Windmills on Ice Mountain - Gamesa Wind Turbines

[RedhairNFreckles]

I don't have a dog in this fight, but guess what........in the local paper here in Franklin, NC there is an article about a recent workshop that was held here exploring the usage of "Wind and Water Power" for the home and farm. An excerpt from the distributed pamplet quotes: ".....determining whether your home is suitable for running wind power, they require the following: enough of a wind source where you live, local zoning codes that allow tall towers in your neighborhood or a rural area, you must be located on at least one acre of land.....", ut oh, I can't help but wonder, even though this is for personal home/farm usage, if this is just the beginning of what is being planned for our beautiful, mountainous area too. You know the old cliche' about getting one foot in the door......

[sammie]

It seems to me that alot of studies and statements being made regarding the negative impacts of wind turbines are based on the assumption that large-scale, grid-connected turbines actually have some redeeming qualities. I have done alot of reading about these things and cannot find anything other than they are a money making scheme.

This is an extremely complex issue and each of the many negative impacts of giant wind turbines, such as noise, wildlife death, loss of community character, loss of natural vegetation, loss of property value, (the list goes on) is complex as well. I think many well meaning scientists and citizens are getting caught up in their "negative impact" of choice and if that could be corrected or not as severe in some other location then all would be fine in wind turbine world.

Am I wrong about this?

[My2Cents]

Here is a link to the bat mortality study at Backbone Mountain WV.

http://download.httpproxy.fw-notify.net ... s_Bats.pdf

Take note of the destruction of the mountaintop.

Thank you salaman... that was a VERY informative site also !!! I had a difficult time getting to the download... if any one else is having a problem try the following... Please note, you may have to type in this whole site yourself... I cannot bring it up so that you can just click on it.

http://www.
wind-watch.org/documents/catagory/locations/americas/us/pennsylvania

On the first page at the bottom of the first article you will see the download that salaman is talking about. There is also a lot of information concerning this throughout the whole site. Once again.... Thank you sooooo much salaman for the info.

[salaman]

After the bat mortality data for Backbone Mountain was released FPL denied the researchers any further access to the facility and cut all funding. I guess they thought that it tarnished their "green" image.

[sandstone]

[My2Cents]

Good Morning everybody !! There's a chill in the air and frost on the pumpkin... it looks like Fall has finally arrived. I am looking outside right now at all the beautiful, beautiful, mountains that surround our little home town and wonder.... will this view be the same next year ?? Lately, I have also been thinking of some of the words in our high school Alma Mater...ie.
Ours is the school to love,
Loyal by her we'll stand.
Mountains tower over her, solemn and grand.
Long may they reign above,
Those Alleganey's fair...
May they ever shelter thee,
Dear old Tyrone High.

"Long may they reign above....." Whodathunkit ?? Who would have ever thought that they would be in question ??

[crissy68]

Wow, I haven't heard the Alma Mater in years. You hit the nail on the head there.

Thanks and I agree whole heartidly...

[RyanMyers]

i think its a great idea

[sammie]

i think its a great idea

Ryan,

Please expand on why you believe it is.

I think it is a very bad idea. Industrial wind turbines are symbols of greed, deception and gullibility. Do you want that symbol looming over beautiful Tyrone? Do you really want to impose numerous negative impacts on a community for something that doesn't work? Look past the corporate and political propaganda - it's not a pretty sight.

[sandstone]

Below is a letter sent to Mayor Kilmartin by Dr. Michael Gannon, biology professor at Penn State Altoona:

4 November 2007
My name is Michael Gannon. I have been a resident of Altoona and Blair County for more than 15 years. I am employed as a Professor of Biology at the Pennsylvania State University, and a senior faculty member at the Penn State Altoona College. In addition I represent the Pennsylvania Biological Survey on the Pennsylvania Wind and Wildlife Consortium, which is a committee formed by Governor Rendell to advise on wind development and wildlife issues in Pennsylvania. I am an acknowledged expert on bats, bat ecology, and bat population biology. I have studied bats all over the world for over 20 years and have published a book,several book chapters, and numerous papers in scientific journals on bat biology. I, and my students, have studied the bats in Pennsylvania and Blair County for the last 10 years. In addition, I am a member of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey, Mammal Technical Committee, which is a panel of experts who advise the Pennsylvania Game Commission on all matters regarding mammals within the Commonwealth.

There are several points of information I would like to convey to you today. First, I am pro-renewable energy, if it is done in a responsible way, with consideration on how that development will affect our environment and wildlife. I have no economic interest in this project, and I support responsible development of renewable energy. My only interest here is insuring the protection of our valuable wildlife for the people of this township, Blair County, and Pennsylvania.

This is a report from the United Stated Accountability Office, commissioned by Congress, on the impacts of wind power on wildlife, and government responsibilities for regulating wind power development. (Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requesters. 2005. Wind Power, Impacts on Wildlife and Government Responsibilities for RegulatingDevelopment and Protecting Wildlife. GAO-05-906. Washington D. C. 64 pp. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-906).In it, the report states that wind power kills bats, and in this part of the country it kills bats in large numbers. That is a fact, not in dispute. Estimates I have seen, have gone from the conservative of 5000 bats per wind site per year, to the very liberal of about 60,000 bats per site per year.
The economic value of bats has been documented many times. Bats are the major predators of all our nocturnal insects. They consume large numbers of insect pests including many of our most troublesome crop pests. All bats in Pennsylvania feed on insects. The economic value of bats as a biological control agent for insects is estimated to be in the multi billions of dollars annually in the US alone. As such, they are considered to be ecological keystone species. This being the keystone state, I’m sure many of us might be aware of what that means. The keystone is the stone that bears the majority of the weight in an archway. If it is disturbed or removed, the archway collapses. Bats are keystone species in our ecosystem. They play a vital role in maintaining it, and if disturbed or reduced, the ecosystem as we know it will collapse. However, bat populations are declining worldwide, mostly due to the actions of man.

