Black Nubble Rejected

Glenn Adams, an Associated Press writer in the 14 January 2008 Boston Globe describes the split decision in Maine under the headline "Regulators OK Kibby wind plan, reject Black Nubble".

A key paragraph about the difference is this one:

"The Land Use Regulation Commission voted to allow a 44-turbine project near the Canadian border in Franklin County, saying TransCanada Maine Wind Development's application answered its concerns that roads be built properly, and birds and bats be protected."

The other site, the one called Black Nubble, is the revised plan for the one that sits so close to the Appalachian Trail and was rejected a year ago. And, of course, people on both sides still disagree with each other about whether this decision was a good one. Stay tuned for appeals and revisions.

Black Nubble Wind Farm Up for Okay

AP writer Glenn Adams has an article titled "Regulators to debate two W. Maine wind-power projects" in the 13 January 2008 Boston Globe. He writes:

"On Monday morning, the Land Use Regulation Commission will take up a preliminary development plan by Maine Mountain Power LLC to rezone 487 acres for a scaled-back, 18-turbine project on Black Nubble Mountain in Redington and Wyman townships.

"In the afternoon, LURC weighs the preliminary plan by TransCanada Maine Wind Development Inc. and Plum Creek Maine Timberlands LLC to rezone 2,367 acres for a 44-turbine project in Kibby and Skinner townships. Both wind projects are in western Maine's Franklin County."

The first project, on Black Nubble, is the one that was rejected last year as too destructive of the Appalachian Trail viewshed.

The article speaks more about the benefits of wind power generation than about its drawbacks. I don't think that dead birds, dead bats, or the trees that need to be removed in order to install wind turbines are even mentioned.

Maine Wind Farm Proposal Status

The Kingfield (ME) Irregular has a 12 September 2007 article by staffer David Hart titled "Wind developers visit, announce public hearing date." It describes the latest news on the Maine windmill farm plans.

It's a long-ish article and mentions the Appalachian Trail a couple times. Interestingly, the walking tours of the wind mill site began "at the Appalachian Trail parking lot along Route 2." The guides pointed out that the wind turbines will really "not be seen by motorists or residents of any town." [unless they're out hiking, I suppose]

"Literature states that the closest turbine to the Appalachian Trail is 15.5 miles away, eight miles from Eustis/Stratton population center and the closest resident is 1.2 miles away. ... Under the current proposal, the above ground transmission line will be lowered and go underground about 100 yards north of the Appalachian Trail parking lot."

The company TransCanada is purchasing land for environmental buffers and doing other things to ease their way through the rest of the approval process.

Wind Farm Debate Continues

Donna M. Perry writes in the 25 August 2007 Lewiston, ME Sun-Journal under the headline "Groups search for consensus on wind power." The article reports things said by "several panelists speaking at Tilting at Windmills?, an informational forum on wind power in Western Maine sponsored by Western Maine Legislative Caucus."

Among the speakers was David Publicover, Appalachian Mountain Club senior staff scientist.

Maine Wind Farm Proposal Back Again

The Maine wind farm proposal is back in the news in the Kennebec Morning Sentinel's 23 August 2007 issue under the headline "Wind project returns to table; Black Nubble project slated for public hearings."

The

"Black Nubble project is a smaller version of the Redington wind farm, which called for placing 30 turbines on both Redington Pond Range and Black Nubble.

"But environmental groups and groups that advocate for the Appalachian Trail, which passes close to the project, have said that while the one-mountain project is smaller, it still raises significant concerns."

The Black Nubble site is just over three miles from the Appalachian Trail, while Redington was about a mile away.

Maine Wind Farm Details

Lewiston Maine's Sun-Journal newspaper has an 18 August 2007 article by Donna M. Perry about the current proposals for a 'wind farm' somewhat near the Appalachian Trail. This article describes the currently-known details of the plan as presented by TransCanada Energy Ltd. The article is titled "Details emerge on wind farm."

Maine Wind Farm Proposal's Status

An article by David Hart titled "LURC Receives Revised Black Nubble Only Project Proposal" was published in the 'Original Irregular' on 18 July and updated online on 25 July 2007. After describing the process and the proposal, he remarks that

"It is reported that the Maine Audubon, the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the National Park Service and the Friends of the Western Mountains as well as others oppose the scaled back version."

This project is quite scaled back from the original Redington proposal of a year ago.

Maine Windfarm Support

The CNNMoney.com web site has a story on 10 July 2007 from the Associated Press headlined "Maine: Developer revises wind project" that reports on a meeting held "Tuesday" (that would be the 10th, I am guessing) at which

"representatives of about 20 conservation, health and other organizations expressed their support for the project. They said it protects Redington Pond Range from development while providing clean energy (NASDAQ:CLNE) and reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels."

A representative from Maine Audubon, however, said her organization as well as the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the National Park Service all oppose the windfarm.

