GOODHUE WIND TRUTH
Facts and truths about Wind Energy and Turbines
New Information Posted 03/04/12
New Information Posted 03/04/12
Goodhue Wind Truth
This
Website contains facts and information pertaining to the affects of the
Wind Industry. It presents the "other side". Please feel free to read
and navigate through the data. All information is based on actual
facts and is public knowledge. To learn more about Goodhue Wind Truth, please scroll to the bottom of this page.
We wish to Welcome everyone to Goodhue Wind Truth website, especially friends in other counties across Minnesota.
As you read and study wind energy, you will begin to see the poor economics of this type of green energy. It will not stop nor replace nuclear, coal or oil. You'll also see it cannot stop increasing emissions. You will begin to see wind energy carries its own set of pollution which is detrimental to humans and animals. Health effects caused by low-frequency noise and shadow flicker is a side affect, but not the worst. EMF (Electromagnetic Field (EMF) and dirty voltage are far worse!
If this wind energy was truly "GREEN," it wouldn't have a negative effects on people and/or animals. If harmless, then the wind developers should prove this to us. Show us the data from post studies done on existing wind turbine developments here in Minnesota. Show us post studies on property values, health effects, wildlife, agriculture, ground voltage levels, livestock and the environment. Where are these studies?
We wish to Welcome everyone to Goodhue Wind Truth website, especially friends in other counties across Minnesota.
As you read and study wind energy, you will begin to see the poor economics of this type of green energy. It will not stop nor replace nuclear, coal or oil. You'll also see it cannot stop increasing emissions. You will begin to see wind energy carries its own set of pollution which is detrimental to humans and animals. Health effects caused by low-frequency noise and shadow flicker is a side affect, but not the worst. EMF (Electromagnetic Field (EMF) and dirty voltage are far worse!
If this wind energy was truly "GREEN," it wouldn't have a negative effects on people and/or animals. If harmless, then the wind developers should prove this to us. Show us the data from post studies done on existing wind turbine developments here in Minnesota. Show us post studies on property values, health effects, wildlife, agriculture, ground voltage levels, livestock and the environment. Where are these studies?
We challenge you to study the wind industry! Experience the truth!
"Wind Energy is "Green Politics" and NOT a "Green Solution"! We are trading one type of pollution for another. Find out why by researching and reading data on this website and other links.
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New documents, data and links posted on a regular basis. Look under all tabs for new
information!
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UPDATE OF PUC HEARING 2/23/12
PUC Commissioner's did not accept AWA Avian and Bat Protection Plan!
Commissioner's ruled AWA needs to perform another year study and to seriously consider adding in the USFW and DNR recommendation to their protection plan. This ruling severely impacts the progress of AWA's project. Today the PUC listened to the people!
Thank you to all the presenters. Everyone presenting did an excellent job. The best way to describe yesterday is that Goodhue Wind Truth and Coalition for Sensible Siting showed up with their A-Team and the A-Team showed up with the TRUTH!
For those of you who were not able to come to the MPUC Thursday and wish to review the webcast from that meeting, please go to the following website:
http://stream2.video.state.mn.us/mnoet/Viewer/?peid=14884a85f0744062a222fa97b20792e81d
(You will need to move the time buttom below the video window to approximately 4:55 for the start of the AWA Goodhue ABPP portion of the video. Public presenters begin at approximately 5:41 . Deliberations begin at approximately 6:23.)
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MN Public Utilities Commission Rejects Wind Plan
Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2012by Eagle Sitinging Labels: AWA Goodhue, MPUC, T. Boone Pickens
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission today rejected AWA Goodhue's Avian and Bat Protection Plan. The Plan was a condition of the industrial wind project's site permit. Citizens provided key testimony about the wildlife in their area. Photos and testimony supported existing public record that the Plan was inaccurate and misleading. The Commissioners had clearly done their homework and asked tough but fair questions of the wind developer. They were not swayed by representatives of this T. Boone Pickens owned project. The truth won out. Goodhue County Minnesota is in the Mississippi migratory flyway. AWA Goodhue failed to perform pre-construction surveys required. The Commissioners did not accept it.
Citizens are thankful for the thoughtful deliberation of the Commissioners. Citizens also thank MN DNR staff for their tireless efforts to document and disseminate the truth. The DNR staff was truly dedicated. The citizens who testified were supported by friends and neighbors around the State. It was a great day.
Read full article here!
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Bald eagles win a round against Red Wing wind farm
Article by: JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY , Star Tribune
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Birds, bats tie up Goodhue wind project
By Brett Boese
The Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted 2-1 on Thursday to deny a plan protecting birds and bats for the 78-megawatt AWA Goodhue wind project in Goodhue County, causing a setback to the proposed wind farm north of Zumbrota.
The Avian and Bat Protection Plan was a condition placed on the site permit approved by the PUC last June. The document took five months to develop in conjunction with Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but was still deemed insufficient.
"I don't think this is the document I anticipated seeing when we issued the site permit," PUC acting chairman David C. Boyd said.
The plan, which is just the second such document developed in state history, is the final state-mandated permitting hurdle the project must clear before construction can begin. Wind officials had targeted June 1 for breaking ground on the 32,000-acre project, but that now appears impossible.
