May 23, 2013
Scotland

Report blows away majority of Mossmorran wind turbine concerns

The Courier | May 23rd, 2013 | www.thecourier.co.uk

The majority of residents living near Mossmorran are satisfied a nearby windfarm development is not increasing air pollution levels.

Kennedy Renewables, the developer behind Little Raith Wind Farm, has been monitoring benzene concentrations and according to its findings the turbines have reduced air pollution in Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly.

The developer met representatives at a meeting of Little Raith Wind Farm Community Liaison Forum earlier this week to discuss the findings.

Members of Lumphinnans and Cowdenbeath community councils who attended the meeting said they were satisfied Kennedy Renewables had answered concerns about benzene levels.

It was feared concentrations of the chemical could be affected by turbulence from the nine turbines at Little Raith, causing a dump of toxins near built-up areas. The company’s interim report suggested levels had actually fallen.

However, not everyone was convinced. James Glen, from the Loch of Shining Waters website, claimed the monitoring technique used was not sufficiently accurate.

He said the developer should have followed a Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) recommendation for a more sophisticated monitoring system.

A spokeswoman for the agency said: “Sepa did recommend time-based monitoring in its response to the planning application for Little Raith wind farm lodged with Fife Council in 2007.

This was accepted by the local authority in the planning permission.

“However, this is a very expensive monitoring technique and the developer appealed the decision. It was agreed that diffusion tubes could be used for the benzene monitoring, which provide an average over a two week period.”

She continued: “Monitoring results show that concentrations of benzene in Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly are at a low level typical of a rural location and are well below the annual air quality objective.”

Kennedy Renewables is continuing to monitor benzene levels at Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Little Raith, and will publish a full report later this year.

The only anomaly in the results was a spike in the graph for benzene concentration at Little Raith between September and October 2011, when the level was three times the Scottish air quality objective standard.

Stephen Klein, chief executive of Kennedy Renewables, said there was no known explanation for the spike.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/05/23/report-blows-away-majority-of-mossmorran-wind-turbine-concerns/