February 24, 2011
Virginia
Virginia
Proposed Roanoke Co. wind farm raises signal concern
By Angela Hatcher, WSLS 10, www2.wsls.com 23 February 2011
By Angela Hatcher, WSLS 10, www2.wsls.com 23 February 2011
ROANOKE COUNTY, VA – A proposed wind farm on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County, raises concern for emergency services and broadcasters, including WSLS.
The proposal by Invenergy Wind Development calls for 18 turbines. The turbines would each be 443 feet tall.
The concern is possible signal interference with existing emergency communication, radio and television towers.
“With the turbines the way they’re proposed, the height is higher than the tip of our antenna.”, says WSLS Chief Engineer Ricky Williams. “Our whole signal will be affected in that area.”
“Those blades, when they’re spinning around can essentially cause a magnetic field which can distort a radio signal,” says Roanoke County Director of Communications Bill Greeves. “It can cause that signal to bend and go off track. It might not go through at all or if it does go through, it would be hard for them to hear.”
Greeves tells us Roanoke County has not received a permit application that would detail the location of the proposed turbines. He says once that’s in, he would be able to determine if the turbines will or will not be an issue.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/24/proposed-roanoke-co-wind-farm-raises-signal-concern/