Wind Power News: New Jersey
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
New Jersey latest state to raid carbon auction funds
New Jersey has become the latest state in a regional cap-and-trade market on greenhouse gases to take money meant to support clean energy programs to help ease its budget deficit.
“Pain had to be distributed across the board,” Elaine Makatura, director of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, said in an interview on Wednesday. She said Gov. Chris Christie has decided to move $65 million from New Jersey’s Global Warming Solutions Fund to its General Fund.
The move, which includes revenues expected . . .
DuPont site in Pompton Lakes may become a wind and solar farm
From toxic plume to green energy? Pompton Lakes officials are considering a proposal to turn the contaminated 600-acre DuPont site into a renewable energy farm with wind turbines and rows of solar panels.
It is the latest idea about what to do with the site after heavy metals, solvents and other toxic chemicals are removed from the property over the next few years. Borough officials had previously envisioned an 18-hole golf course, hotel, conference center and residential community of up to . . .
Ocean Gate windmills draw mixed reviews
OCEAN GATE — This town is a half-mile long beach bungalow site on Barnegat Bay whose population swells to 5,000 in the summer from 2,200 offseason. American flags flutter on every street and driveways are as likely to sport motor boats as cars.
The tiny Ocean County borough has also become the epicenter of a debate about a state initiative designed to promote the installation of wind turbines in small towns with minimal input from residents.
Three months ago, Ocean Gate was . . .
Ocean Gate turbine creates storm
OCEAN GATE — When Lori Ditzel moved to the small riverfront borough three years ago, she and her husband purchased what she considered their “forever home.”
“When I moved here, I told myself I was never moving again. That really was our plan,” said Ditzel, 40, of 804 Ocean Gate Ave. “Now that’s not really in the plans anymore.”
Ditzel is one of a small group of residents who have been unhappy with Ocean Gate’s new wind turbine, the first one in . . .
N.J.’s Christie seeks faster approvals for offshore wind power
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he will ask the federal government to expedite permits for a proposed energy-producing wind farm off the Atlantic Ocean coast that would be the first such facility in the eastern U.S.
Three wind-power projects have received state approval and are awaiting federal authorization to begin construction, according to the state Board of Public Utilities. New Jersey’s energy master plan strives for the state to get 30 percent of electricity from renewable sources like wind . . .
Bayshore groups warn of wind turbine effects; Environmental groups plan forums to educate public
Two Bayshore environmental groups are calling for more information on the effects of an industrial wind turbine planned in Union Beach.
Despite conditional approval granted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a 1.5- megawatt industrial wind turbine, the Hazlet Area Quality of Life Alliance (HAQLA) and the Hazlet Environmental Commission (HEC) will host informational forums about wind energy and public health effects the turbines may pose to residents of the region.
“At this point, they are still awaiting . . .
N.J. Senate eases wind turbine limits in Atlantic City
TRENTON — Current DEP restrictions prohibit wind turbines within 500 feet of a mean high water line, but a bill the Senate approved today would roll back that rule for Atlantic City.
The bill, which the Senate passed 39-0, would allow turbines to be built on a city pier in the 12 months after the law was enacted.
“If we expect to maintain our place as a leader in renewable energy, this project will be key to helping New Jersey explore new . . .
Contract awarded for wind turbine project; Windmill slated to be operational by January 2011
Construction of a 1.5-megawatt industrial wind turbine along the coastline in Union Beach will be completed by the end of 2010, according to officials from the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority (BRSA).
“We have conditional approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection [NJDEP],” said Robert Fischer, executive director of BRSA.
“We are not expecting construction to start until April or May. It will take until December to have the turbine completely installed, and we are expecting by January 2011 we will . . .
Heed risks posed by wind turbines
In a 2006 presentation to the New York State Legislature’s Energy Committee on Wind Turbine Syndrome, Dr. Nina Pierpont cited numerous public health issues associated with siting wind turbines too close to homes, hospitals and schools.
Pierpont, who is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, stated, “current (wind turbine) siting practices disregard public health.” She addressed various maladies suffered by citizens residing too close to wind turbines that have come to be called Wind Turbine Syndrome.
She said based on . . .
Contract awarded for wind turbine in Union Beach
UNION BEACH — The wheels for building a 380-foot energy-producing wind turbine for the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority here finally are in motion, officials said.
The authority late last month awarded a $5.9 million contract to Conti Construction of South Plainfield to build the turbine, which if all goes according to plan, could be operating as early as February 2011, said Robert C. Fischer, executive director of the authority.
The authority plans to build the turbine off Oak Street at the west . . .
