May 2, 2012
Quebec, Vermont

Canadians push Derby to oppose wind project

Robin Smith, Staff Writer, The Orleans Record, orleanscountyrecord.com 2 May 2012

DERBY – Stanstead politicians are applying pressure, both soft and hard, to push their neighbors on the Derby Select Board into opposing the Derby Line Wind Project.

On the weekend, Stanstead Mayor Philippe Dutil said he would cut off water to the tiny border hamlet of Beebe Plain, Vt., which is part of the town of Derby. The hamlet receives water by agreement from the town of Stanstead through a reservoir that serves its own hamlet called Beebe.

But the threat does not have the backing of the Stanstead town council, Dutil said.

On Monday evening, Stanstead councillor Paul Stuart tried a different approach. He went before the Derby Select Board to politely request that Stanstead and Derby unite with neighboring towns.

“The town of Stanstead would like to stand shoulder to shoulder with the towns of Derby and Holland,” he said.

“Please don’t turn your back on your neighbors to the north.”

Meanwhile, a member of the Quebec National Assembly has weighed in, asking the wind developer to consider the Quebec residents who live close to the proposed turbine sites on Derby farms near the U.S.-Canadian border.

He is asking the Vermont Public Service Board to provide a hearing for Canadians in Stanstead.

Opponents on both sides of the border are planning an international rally Sunday at 1 p.m. at the border-straddling Haskell Free Library in Derby Line and Stanstead.

Experts on the impacts of wind turbines are expected to attend.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/05/02/canadians-push-derby-to-oppose-wind-project/