David Brandes is an Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Lafayette College in Easton . He is also a Visiting Scientist at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary where he is developing a raptor migration model to predict low-risk locations for wind turbines (funded by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Wild Resource Conservation Fund). He is part of a collaboration of scientists using satellite telemetry and modeling to learn more about golden eagle migration and wintering behavior throughout the Appalachian region (see www.aviary.org/csrv/goldeneagles.php).

He is also the founder of the Tussey Mountain Spring Eagle Watch near State College and has authored a variety of papers and presentations on golden eagle migration, raptor migration modeling, and the potential impacts of windpower development on migrating raptors in the Appalachian region.

The program will be held in East Stroudsburg University ’s Moore Biology Building lecture hall. The Conservation Through Education Lecture Series is funded by the Kettle Creek Environmental Fund.

Please send a check to SOAR for $15 if you would like a DVD. The
address is: SOAR, P. O. Box 178, Everett, PA 15537. The $15 covers
shipping and handling.

Thanks,
Laura Jackson
SOAR Chair

Groups from across the state will be addressing the various concerns that wind power facilities pose to Pennsylvania’s wild areas, wildlife, tourism, historical resources, and viewscapes.

Concerned citizens from a number of Pennsylvania counties (Bedford, Blair, Somerset, Fayette, Lycoming, Tioga, Dauphin, Northumberland, Potter) have formed a Wind Truth Coalition to push for more stringent siting requirements. While these groups recognize that wind power is renewable energy, they maintain that it is not a clean or green energy when the turbines and associated infrastructure pose grave harm to wildlife, or historic and natural areas.

Coalition members want fellow Pennsylvanians to understand that both state and federal regulations are necessary to protect our natural environment from industrial wind turbine projects.

The Press Conference will follow Gov. Rendell’s address to the joint session of the Senate and House at 11:00 a.m. The special session will consider “funding for renewable energy.” Past funding measures have supported several wind projects in the Pennsylvania. PPM Energy received a state grant of $150,000 to help develop a wind project in Somerset County which was partly located on reclaimed strip mine areas — habitat that is much better suited for wind development than forested ridges. A more controversial use of taxpayers’ money was the PEDA grant of $360,295 for Harrisburg’s mayor to conduct a wind feasibility study on the ridges of St. Anthony’s Wilderness, the largest roadless area in southeastern Pennsylvania.

The threat of global warming should make preservation of our natural areas even more critical. Our forested mountains are key to species’ preservation and form an integral part of greenways that are being recognized by conservation groups as critical resources for humans and wildlife.

The Coalition is working with Pennsylvania legislators to provide a state-level review and create siting requirements for wind development in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Laura Jackson, Chairperson, Save Our Allegheny Ridges, 814-652-9268, mljackson@hughes.net

Save Our Allegheny Ridges, P.O. Box 178, Everett, PA 15537
www.saveouralleghenyridges.com

Download “Groups Across Pennsylvania Speak Out Against Industrial Wind Projects on Forested Ridges”

The US Fish & Wildlife Service’s guidance document regarding “wind farm” location states:

1. Avoid placing turbines in areas where there are endangered species.
2. Avoid placing turbines in bird migration pathways.
3. Avoid placing turbines near known bat hibernation, breeding, and maternity colonies.
4. Avoid fragmenting large, contiguous tracts of wildlife habitat.

As you can see, siting industrial windplants on central Pennsylvania’s forested ridges is in violation of the criteria for acceptable locations according to the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Download “Improper Industrial Windplant Siting Threatens Pennsylvania Ridgetops”

In response to your recent headline, “Wind farm stirs up opposition,” the Folmont Property Owners Association supports Mr. Rick Bonomo’s call for a petition slowing the construction of industrial windmills in Brothersvalley Township.

The permitting of industrial windmills without greater study of health, safety and environmental impact is not warranted given an ever growing body of knowledge concerning the effect of these devices.

These wind factories are not your “Little Dutch Boy” models, but are rather large both in size and in the area required for construction. Each windmill will require the minimal clear cutting of three acres of land and the construction of a very large foundation (181 yards of concrete and 17,000 lbs. of reinforced steel). Maximum efficiency is achieved when the adjacent land clear cut at the rate of 40 acres per tower. Towers can be from 300 to 400 feet tall from base to the tip of the rotor. Construction will include access roads to accommodate cement trucks, cranes and large transportation vehicles.

We disagree that the windmill ordinance passed by the Somerset County commissioners “protects people yet enables people to develop their properties.” Permitted sound emissions from the windmills far exceed those limits set in the European Union and county setbacks do little to protect the existing property rights of adjacent property owners.

Under county ordinances, a windmill could be sited immediately adjacent to a property that does not contain an occupied structure. Future construction of homesites on that property would be limited indeed.

The Bedford County Planning Board has proposed a much stronger model ordinance for adoption by townships in Bedford County. This proposed ordinance contains sophisticated sound level controls and a 2,000 foot setback from occupied buildings. How can the solicitor that advised Bedford County believe that strong limitations can be placed on industrial windmill development while townships in Somerset County are presented with a much weaker version of a model ordinance?

Folmont is a growing residential and recreational community located in Somerset and Bedford counties. Permanent and weekend residences now comprise more than 40 percent of the total land in Folmont generating significant taxes for the local townships. Continued growth of the Folmont subdivision and subsequent increased property tax revenues depends upon the continuance of a peaceful, quiet and forested environment.

It is in the best interests of all citizens of Somerset and Bedford County to develop reasonable regulations of any industry that will dramatically change the nature of the counties involved. To expect less from the counties and township governments is to cede control of to “multi-billion dollar companies.”

Dr. Terence M. Doran
Vice-president of the Folmont Property Owners Association
Pittsburgh

Thursday, October 26, 2006

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