I am sickened and astonished that the beautiful, pristine Western Maine mountains may soon be a thing of the past — a victim of the wind rush.

I believe Roxbury residents were hoodwinked and bribed by Angus King and Rob Gardiner, who promised free kilowatts of energy and a 75 percent reduction in property taxes. In reality, those are empty promises with gaping holes.

Constituents have contacted local and state officials, who refuse to get involved and who pass the buck to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Although the DEP has knowledge of significant problems in similarly cited projects, (Mars Hill and Freedom), it passed the permit in Roxbury. That action is unconscionable. The sad truth is that the agency’s actions show officials do not value area residents or the environment.

Now, the mountains can be blasted, drilled and logged to allow a 30-foot-wide road so the monstrous turbines can be erected. That will be the most devastating and damaging segment of this project, irreparably harming the watershed and the health of an extremely fragile pond — a pond that was almost closed to swimming because of elevated phosphorus levels evidenced after a clearcut in the early 1990s.

Look out Western Maine. Wind power has been rubber-stamped and it is coming to steal other mountains, too.

Kate Chiasson, Dixfield