DIXFIELD — A three-and-a-half hour public session Thursday night on a proposed 12-turbine wind project in Carthage has prompted a number of questions by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
DEP project director Mark Margerum said Monday that the volume of questions and some of the specifics means more information will be needed from project developer Patriot Renewables LLC of Quincy, Mass., as well as a determination on whether the public has additional questions on the project.
He, along with several other DEP representatives and other state agency people, held the session at Dirigo High School. More than 100 people from Carthage and surrounding towns attended the hearing.
Margerum declined to provide details on the type and nature of the specific questions the regulatory agency wants. He said the DEP does not plan another hearing on the proposal.
However, he said the Board of Environmental Protection plans to hold hearings on the noise issues surrounding the construction and operation of wind turbines for all proposed wind projects sometime in May.
Action on the Carthage proposal had originally been set for April. That date may change, although Margerum could not say when the new date would be.
A complete transcript of Thursday night's testimony will be available to the public in about two weeks. Because of the length of the testimony, it will be available only through the Internet. Those interested may request that the transcript be e-mailed to them by calling Margerum at 287-7842.
Although several people testified in favor of the wind project because it could provide jobs, a larger tax base, and renewable energy, many others testified against it because of possible health and property value issues. Many objected to the project because it can be seen from several sites in Mount Blue State Park.
The proposed Carthage project is one of three advanced by Patriot Renewables in the immediate area that would connect into one larger wind energy project. It is the furthest along and is before the DEP for action. The others are in the adjacent towns of Dixfield, where up to 13 turbines are proposed for the Colonel Holman Mountain ridgeline, and in Canton, where seven turbines are proposed for construction on Canton Mountain.
Virtually all the land that would be needed for turbine construction in the three towns is privately held.
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Thank you, DEP
Much remains to be seen. We all understand that the employees of the DEP are working within laws that they did not make. I do not envy their positions. There is so much at stake with this permit application. As one speaker last Thursday night asked, "Will this project be rubber stamped or will you (DEP) be profiles in courage?" This can be a turning point in Maine history. We need a moratorium on all wind projects. The tides are turning. Maine people are waking up. Let's review that *rushed* law in detail and think long and hard about the impact on Maine's people, environment, wildlife, and economy. Perhaps there is a place for large-scale wind projects somewhere but on a mountaintop? Siting is key. The siting in Maine--mountains, lakeside, near homes--is wrong.
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Thank you, DEP, for acknowledging the voice of the citizens of Maine and extending the meeting one and a half hours beyond your deadline. Attending that emotionally charged meeting, where many of the speakers choked up and many eyes in the room filled with tears, was a heart wrenching experience. This project must not be permitted, nor should any of the others in the permitting process. A moratorium must be declared on industrial wind until the expedited wind law can be rescinded. The ends don't justify the means. Our mountains must not be destroyed. The creation of two to three full time non-resident positions per wind farm is hardly worth threatening the one hundred and seventy thousand jobs, $535. million in tax revenues, and 10 billion dollars in goods and services that tourism brings into this state. The cumulative effect of all the proposed industrial wind farms would impact over twelve thousand square miles of Maine's pristine view shed. Can we afford to jeopardize Maine's biggest economic engine for something as fiscally unsound and environmentally devastating as industrial wind? I think not. The people of Maine must join together to speak up for Maine's mountains and her economic future.
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