December 31, 2016
Massachusetts

2016: Legal battle over turbine continues

By Kathryn Gallerani | Dec 30, 2016 | kingston.wickedlocal.com

KINGSTON – The Independence wind turbine turned again after a mechanical shutdown in 2016, and complaints from neighbors about flicker and noise continue.

The year started with the town of Kingston and Board of Health defending against a lawsuit by turbine owner Kingston Wind Independence over a modified abatement order approved in October 2015.

The town did so by claiming breach of contract. KWI leases the former landfill property from the town, and there is a power purchase agreement in place.

In March, the Board of Health scheduled a public hearing for May to reconsider creating a flicker regulation against the strobing affect protested by neighbors. At the beginning of May the public hearing was canceled. That was following turnover on the board at the town election.

The turbine was out of operation in April and again starting in mid-June of this year due to a yaw system defect affecting the turbine’s rotor before being restored to continuous operation in November.

In August, a Superior Court judge ruled in the town’s favor that the Board of Health had the right to file an abatement order against Kingston Wind Independence and did not make a “substantial error of law” as argued by KWI, but the legal battle continues.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/12/31/2016-legal-battle-over-turbine-continues/