Wind Power News: Complaints
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Rep. Russell on Hinton wind turbine construction
OKLAHOMA CITY – NextEra Energy is currently putting up wind turbines out in southwest Canadian County, as part of the company’s Minco IV wind farm. The company submitted its original plans for this project in 2016. Those plans were OK’d by the FAA as presenting ‘no hazard’ to aviation. But NextEra didn’t build those, instead submitting revised plans to the FAA this year in March. The 2018 plans have not yet been given a ‘no hazard’ designation. But this summer, . . . Complete story »
OCC addresses controversial wind turbine construction
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission heard concerns Tuesday about a wind farm near the town of Hinton. NextEra is building more than 160 turbines, and many neighbors say they are do it illegally. “The law is very clear,” said attorney Kim Spady, who represents some neighbors from Hinton. Spady points to the new law which took effect in May. It states a wind developer must obtain what’s called a “no hazard” determination for each turbine from the Federal Aviation Administration or . . . Complete story »
Carpetbaggers and their turbines
You have read here previously of how sPower refused to cancel my wind lease agreement even after learning their agents had used misrepresentation to get me to sign it. Now comes the story that a great many other people are having problems with them as well. Through the second half of this year, a large number of the leases they hold in Seneca County are expiring from their “preconstruction” phases and should require the landowner to re-sign the agreement if . . . Complete story »
Wind farm report a blow to future of the industry
A class-action lawsuit is being planned against a local council, the Victorian government and a wind farm operator after an independent review accepted resident complaints that noise from a Gippsland wind farm was causing them harm. A council-ordered report on the Bald Hills wind farm found there was a nuisance under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act. This was despite the wind farm being compliant with state planning laws. Investigators said they could hear wind turbines in some residents’ homes . . . Complete story »
Gippsland wind farm adversely affecting residents, independent report says
Noise from a wind farm in Victoria’s Gippsland is having an adverse impact on the comfort and wellbeing of residents living at surrounding properties, a new report commissioned by a local council has found. According to the South Gippsland Shire Council, this could set a new precedent in how planning decisions are made about where wind turbines are built. The council said the report it commissioned into the Bald Hills Wind Farm at Tarwin Lower found two surrounding properties were . . . Complete story »
Wind farm may be causing health issues, court-ordered independent report finds
Noise from a wind farm in Victoria’s Gippsland may be causing health issues to residents living at surrounding properties, a new report commissioned by an eastern Victorian council has found. According to the local council, this could set a new precedent in how planning decisions are made about where wind turbines are built. The South Gippsland Shire Council said the report it commissioned into the Bald Hills Wind Farm at Tarwin Lower found two surrounding properties were experiencing noise levels . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine noise breaks up the excitement
ARKWRIGHT– This week saw the powering up of the wind turbines in Arkwright, and the area received its first taste of what a wind farm is like when fully operational. Kellen Ingalls, project manager for EDP Renewables, gave his report to a crowded house at Monday night’s Arkwright town board meeting, stating the obvious, “the turbines are operational. All 36 of them are connected to the grid. We’re waiting to hear back any day now that they accepted power and . . . Complete story »
Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan: communities like Mortlake unconsulted and ignored
Update, Wednesday, 1.30pm: A community meeting will be held at the Mortlake Hall next Monday from 7.30pm after the State Government sparked further debate about renewable energy. A Mortlake district resident said on Wednesday that wind energy was extremely expensive and impractical with foreign owned companies taking up massive government subsidies. “Our lovely Western District volcanic plains and prime farming country is being destroyed by these massive and environmentally unfriendly, using massive amounts of non-renewables in construction, destroying birdlife, dry . . . Complete story »
Donegal councillor filmed in RTÉ sting was ‘negligent’
A councillor who was secretly filmed asking to be paid through a business partner for promised work on behalf of wind farm investors “blurred the lines” between his public duties and his role as a businessman, his barrister has said. The Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) is investigating whether John O’Donnell, an Independent councillor with Donegal County Council since 2014, breached the code that governs local authority members. The investigation is being conducted on foot of interviews carried out . . . Complete story »
Turbine bombshell – Noise ‘detrimental and unreasonable’
The investigation commissioned by the South Gippsland Shire Council, at a cost of $33,600, into Noise Complaint Notifications by residents living near the Bald Hills Wind Farm is complete. And two and a half years after they first made their grievances known, the report has found their complaints were fully justified. Described by the shire as “a highly experienced independent public health consultant”, at his appointment in February this year, James C. Smith and Associates has found that “there is . . . Complete story »
