March 3, 2011
Massachusetts

First Wind backs out of Brimfield wind project

By Lori Stabile, The Republican, www.masslive.com 3 March 2011

BRIMFIELD – Boston-based First Wind is not moving forward with a proposal to build a wind farm on top of West Mountain.

State Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, said he has talked with First Wind representatives who said that after 11 months of collecting data, the company has determined that there is not enough wind at the Brimfield site, and that it will not be moving forward with the proposal at this time.

“It is our further understanding that the company is in the process of contacting the landowners and will be removing the equipment from the site in the near future,” Kate Cohen, Brewer’s chief of staff, wrote in an email.

Back in September, more than 200 residents packed into a selectmen’s meeting to make their opposition to the project clear. There were some supporters, but most of the people at the meeting expressed concern about noise, changes to the landscape and blasting that could affect water wells.

First Wind had proposed installing 10 turbines on the West Mountain ridge to generate electricity.

Representatives of the company and the town had said the project could not be built without a zoning bylaw change that would take a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting to be approved.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/03/03/first-wind-backs-out-of-brimfield-wind-project/