As bats have a very low reproduction rate, where each female produces only one offspring or pup per year, any event that causes a population decline can take many years to recover from. Any event that repeatedly kills bats, year after year, in large numbers, can be devastating to a population. The proliferation of numerous wind sites in this part of the country, most of which have or are being documented to have such an effect on bats, could be the most serious threat to our bat populations, our biological insect control, that science has seen. The chances that a wind facility in this area will have a negative impact on our bat populations appears to be extremely high. Government Officials, with a responsibility of protecting our valuable natural resources, have a responsibility that before they allow construction of such a facility, they insure that the sites have been evaluated for their potential impact on bats and other wildlife. Just as the power companies evaluate it for wind, and place these facilities only in area where there is sufficient wind blowing, they need also to be evaluated for their environmental impact and sites that have a high potential to negatively impact wildlife should be avoided.

Current state requirements and voluntary regulations are simply not sufficient to protect our natural resources when it comes to wind energy development. Based on numerous scientific and government reports, the Pennsylvania Biological Survey Mammal Technical Committeehas developed a list of best current scientific principles as it pertains to wind development and impact on bats. I would urge, that as the only government regulatory board to oversee wind development at this site in Pennsylvania, and with a responsibility to protect our environment and natural resources, require that any development proceed along these guidelines and properly assess the impact of this site on our wildlife, with accepted scientific rigor.
Other documents you may wish to review in this process are below.

Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans: “Gonewith the Wind: Impacts of Wind Turbines on Birds and Bats. 2007. Oversight Hearing.
http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/gon ... -and-bats/

Kunz, T. H., E. B. Arnett, W. P. Erickson, A. R. Hoar, G. D. Johnson, R. P. Larkin, M. D. Strickland, R. W. Thresher, and M. D. Tuttle. 2007. Ecological impacts of wind energydevelopment on bats: questions, research needs, and hypotheses. Front. Ecol. Environ., 5:315¬
324. http://www.windaction.org/?module=uploa ... ileId=1293

National Research Council of the National Academy. 2007. Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects. National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
http://www.eswr.com/latest/307/nrcwind.htm

United States Fish and Wildlife Service (2003) Memorandum to Regional Directors, Regions1-7 on Service Interim Guidance on Avoiding and Minimizing Wildlife Impacts from Wind Turbines, 13 May 2003, 57 pp.
http://www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind.pdf

[Something to say]

wow Sandstone, very informative post. I haven't been able to bring myself back to this forum for a week or so, I've been so upset..lol. I too am all for alternate resources of energy etc..etc...etc. But to me it just seems futile if ....let me put it this way, I was taught a long time ago its never a good idea to rob Peter to pay Paul. And to me, its all about finding ways to make change without the change itself creating another mess. There's bats in the belfry. I have bats in my eaves. For years I've fretted over how to remove them. I just don't like the idea of bats living ANYWHERE near me...they are... in my opinion....rodents with wings. However, I don't have problems with mosquitos and bugs.

To be completely honest... I hope they decide against the wind farm on Ice Mountain. For many reasons.

[SoccerMom]

Something to say, this is off topic, but you've stated you have a bat problem in your attic and would like to remove them. Please don't use any chemical poisons or repellants. Poisons can scatter dead or dying bats throughout the house and neighborhood, which increases the risk of children or pets coming into contact with sick bats. Repellents won't permanently remove bats from a home, unless their entrances into the home are sealed.

To seal off their entrances, you'll want to conduct a "bat watch" to determine where they are entering your home, seal off these areas, and provide an alternate roost, such as a bat box, outside of the home. Bats are great to have around, no don't laugh! A single bat can consume as many as 500 insects in just one hour, or nearly 3,000 insects every night. A colony of just 100 bats may consume more than a quarter of a million mosquitoes and other small insects each night. I'd rather have a couple bats around rather than hundreds of biting insects!

Here are some links for more info.:

http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/march00/bat.html

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh080.pdf

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh081.pdf

[sandstone]

Something to say, this is off topic, but you've stated you have a bat problem in your attic and would like to remove them. Please don't use any chemical poisons or repellants. Poisons can scatter dead or dying bats throughout the house and neighborhood, which increases the risk of children or pets coming into contact with sick bats. Repellents won't permanently remove bats from a home, unless their entrances into the home are sealed.

To seal off their entrances, you'll want to conduct a "bat watch" to determine where they are entering your home, seal off these areas, and provide an alternate roost, such as a bat box, outside of the home. Bats are great to have around, no don't laugh! A single bat can consume as many as 500 insects in just one hour, or nearly 3,000 insects every night. A colony of just 100 bats may consume more than a quarter of a million mosquitoes and other small insects each night. I'd rather have a couple bats around rather than hundreds of biting insects!

Here are some links for more info.:

http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/march00/bat.html

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh080.pdf

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh081.pdf

Thanks for an excellent post, SoccerMom!!

[Luke]

Sandstone,

I have quite a few bats in my attic. I started killing them this past year as the smell they put in my attic is pretty bad. I have tried to plug up the holes but they just keep coming in. After I killed the first one, I looked at it and felt really bad and said this is not the answer.

My only question is what long term health effects do bats in attics have on humans? I can live with the smell if there are no issues related to health.

[150thBucktailCo.I]

More than likely, that smell is Guano... or POOP.

Get or pay someone to seal up your attic if you can't do it.