December 31, 2010
Massachusetts

Turbines, transitions, and trash

By John Paradise, The Enterprise, www.capenews.net 30 December 2010

These are three of the big issues that the town will be grappling with during the new year.

For starters, what is to become of seven wind turbines being proposed in Bournedale?

The plans have riled neighbors, and the town’s selectmen have already voted to take a stand against the project. This vote occurred before the Cape Cod Commission or even the town’s energy advisory committee could sink their teeth into the proposal, separating the junk science from the real science and determining what sorts of tangible impacts, if any, the turbines would have on the surrounding neighborhoods.

A commission subcommittee is currently weighing the pros and cons of the proposal.
But any decision on the matter could be frozen if plans to declare an Upper Cape District of Critical Planning Concern (DCPC) for wind turbines move forward.

Earlier this month, the Falmouth Planning Board submitted to the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners a formal request to have Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich declared a DCPC, a move that would temporarily block all land-based wind turbine development that has not already received permitting.

If the commissioners formally recommend a DCPC for wind energy projects, a limited moratorium on all projects on the Upper Cape would go into immediate effect. If approved by the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, the moratorium would be in effect for up to a year while the Cape Cod Commission, working with the towns, developed regulations.

[excerpted from “Happy New Year, Bourne” – rest of article available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/12/31/turbines-transitions-and-trash/