Answers needed on Peru wind plan
Berkshire Eagle | 10/15/2013 | www.berkshireeagle.com
On Nov. 4, the town of Peru will be voting on a moratorium bylaw amendment on wind energy conversion systems. Recently, a developer filed an application for a special permit to build a wind farm in our town. We have been told that another developer may also be interested in our town as well.
There are so many questions that have been raised since we passed our current wind bylaw back in 2005. Since then there has been more information about the impact of wind turbines on health and property values.
Some people say that wind turbines are safe and complaints about noise on health are anecdotal. The fact is we know that noise does have an impact on health. Many years ago The Tobacco Research Institute claimed smoking was safe. We now know that was false.
Data also confirms that wind turbines have a negative impact on property values, which makes it difficult to resell a home. This affects the tax base of a community, which may not be offset by the promised revenue from a wind developer. Currently, there are 27 bills in the Statehouse to address wind energy concerns. State Senate President Therese Murray has proposed financing the decommissioning of turbines in Falmouth at taxpayer expense.
Should we risk making an uninformed decision that we may have to live with forever? We had no idea that the wind bylaw we passed in 2005 would have such a huge impact on the well-being of our community.
A Special Town Meeting to vote on the moratorium amendment is scheduled for Nov. 4 at the Peru firehouse. For more information check garnethillwind.com
JOHN DITOMASSO
Peru
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/10/15/answers-needed-on-peru-wind-plan/