Pantego windfarm hits another bump
Beaufort Observer | www.beaufortobserver.ne 31 August 2012
The proposed location of the turbines could also interfere with military radar used to track the F-15E practice runs, according to a letter Col. Jeannie Leavitt, Commander of the 4th Fighter Wing at the Seymour Johnson, wrote to Gov. Bev Perdue in July. The letter was submitted to the Utilities Commission this month by the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, which supports the Air Force installation as a vital contributor to the region’s economy.
Leavitt’s letter suggests that the state’s wind-swept flatland, considered to have some of the best wind resources on the East Coast, may not be an appropriate place to mix wind turbines with military operations.
“I believe that wind farm development in any part of eastern North Carolina has the potential to harm the training missions of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and potentially other Department of Defense users of the airspace near the planned projects,” Leavitt wrote.
A month after Leavitt wrote her letter, Perdue issued an Aug. 18 executive order directing state authorities to prevent land use that is incompatible with U.S. military installations in the state.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Commission has its own concerns. A preliminary estimate shows the Pantego project, with 164-foot-long blades that spin over 100 miles per hour, could kill between 3.4 and 20.7 bald eagles a year that fly through the area to forage and hunt. Click here to read the rest of the story.
What may be even more of a threat to Invenergy’s plans in Beaufort County is the fact that Duke Power is negotiating with the City of Washington and rumor has it some property owners in the Bath area to put solar farms in. Any electricity Duke can generate for other alternative sources (other than wind) reduces the marketability of the electricity generated by the huge wind farms.
Stay tuned and check back. We’ll keep you posted.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/31/pantego-windfarm-hits-another-bump/