Wind turbine noise problem in Mars Hill (Wells: attorneys, buying a home)

[DaizyMaine]

I think you're in the clear because the equipment is on the new tower. The only other tower is out by number 9.

[GoldenCrow]

Originally Posted by qhmare

Mountain Landowners Association.
qhmare

Was this group formed because of the wind installation?

We have an active "landowner" group where I live, and they got together at the suggestion of the wind developer to help lobby for the project. I take issue with them calling themselves a landowner group, because we're all landowners...they should call themselves the "We're Going to Make Money from Wind Turbines and We Don't Care What You Think Association." So what's the acronym? WGMMWTWDCWYTA - that would look good on a tee-shirt, no?

[LagasseGreen]

Hi All, I read this thread because I read an article stating the turbines are too loud. Some people in this area are looking into placing a turbine on Plum Island and I'm doing my homework before it gets too far. We have a Nuke plant about 7 miles from here and don't think they are viable sources of electricity either as who knows where the spent fuel goes.
Anyways I think as a group you all would be able to put pressure for the turbines to be fixed in a way that you can live with. They could invest in different blades that are quieter and may reduce the strobing effect. Someone said that there are specs for the noise level that are needed to be met. Make them do tests and remedy the situation. One of the top priorities would be to sue your Town Manager as a conflict of interest is truly out there. Selling his home to the company shows that.
Be ready for a long fight but if you don't fight then everyone down the line loses.
I also read this article:
http://news.bostonherald.com/nationa...ticleid=188497

BANGOR, Maine - The company that built New England’s largest wind farm in Mars Hill, which went on line earlier this year, is seeking state approval to go ahead with an even larger project in a remote area of eastern Maine.

Evergreen Wind Power LLC has filed an application with the Land Use Regulation...

See if you can find out where they are doing this and inform the residents NOW.

Just to let you know I'm for Green Energy as long as it's produced in a way that doesn't have a negative effect on peoples lives.

Good Luck,
John

[LagasseGreen]

One more thing. I live 5 hours from Mars Hill but would like to bring a camcorder up so I can capture what they look and sound like so I can bring it to the next meeting on the turbine they are discussing for here.
Where would be the best place to get the worst effect? I will look at Weather.com to go on a day when it will be windy enough. I have a GPS so if you give me a road I should be able to get there.
Thanks,
John

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by LagasseGreen

Where would be the best place to get the worst effect?

Nothing like being upfront about your intent. Do you intend to present this "worst effect" as commonplace when you play it for your organization?

Wouldn't it be more honest to videotape normal operations? Or is honesty a goal?

[DaizyMaine]

Unfortunately for many residents on the North and East side of Mars Hill Mountain the "worst effect" is the reality right in their back yard. People should know that if plans for windmills are being discussed anywhere they or their neighbors live that it could be exactly the "worst effect" for them. If you drive on the road that goes around the mountain Head out toward Big Rock on Boynton Street take a left at the T and head around the mountain staying to your right onto the East Ridge Road, then another right onto Mountain Rd. and then another right onto the West Ridge Rd. will take you all the way around Mars Hill Mountain back to Boynton St.

[JustSayNo]

Oh Coaster, I guess you just do not understand because you are either a leaseholder or someone who was dupped into believing that wind turbines are God's next gift.

Though your post was short, its intentions are clear. Actually, as a person whom is attempting to WARN their townspeople of the potential problems of allowing a wind company to barge in and bribe a few folks, the worst case scenerio IS appropriate. Afterall, many folks are effected by said worse case scenerio everyday, all day. For those who are effected by normal operations, it is still wise to have knowledge of the worse case. Further, the poster stated that they supported wind.

This whole boondoggle SHOULD be based on honesty, but the wind companies have provven time and time and time again that they are anything BUT honest. They lie, bribe, manipulate, and make millions off the backs and lives of honest, hard-working citizens just trying to have a life. I applaud any and all research done before the snake-oil salesmen roll into town. the good folks of Mars Hill did not get that opportunity thanks to the underhanded and shady doings of their town government.

Knowledge is POWER, and it is best to have knowledge of good, common, and worse case situtions when it comes to the industrial develpment of structures taller that the statue of liberty in your once rural, quiet, peaceful towns. Sadly, folks are learning and benefiting from the devastation of others that were given no choice in the matter. Factions are forming and rising up against this political SCAM.

Why do you have a problenm with people gathering ACTUAL information and experiences that may show that this development has more bad than good? That it does NOT live up to the promises made? That it can and has ruined peoples' lives? That there is more noise, more flicker, and more devastation of mountain ridges than anyone admitted to? That the local jobs promised NEVER appear? That real estate values DO go down, despite the propaganda to the contrary.

I think I know the answer!

[Coaster]

Umm JSN, you obviously know nothing at all despite your eagerness to jump to conclusions about me. Your post tells us far more about you - you're apparently angry that you're among the group that didn't make money off the project. BTW, have the people who claim the wind project has affected their lives and property values sought tax relief from the town or filed any lawsuits against the company, actions that would be more likely to bring in impartial outside observers to judge the conditions?

Like I said in my original post to this thread, I'm going up there in the next couple of months to look for myself. I'd rather not base my decision on information from people who have an obvious axe to grind.

[JustSayNo]

Well, right back at ya Coaster Actually, our town just defeated all Industrial Turbines, so I have no axe to grind at all. What I do have is knowledge of how the companies come in and take advantage of people. I do have knowledge of the propaganda that is spread and how this issue divides a once peaceful town. I do have a lot of knowledge about this issue as I lived and breathed it for the last 12 months.

And while your ideas on how the "people who CLAIM the wind project has effected their lives" are constructive, I know you are smart enough to know that tax relief does not mitigate the loss of your equity nor your family home that is your only meanful asset. And I know that you know that a lawsuit against the company (do I hear David and Golieth) is VERY costly, very stressful, and not something that a regular person who had no choice in this and is devastated is likely to persue.

Again, I have no axe to grind, but I do stand behind the "regular person," I do not blindly believe what I read, what I am told, and I do not keep my mouth shut when I am told by someone else. I encourage you to visit MANY Turbine installations as they are all different and the effects of the development are differennt based on many factors. One visit to one site will not give you the true answer. Also, remember that sound travels, I have often heard :I stood right under one and heard nothing so they are great" As sound does travel, the noise is often louder the farther you get away form them. So, in your research, remember to look at everything from different angles, different distances, ect. Also, please remember that ANY leaseholder ( a person whom has one on their land) has likely signed a contract forbidding them to say anything negative about anything Turbine related. So, as you talk to leaseholders and non-leaseholders please keep that in mind. Scripts are written and provided to the leaseholders as to how to answer questions from "tourists". Consequently, as you take the "axe to grind" with a grain of salt, please take the "leaseholders" with that same grain.

[rabbitlover]

JustSayNo, I wish I could say more about the meeting but now that there is legal counsel involved, I can't. JP Morgan and Wells Fargo is involved in this project now and big corporations will indiscriminately screw people over to make a buck.

As for these "environmental" turbines, they need to be lubed and greased, which means they use petroleum products...so much for "green".

Coaster, the sound equipment should be in the people's homes who are experiencing noise and vibration in their homes. These people aren't wackos, they are respectable members of the community who can't get a decent nights sleep.

UPC stated these wind mills would be virtually without sound, we would hear the WIND more than the turbines. The company lied.