February 9, 2008
Washington

Wind farm idea aired

Burton Hamner came into town to find out which way the wind is blowing. He already knows the wind off the coast has great potential to be turned into electricity with massive wind-powered turbines. But he wants the community’s support for his plan to harness that power.

At a public meeting Friday morning at the Port of Grays Harbor, he found area commercial and sport fishermen weren’t keen on the idea.

“We look at this as a monstrosity,” said Ray Toste, president of the Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association. “This will literally stop commercial fishing.”

He and other men who make their living from the sea said wind farm towers, anchors and transmission cables – even if the cables are buried – could threaten their livelihood by reducing the area in which they can fish and crab and potentially harm the fish themselves.