Maine Wind Farm Opinion

An op-ed piece in the Bangor Daily News on 6 June 2007 re-visits the continuing story of the proposed windmill farm near the Appalachian Trail. In the piece, titled "Climate Change Calls for Leadership on Wind Power," Sherry Huber writes the following (in amongst a much longer piece)

"Every form of energy production causes impacts, and wind power is no exception. Modern wind turbines are very large, and thus highly visible. This is the major complaint facing the Redington Wind Farm, which would be easily seen from the Appalachian Trail. Opponents also raise concerns about wildlife and forest impacts, particularly on Redington Pond Range.

"But now the developer has proposed a down-sized project further from the Appalachian Trial and away from the most sensitive mountain. Redington Pond Range would be permanently protected and a 54 megawatt clean energy project would be built on Black Nubble. This seems like a great compromise, but some groups remain opposed and are working to defeat the project on procedural grounds. Rather than letting LURC evaluate a Black Nubble Project on its merits, opponents want LURC to force the developer to start the application process over again. In the energy development business, delay often means defeat.

"During my years following public policy, I have seen this pattern before. Advocates get so entrenched in their positions that they refuse to budge when a compromise emerges, even a compromise that is self-evidently in the public interest."

The author served in the Maine House of Representatives and currently chairs the Mainewatch Institute board of directors.

The four comments posted online about the article on the 6th were all against the wind farms.

Wind Farming in Maine

The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram staff blog "Down to Earth: Thoughts on Maine's Environment" by John Richardson dated 12 May 2007 opens with these words:

"Maine may have turned a corner this week in its effort to lead New England in the development of wind power.

"First, Gov. John Baldacci decided to create a task force to come up with rules, laws and siting standards for attracting wind energy projects to the right places. And second, the company behind a doomed wind farm plan in the western Maine mountains resuscitated the project by scaling back from two mountain ridges to one and moving a couple miles farther away from the Appalachian Trail."

The new wind farm plan, Richardson writes, "won’t get a free pass. The 18 remaining turbines will still be visible from the Appalachian Trail and could still affect birds and other wildlife. Those kinds of potential trade-offs will come with every wind energy plan."

Another Maine Wind Farm Proposal

This just in from the Kennebec (ME) Morning Sentinel: developers are now suggesting they could build their wind turbines withouht touching the Redington range.

"That would leave 18 wind turbines on Black Nubble Mountain, located farther from the Appalachian Trail and with less environmentally sensitive habitat. Lee told commissioners the new proposal calls for putting land on Redington into conservation, according to a recording of that meeting."

The article by Alan Crowell in the 9 May 2007 issue is titled "Reduced wind-farm proposal readied".

"Because Redington Pond Range, at just about 4,000 feet, is home to more sensitive habitat and also several miles closer to the Appalachian Trail, a new proposal that only featured turbines on Black Nubble, at about 3,700 feet in elevation, would appear to address many of the objections to the plan."

The article doesn't spell out how much of the approval process needs to be gone through again, if any.

Mother Earth Possible Mention

Mother Earth News may or may not have an article (titled "Whiter Wind?") about wind farms that mentions the Appalachian Trail and Redington. As I'm writing this, the original link I was given leads to an "error" page at Mother's site. Searching the website from its home page leads to another mention of the article, but clicking on the link gets me nowhere.

Maybe it'll be working when you try it. And, no, I haven't tried looking in the paper version of the magazine.

Former Maine Officials on Redington

The 19 Feb 2007 issue of The Portland (ME) Press-Herald on MaineToday.Com has a commentary by Beth Nagusky and Cheryl Harrington, both recently in state government, published under the headline "Turbines on mountains a better choice."

They make the case for wind power to overcome fossil fuel dependence and to do something about climate change. This despite admitting that "It is true the Redington wind project would alter views from segments of the Appalachian Trail." They continue immediately by saying, "But every energy project, including renewable ones, faces sincere objection from some individuals or groups."

I don't read the piece as necessarily wanting the windmills on that site, but as something that is really, really necessary somewhere.

Maine Windfarm Opposition and Support

So the discussion continues, of course. In the 14 February 2007 issue of MaineToday.com there's an post by Carey Kish that agrees with the LURC decision to reject the Redington windfarm. It's titled "Throwing Kibby Mountain Under the Bus."

BUT, Kish also takes the Maine Appalachian Trail Club et al. to task for backing windfarm plans at other wild sites, particularly in this case Kibby Mountain.

What's the deal? Kish quotes from the AMC Maine Mountain Guide that calls Kibby a "remote mountain ... in the heart of the wilderness area" and then continues,

"So, I’m curious: Why would the well-intentioned folks at the MATC think that wind power is not okay at Redington, but that Kibby can be sacrificed? With all due respect, that smacks disappointingly of its own sort of NIMBYism, don’t you think?

"We don’t want wind power ruining our view from the AT, but just up the way we don’t mind if somebody else’s view, somebody else’s favorite mountain, gets marred by development.

"It doesn’t jibe. We need to be more consistent."