National Wind officials declined comment afterward. However, documents filed earlier this month by the company suggest that any delay in the permitting process would put the project's future in jeopardy. A new protection plan can be filed at any time, but PUC commissioners asked for more wildlife surveys and studies that are expected to take months — if not years — to complete.
Construction of the 48-turbine project is projected to take 6-12 months and it must be operational by Dec. 31 to be eligible for millions of dollars in a federal tax credit program that expires at the end of the year.
PUC commissioners Betsy Wergin and J. Dennis O'Brien criticized the protection plan at Thursday's hearing.
"I don't see anything improving," said Wergin, who has voted against the project at three straight hearings. "I actually see this as another reason why this project shouldn't move forward…I think this is the most troubled (wind project) we've ever encountered."
More than 100 people filled the hearing room Thursday for the two-hour hearing.
Questions of the protection plan's substance proved problematic for the commissioners. The actual number of active bald eagle nests within the project's footprint was debated and many questioned whether other survey work completed by Westwood Professional Services for National Wind was reliable.
The bat portion of the protection plan also was rife with issues. Westwood's monitoring timeframe did not comply with the required dates from a previous PUC hearing. In addition, the two monitoring devices were only functioning properly in tandem for about 50 percent of the time.
A citizens group that opposed the wind project was happy with the outcome.
"I think the Lord answered our prayers," said Steve Groth, who said citizens have spent six figures fighting this project. "And we've been praying a lot."
Opponents also were happy that O'Brien chastised the Minnesota Department of Commerce Energy Permitting staff during the hearing. O'Brien said he was "frustrated to no end" by the staff's language in its recommendation to approve the protection plan, saying it was "tough to separate the wind developer from EFP staff."
Also on Thursday, Coalition for Sensible Siting attorney Dan Schleck received word that the Minnesota Court of Appeals would accept an amicus brief from Goodhue Wind Truth, another citizens opposition group. The two entities had appealed the PUC's decision to issue a site permit last fall, but Goodhue Wind Truth was dismissed from the process in January over a mailing mistake.
The court also denied AWA Goodhue's motion for an expedited process — though Schleck said the process could still ahead move quickly. The wind project's motion stated that it could not secure funding for the $180 million project while it was tied up in litigation.
Public Utilities Commission press release
View more documents from Post-Bulletin Co.
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Controversial Goodhue wind farm environmental impact plan rejected
by Stephanie Hemphill, Minnesota Public Radio
There is audio and article at this website
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Shirley Wind
'Windfall': Shedding light on dark side of wind-energy project
A movie review of "Windfall," a poignant, enlightening and visually striking documentary directed by Laura Israel that traces the impact of a would-be, wind-energy development project on a small New York town.
By Tom Keogh -- Special to The Seattle Times
Wind power: green, clean and forever sustainable. Right?
Not so fast. While there has long been controversy about the alleged eco-friendliness of wind turbines — those enormous windmills packed densely together, generating electricity from air currents — the poignant, frightening and visually striking documentary "Windfall" places debate within a very human perspective.
A few years ago, filmmaker Laura Israel, resident of Meredith, N.Y., a small upstate town, considered hosting a turbine on her property for a proposed wind-energy project. An Irish firm was approaching denizens of the economically depressed, former dairy community about placing 400 turbines on private and public land, not far from homes.
The idea appealed to some progressive residents who also needed the $5,000 offered to each landowner. Meredith itself would get a tiny amount of money for cooperating.
A few owners (and town planners) went for it, while others were dismayed. "Windfall" chronicles the mounting distrust and battle between both sides, focusing on various interesting and sympathetic individuals.
Israel reveals that turbines stand 400 feet tall from base to blade tip, require clear- cutting and tons of concrete, kill birds and bats, demand lots of traditional energy and occasionally collapse or catch on fire (examples are caught on film).
Worse, spinning turbine blades create a constant, low-frequency, loud whum-whum-whum noise and monstrous shadow flickering that extends miles, causing hypertension, headaches and even dangerous roads.
Israel's film, which sometimes looks like a sci-fi nightmare, is more than an exposé, however. It's a mortal drama about a community upended by power grabs, betrayal and genuine suffering, ultimately redeemed by grass-roots organization and transcendent democracy.
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Windfall is now available at select video-on-demand venues. It will be available on iTunes by mid- to end of March, Amazon, Hulu Plus, etc. in April and on DVD in May
Click here for additional details on the Move "Windfall"!
A movie review of "Windfall," a poignant, enlightening and visually striking documentary directed by Laura Israel that traces the impact of a would-be, wind-energy development project on a small New York town.
By Tom Keogh -- Special to The Seattle Times
Wind power: green, clean and forever sustainable. Right?
Not so fast. While there has long been controversy about the alleged eco-friendliness of wind turbines — those enormous windmills packed densely together, generating electricity from air currents — the poignant, frightening and visually striking documentary "Windfall" places debate within a very human perspective.
