LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME


[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]

Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

Get weekly updates
RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Stripe

Donate via Paypal

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Wind turbine project fuels new ‘Battle of Lake Erie’ 

Credit:  Phil Trexler | WKYC | November 14, 2018 | www.wkyc.com ~~

CLEVELAND – The first Battle of Lake Erie played out 200 years ago. It lasted a single day as U.S. forces crushed the British Royal Navy in the War of 1812.

For the past decade, another much quieter battle over Lake Erie has raged on.

At stake are six wind turbines that a company wants to plant in the lake, about eight miles off the Cleveland shoreline.

The proposal by the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. [LEEDCo] is a test run to determine if the lake is a good match for turbines to generate electrical power. If all goes as planned, more turbines could pop up in future development.

“The idea is that we need clean energy here in Cleveland and we need jobs,” said David Karpinski, LEEDCo’s vice president of operations. “We think this is a great marriage to kind of fuel economic growth for years to come here in Cleveland.”

The six turbines are expected to create enough wind to power 7,000 homes. Construction would mean 500 jobs and LEEDCo estimates about $168 million in economic impact.

The plan, however, is not without opposition. Some residents, and in a low-key level, coal industry leaders, have fought the plan for various reasons.

Susan Dempsey, a Bratenahl resident whose condominium sits lakeside, said the plan concerns her on several levels.

“This is precedence-setting. This is the first fresh water installation and it affects not just Lake Erie, but all of the Great Lakes,” she said. “I just don’t think we should use our lake, the most beautiful natural resource of this state, as some common industrial park.”

“We should protect it with every possible bone in our body.”

The turbines would barely be visible from shore. Close up, however, each turbine is imposing. A turbine is about 500 feet high with wing spans of 300 feet, the size of a football field.

Aesthetics aside, no one disputes the six wind turbines will threaten wildlife, especially migrating birds and bats that cross Lake Erie. Exactly how many birds will die as a result of flying into a turbine is unknown.

Turbine supporters point out that studies show household cats and downtown buildings kill more birds every year.

The Ohio Environmental Council, a non-profit agency set up to safeguard the state’s natural resources, studied LEEDCo’s plans before giving it a thumbs up. The project also has the support of many government leaders.

It has not been a smooth process. The Ohio Siting Board, which regulates such projects, has held hours of meetings and heard hours of testimony from both sides of the issue. Details and restrictions continue to stall the project, such as a request that the turbines be shutdown at night for months at a time in order to closer study the impact.

“We looked at this project, the most important thing for us looking at the application, was balancing our need for clean energy, as I said, with wildlife protections and making sure that our natural resources, our lake erie, is protected,” Miranda Leppla of the Ohio Environmental Council said.

Leppla added the group would not support the project if it compromised the agency’s clean air objectives. And she pointed out that the state would need to approve any future expansion beyond the six turbines. Some have speculated that LEEDCo could put hundreds of turbines on the lake. Karpinski would not speculate on any future project.

Leppla, however, said if the expansion doesn’t protect the environment, “then we won’t support it.”

If the project is approved, the turbines could be twirling by 2021.

For more information, visit the LEEDCo website at http://www.leedco.org/

Source:  Phil Trexler | WKYC | November 14, 2018 | www.wkyc.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Contributions
   Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)
Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI M TG TS G Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook Wind Watch on Linked In

Wind Watch on Mastodon Wind Watch on Truth Social

Wind Watch on Gab Wind Watch on Bluesky