June 29, 2011
Maine

Controversial wind project up for debate

by Caroline Connolly, WABI TV 5, www.wabi.tv 28 June 2011

Lincoln – Vacationland wasn’t the same this year for a family that’s spent countless summers visiting from out of state.

“I saw the Aurora Borealis once from looking out at the dock, and now when I look out from the dock I see twenty-four blinking lights. It’s not the same.”

Because since Gerald Griffin’s last visit, forty wind turbines have been built as part of the Rollins Wind Project.

“It was very depressing.”

Which is why he’s spending this vacation, working.

“When you put in a wind power project you blast away, permanently disfiguring and altering, the mountains,” said Brad Blake of the Citizens Task Force on Wind Power.

The Griffins joined Blake and others to try and put a stop to a new proposal called the Bowers Wind Project.

“That particular project towers above the Downeast Grand Lakes, which is a national treasure.”

The 136 million dollar project would build 27 turbines throughout Carroll Plantation and Kossuth Township.

“What we’re asking is the Land Use Regulation Commission to do is to do their job of protecting the natural resources,” said Blake.

A request they’ve been able to make at the LURC public hearings that began Monday.

“I think you’re hearing from a very vocal minority.I think I spend a lot of my time in the host communities, such as Carroll Plantation,” said First Wind developer, Neil Kiely.

“Most folks find that they’re either attractive or fade into the distance,” said Kiely.

He’s been making his company’s case at every single meeting.

“We’re not talking about large, fragmented wildlands. This is essentially a rural area that’s still developed. It’s been heavily harvested for industrial timberland. It’s a lower elevation site, so we avoid the fragile ecosystems.”

The conversations will continue, as one more hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, July 6 at the Spectacular Events Center in Bangor.

It begins at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to end at noon.

The public is invited to attend, but cannot testify before the Commission.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/06/29/controversial-wind-project-up-for-debate/