A few years ago, filmmaker Laura Israel, resident of Meredith, N.Y., a small upstate town, considered hosting a turbine on her property for a proposed wind-energy project. An Irish firm was approaching denizens of the economically depressed, former dairy community about placing 400 turbines on private and public land, not far from homes.
The idea appealed to some progressive residents who also needed the $5,000 offered to each landowner. Meredith itself would get a tiny amount of money for cooperating.
A few owners (and town planners) went for it, while others were dismayed. "Windfall" chronicles the mounting distrust and battle between both sides, focusing on various interesting and sympathetic individuals.
Israel reveals that turbines stand 400 feet tall from base to blade tip, require clear- cutting and tons of concrete, kill birds and bats, demand lots of traditional energy and occasionally collapse or catch on fire (examples are caught on film).
Worse, spinning turbine blades create a constant, low-frequency, loud whum-whum-whum noise and monstrous shadow flickering that extends miles, causing hypertension, headaches and even dangerous roads.
Israel's film, which sometimes looks like a sci-fi nightmare, is more than an exposé, however. It's a mortal drama about a community upended by power grabs, betrayal and genuine suffering, ultimately redeemed by grass-roots organization and transcendent democracy.
********
Windfall is now available at select video-on-demand venues. It will be available on iTunes by mid- to end of March, Amazon, Hulu Plus, etc. in April and on DVD in May
Click here for additional details on the Move "Windfall"!
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Shirley Wind
Must see video from residents of Glenmore, Wi who live next to a small wind farm of 8 turbines put up by Shirley Wind. Glenmore is located south of Green Bay, WI. People need to become educated to the nasty side of wind energy.
Click this link to view the video.
Click this link to view the video.
We are a group of neighbors committed to the proper development of the proposed industrial wind projects in Goodhue county. We would like to preserve our rural character and land so that it will be worthy to future generations and not take away from the quality of life we enjoy today. We support the responsible exploration and development of renewable energy. We are not against wind power development. We want to ensure that what has led to failure in previous projects all over the country does not happen here. While working through the proposed projects in the area, we are educating ourselves and the community on the many aspects of industrial wind power. We are asking for the County Commissioners, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Department of Health to create respectful and responsible setback regulations for siting wind turbines. We are dedicated to preserving safety, health, property values, economic viability, environmental integrity and quality of life in Goodhue, MN and in surrounding townships.
Our Community:
The city of Goodhue has a growing population of just fewer than 1,000. Goodhue was incorporated April 2, 1897. The agricultural land in Goodhue County is some of the most productive land in the country and does not require irrigation. This valuable resource is worth protecting.
Projected Wind Projects:
The Geronimo wind development stretches out east and west of Goodhue on along county road 9. It also, stretches along hwy 58 toward Red Wing. This industrial wind development will consist of up to 30 - 1.5 MW turbines for a rated capacity of 50 MW. Typical turbine dimensions will be approximately 400' tall with a blade diameter in excess of 300'.
The National Wind / Goodhue Wind LLC / AWA Goodhue LLC development stretches from Goodhue, Zumbrota, Hader and Vasa. This industrial wind development will consist of up to 60 (or more) 1.5 MW turbines for a rated capacity of 78 MW.
Both footprints are constantly changing.
Why Goodhue:
Goodhue was chosen because there is room in the existing transmission lines in the area.
Our concerns for the Community:
Concerns for the community stem from issues and complaints that residents of existing industrial wind turbine developments are forced to live with on a daily basis all over the country. We are concerned that the state does not have adequate regulation in place to protect the community, to protect our quality of life, safety and health and to prevent the degradation of property values. One other concern is the future of the environment and wildlife in the area. As reported in WI, wildlife is driven away from wind farms. A report was recently published by the Minnesota Department of Health that brings up many concerning facts, (a link to the report can be found on the Documents tab). It recommends additional evaluations to ensure the safety and health of the public is protected and it references many sources that state setbacks from occupied dwellings should be greater than 0.6 miles. Current regulation allows wind turbines to be placed within 750 feet from property lines as long as the 50 dBa noise requirement is also met. The wind developers along with doctors and sound and vibration engineers all agree that 50 dBa is too loud and very intrusive to the surrounding residents, but the state has not revised the requirements.
What Can We Do:
Please sign the petition (located on the Contact Us Tab) if you agree that responsible setbacks are needed. Call and write your County Commissioners, Planning and Zoning Advisory Commission Members, State Representatives, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC), and the Minnesota Department of Health.
The MPUC gives the commissioners the right to create county specific regulations that are more stringent regulations for industrial wind developments. Please encourage your commissioners to take advantage of this right. Contact information for the MPUC and our County Commissioners can be found on this website under Representative Contacts tab. Protect your family, rights and property values! SPEAK UP! MAKE YOURSELF BE HEARD!
Also, contact your local newspapers and write editorials. Talk to people in your community, find out what is happening and how it will affect you. Most of all, DON'T SIGN A CONTRACT! Educate yourself and do the research. Wind developers are projected to build 10,000 megwatts of industrial wind developments in the State of MN. We will no longer be known as the state of "10,000 lakes", but rather the state of "10,000 turbines"!
Our Beautiful Countryside Today without Turbines!
SITE ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
Website Updated: 03/04/12
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