October 27, 2011
Michigan, Ohio

Lenawee County wind turbine proposal could interfere with airport safety

By Erin Kelly, WTOL, www.wtol.com 26 October 2011

Lenawee County wind developers have recently experienced an obstacle in their wind turbine proposal.

Plans for the turbines are to locate the project less than 13 nautical miles from the Toledo Express airport’s radar, which causes safety problems. The turbines would cause electromagnetic interference on the airspace, and would be a hazard to air navigation.

The Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition, which has been fighting for tighter restrictions on the turbines, says that this affects 63 of 80 proposed turbines in Riga and Ogden Townships which are both located just outside Blissfield.

“It is unclear at this time. I mean it certainly would appear that they have selected an area that is not feasible for turbines based on these FAA determinations or at least not feasible for the turbines of the height that they want to build that they indicate that they need as a result of the wind resources in this area.” said Josh Nolan of the Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition.

Yuwi Wind, the company that designed the turbines, has not yet commented on this issue, but it could hamper their plans significantly.

The FAA says that this would not be a problem if the developers would lower the height of their turbines to under 324 feet. The developers are currently planning the turbines to be as high as 492 feet tall.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/27/lenawee-county-wind-turbine-proposal-could-interfere-with-airport-safety/