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May 3, 2021  SOS Newsletter
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Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge taken by Doug Domedion

Save Ontario Shores Newsletter                               Regional Impacts

Heritage Wind Part IV – Comments Needed Soon

In our last Heritage Wind newsletter, we focused on some of the environmental impacts of this project. This newsletter has several additional issues that may impact residents and visitors of the region. (See last three newsletters here: 3/10/21, 4/6/21, 4/22/21.)

Heritage Wind, a project proposed by Apex Clean Energy, is in the process of being approved to build a 184.6 MW Wind Energy Project in Barre by the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES). ORES was created for the sole purpose of rapidly moving through applications for large scale industrial energy projects. This is a much different process than the existing Article 10 process that we’ve experienced with the Lighthouse Wind project. The ORES office gives little opportunity for public comment.

There are 3 weeks left in the 60 day comment period. The deadline is May 21st
. If citizens and municipalities do not raise issues, then the project will quickly move forward without any expert testimony, without testimony from state agencies and without the ability to cross examine the developer data. It is important to raise specific issues and try to offer your experience or local knowledge to support your concern.
 

(This EDR generated project turbine map has been overlaid with DEC and USFWS maps to show the proximity to these areas. This map, shared with SOS by Rochester Birding Association, is not exact but gives a reasonable depiction of the turbines in proximity to the Federal and State wilderness and wildlife refuge areas.)
 

Although the Barre Town Board has been the local governmental entity, this project will impact the region, well beyond Barre town borders. Your comments are needed to raise issues and identify issues that require attention. You do not need to try to offer solutions, that is the job of ORES.

* Character of the region: 700 foot tall turbines will forever change the character of our region. The 33 turbines will be among the largest structures in the country and will be the largest structures in New York State outside of New York City. Do you support the industrialization of this farming region?

*Lights on towers: Blinking lights every night are one of the most annoying aspects of industrial wind projects for residents. These towers that are almost 700 feet are so tall that they would each need two lights. This is one daily distraction and annoyance that is now preventable. Towers can have radar lighting that turn on only when planes are near. There is no information in the application or in the draft permit from ORES that states what this project will have regarding lighting. Residents for much of Orleans County and into Monroe County should demand assurance that radar lighting technology will be used in this project. No information is given in the application to assure the community that radar lighting will be used on the turbines. Many in the region appreciate the dark skies as wildlife habitat, for star gazing and as something to be promoted and appreciated by summer visitors and tourists. Do you value our dark night skies?

*Impact on medical helicopter flights: The project will impact the health and safety of Medina area residents dependent on the use of air ambulances to reach medical facilities. We have contacted the local hospital and the local air service Mercy Flight. No information has been made available to SOS regarding how the service will be impacted or even the number of flights currently taking off from the helipad at Medina Memorial Hospital. It is within 11 miles of the nearest turbine (all are to be located within 15 miles of the helipad). No mitigation information is provided in the application.

*Truck Impacts on local roads: Where are the materials coming from to build the foundations for these 700 foot structures? The application specifies that 46,000 cubic yards of gravel and more than 42,000 cubic yards of cement will be delivered and poured onto what are now agricultural fields for this project. Over four thousand truckloads of each are planned. We do not know which roads the trucks will use to bring these loads to Barre. We know nothing about the transportation of the blades, nacelles or other component parts. After a decrease in tourism due to the pandemic, will this add another year of tourist disruption in Orleans County? What is the timing and what roads will be impacted? This information should be public knowledge.


Here is the link to make a public comment:

Department of Public Service Matter Number 21-00026

Public Comments: We strongly encourage you to make public comments to be submitted to the DMM site reached via the link above by the deadline of May 21, 2021, at 5 p.m. This site contains all the project documents if you want to look at any specific topic.

Public Comment Hearing: A public comment hearing will be held electronically on May 20, 2021, at 5 p.m. Instructions for participating in the hearing can be found at the above link. Written public comments concerning the application and draft permit conditions will be accepted until May 21.

As always, your support is appreciated.

 

SOS is 100% funded by generous local individuals. Please consider joining this work by giving what you can. SOS is a not for profit corporation and it is not a tax exempt organization, so donations are not deductible for tax purposes.

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PO Box 382
Lyndonville, NY 14098
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