March 4, 2016
Massachusetts

Residents sue town over wind turbines

By MICHAEL J. RAUSCH | The Bourne Enterprise | March 4, 2016 | www.capenews.net

A group of Bourne residents has brought a lawsuit against town officials and Future Generation Wind LLC relative to the construction of four giant wind turbines at the Bourne-Plymouth town line. The case was heard in Barnstable Superior Court on Friday, March 4. The judge in the case rejected the neighbors’ request for a temporary injunction, which would have halted work on the project.

The residents have expressed anger and dissatisfaction at the board of health and other town officials for not doing enough to enforce the town’s Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS) regulations. The residents have also claimed that the town did not act expediently to protect them from possible negative health effects of living close to turbines.

The suit names town administrator Thomas M. Guerino; members of the Bourne Board of Selectmen (Stephen F. Mealy, Donald E. (Jerry) Ellis, Donald J. Pickard, Michael A. Blanton, Peter J. Meier); Bourne town counsel Robert S. Troy; members of the Bourne Board of Health (Kathleen M. Peterson, Stanley J. Anderson, Kelly A. Mastria, Galon L. (Skip) Barlow; Donald C. Uitti); and Future Generation Wind, LLC.

Four 450-foot tall wind turbines are being built by Future Generation Wind on Keith Mann cranberry farm at the Bourne-Plymouth town line. The Bourne Board of Health ruled that the turbines do not meet the town’s WECS regulations.

Future Generation Wind has argued that because the turbines are located in Plymouth, the project is not subject to Bourne’s health regulations.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/03/04/residents-sue-town-over-wind-turbines/