufacture solar and wind turbines, you would have to run them for more than 100 years before they were 100% efficient!
Not so
Wind produces 4-14% emissions of fossil fuels, even with manufacturing and decommissioning
http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/wind-power-emissions-4-14-percent-fossil-fuels.html
Anti-wind folks believe the fairy tales they make up.
yessah
on site solar has been around for 40 years and counting.
On site solar s*cks. Especially the ROI. Then again, are you the same poster who often uses the name “gempaint” to push solar power?
good luck
If anybody believes Pisgah is out to do good and the turbines won’t really be all that loud, take a ride out to Vinalhaven and talk to the folks that already have to live with them. I’m guessing the developer out there gave a real nice song and dance about new tax revenue and how it wouldn’t be all that loud. Now that the turbines are up there, lots of people feel ill, and have been compelled to move away because of the disruption!
As I recall, the people of Vinalhaven voted overwhelmingly (383–5) to install wind turbines. A few said no and preferred the outdated polluting diesel generator that was always breaking down.
Their electirc rates went down after the wind towers started, and yes, some of the residents near the towers can hear the blades because there was not enough setback. But did you know that when the wind blows much, the noise of the blades disappears into the background of the noise through the trees? The real problem was that there was not enough land for proper setbacks.
And you’re guessing wrong if you think the developer promised anything about tax revenue. Also, can you supply us with real numbers of the people who are ill and had to move away? Probably not since they come from the same mind that brought us the “I’m guessing…” comment.
There is no peer reviewed medical evidence for adverse impacts on human health by wind turbines.
yessah
So where did that perception come from – 1988? There is in fact peer reviewed information available. Google, read and you shall be enlightened.
No it is not – and anti-wind websites do not count as peer reviewed medical evidence.
Nossuh
because no one studies the victims. They are silenced. 45 dBA is too loud.
I guess no one should be allowed to live in a city then. Or near a road. We should pass a law banning the wind since the sound of wind in the trees can easily be over 50 dba. I bet you would be amazed to know just how loud the normal background sound is most places.
If we had been building nuclear plants during the past thirty years as we should have been these wind monstrosities wouldn’t be an issue. While I sympathize with the Beckfords, and probably more so with others in the area, I’d bet they were against nuclear development as well and among those preventing the development of that resource.
The chickens have come home to roost but I hope they win.
The nuclear power industry is the most subsidized of all US energy industries.
None were built over the last 30 years because they were too expensive.
Two are currently under construction in Florida at a cost of $22 billion – and rising. They are charging ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars to build them.
The nuclear plants under construction in Georgia required a $8 billion gov’t guaranteed loan.
yessah
So I guess the $8 billion that the ratepayers in the New England power grid are going to be paying for the new transmission lines that were needed ONLY to accomodate wind power was a good value for consumers?
yes it is – because wind power displaces more expensive electricity from gas-fired power plants.
yessah
check your wind prices….$99 a kwh to Mass. Maine gets nothing but devalued property.
The Florida plants are already charging their customers $6/month for the nukes since 2009. Imagine if they told us we would need to pay $6/mo more per customer for wind power. Furthermore, the nukes in FL are not scheduled to go online until 2021. In the meantime, with escalating costs, some estimates are that they will need $16/mo soon to keep up with the rising costs.
If you were to die today, the $162 (minimum) that you would have paid would be for nothing at all. Sounds like the Conservative business model.
You do not provide any evidence to back up your claim that nuclear is the most subsidized form of power not on. A loan guarantee of 8 billion dollars is not an 8 billion dollar subsidy; it is much less based on the relative risk. One nuclear plant that can be built on a couple hundred acres will produce more electricity than filling Baxter State Park full of wind mills. That’s taking a lot of land out of tree growth and recreational use.
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2011/08/03/eia-releases-new-subsidy-report-subsidies-for-renewables-increase-186-percent/
Canton mountain study Rotor Sweep Zone
Approximately 60% of both nights and days
had mean target heights within the
RSZ heights, and more than 80% of median
target heights occurred within the
RSZ heights during the
fall 2010 sampling period.
Canton Mountain Wind Study
Of the five bald eagles observed, four (three adults, one
juvenile) flew through the Project Area. One of the adults flew within RSZ elevations.RSZ = Rotor Sweep Zone
Of the five bald eagles observed, four (three adults, one
juvenile) flew through the Project Area. One of the adults flew within RSZ elevations.
RSZ = Rotor Sweep Zone
Greatful Dead concert 110 decibels (4th paragraph) http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/230.html
Ok… No wind power. No nuclear power. No hydroelectric power. No power from coal, no power from oil. So where is that electricity going to come from?
Hydro sounds good. Vermont paid 5.8 cents a kw for 20 years. That is a long time to improve alternatives.
Beckfords have suggested we use candles for light in the evening.
“It’s unfortunate but it’s due process. It’s what we in America have right to do,” Pisgah Mountain partner Paul Fuller said in a telephone interview after the news conference.
I’d like to think that it isn’t an American right to deliberately do harm to one’s neighbors; to lower their property values and threaten their quality of life and their health, as well as violate federal laws enacted to protect endangered raptors and migratory birds. Anything with such a big environmental impact as an industrial wind installation, that is largely subsidized by tax payers and produces so few benefits except to the stakeholders, deserves sharp scrutiny. It’s encouraging that the public is becoming more aware of the true cost/benefit analysis and the fact that industrial wind has never proven one of its sweeping claims. Not one.
Do not want us to use gas and oil, want us to cut down on using electric power, but every time something is trying to be done, oh no not here, it might effect a mouse, an owl, if we go back to burning wood, nope cutting too many trees, horse and buggy, then PETA is crying abuse, if solar and wind did not cost so dam much I would have both at my house, but its gonna take a good long time to get back the return longer then I will live. You can never win with the enviro nut jobs, there is always a new argument on why we can not do something. My motorcycle get 47 mpgs, my car gets 40 mpgs, and cost way less then any hybrid on the market, 29k less then the volt, and I can buy a lot of gas for 29k, so where is the savings? make theses types of things affordable for the common house hold, and the common house hold will use them.
Good, sensible , post.