[at-l] From the Kingfield, ME, Newspaper---

[lbooher at pure.net (Leslie Booher)]

            Development group endorses wind farm 
           
           
            07/09/04
            Barry Matulaitis 
            Email this story to a friend

            REDINGTON TOWNSHIP -- A proposed wind farm that is being reviewed by the Land Use Regulation Commission has been endorsed by the Greater Franklin Development Corporation's Board of Directors. 

            "One of our goals is job creation," said Executive Director Alison Hagerstrom. She said that after listening to a presentation from Endless Energy president Harley Lee, who assured them that five to 10 permanent jobs and between 20 and 25 temporary ones would be created, the board was convinced of the positive potential of the project. 

            Hagerstrom added that the potential for the wind farm to draw tourists to the area was another factor in the corporation's endorsement. "I think it will be positive," she said of the impact, noting that several of the directors had visited a wind farm in Searsburg, Vt. to examine the effect a wind farm could have on local business. 

            The project would, if approved by state agencies, consist of 29 towers 257 feet in height with three blades 130 feet in length on each tower on the Redington Pond Range and Black Nubble Mountain. According to Endless Energy representatives, the site was chosen because it is topographically unique, close to existing development including two ski areas, a biomass plant and a large power line. 

            EEC expects to use about 220 acres for the project. EEC has stated that enough power will be produced by the project for 33,000 homes and that pollution would be reduced by 630,000 pounds per day. 

            Lee said that he welcomed the support of the economic development organization. 

            "I was pleased to hear that," he said. "We have a good project." 

            He stood behind the number of full and part-time jobs that he said in his presentation to the development board would be created. "Our opponents are saying there will be a net job loss, which I find interesting," he said. 

            One of the wind farm's opponents, Dain Trafton of Phillips, questioned Lee's figures with regard to job creation. "He simply goes on and repeats what he has always been saying," he said. He pointed out that it was hard to predict the number of jobs that would be created, and that Lee had not yet provided definitive proof of the number of full and part-time jobs that would result from the wind farm. 

            "These are questions that need to be answered," he said. Trafton said that in most instances, there would be no one actually at the wind farm site, as the project was mostly automated, "until something goes wrong." Highly paid specialists, he added, "will not be sitting around in Kingfield, Phillips or Stratton waiting for something to go wrong." 

            Both sides have debated the tourism impact of the project. In surveys conducted by EEC with the assistance of the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Appalachian Trail Conference, 51 percent of hikers, 75 percent of snowmobilers, 80 percent of hunters, 83 percent of skiers and 84 percent of locals were supportive or neutral regarding the project. 

            Lee said that in studies that had been conducted, one percent of those surveyed said they'd be less likely to come to the area if a wind farm was present, while three to four percent said that they would be more likely to come. He pointed out that the tourism impact was small, but positive, and that once the turbines were in place, many which had been opposed would change their minds and decide that they supported the project. 

            "That's been the history of other wind farms," he said. "They've been an attraction." 

            Trafton disputed this claim. 

            "This is a blow to outdoor recreation in this area," he said. "People will go up to look at it once. But people come back to look at these mountains year after year. There is no evidence that people are clamoring to go back to a wind power plant." 

            "We realize that people think it will not be good visually," said Hagerstrom. "Wind turbines now are so much more streamlined than earlier wind turbines, and they're much quieter." She added that the board was impressed at the research that EEC had done on the project, and felt that jobs related to the wind farm would give the county's economy a boost. 

            While the opposition has not yet made a presentation to the development board, Trafton said that they would in the near future. "I can tell you we intend to go and speak to that group," he said. "We are surprised to see that they came out in support of the figures." 

            "We're going to make an effort to change their minds."