Wind energy siting reform would remove local control
Cape Cod Times, www.capecodonline.com 14 October 2011
Cape Cod Times, www.capecodonline.com 14 October 2011
The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals and forbids the creation of second-class citizens. The state is creating a second-class group of citizens through the poor siting of commercial wind turbines.
In 2004, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative gambled $5.28 million in public funds to purchase two new Vestas V82 wind turbines with a plan was to sell them to municipalities.
The wind turbines were warehoused in Texas at a cost of $3,500 a month. MTC’s next stop was Mattapoisett. By this time, 2007, the warranty on the towers had expired and the project was becoming politically embarrassing.
The state was complicit in the process, skirting constitutional land-use amendments and issuing a permit for a tower at Naskatucket Bay State Reservation.
The turbines proved a divisive fight in Mattapoisett. Those same turbines are now sited in Falmouth. For over a year more than 50 Falmouth residents have complained about noise.
Do not allow the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act. It takes away all local control of commercial wind turbines.
Frank Haggerty
Mattapoisett
The writer is a member of Concerned Citizens for Responsible Wind Power.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/14/wind-energy-siting-reform-would-remove-local-control/