Redington wind farm is back on the table

[jniehof]

This just showed up on the AMC Facebook page, under the horribly misleading title "Help Maine Wind Power!" Snippets:

Last week, a Maine legislative committee voted 8-3 to allow the Town of Carrabassett Valley in the western mountains to annex the adjacent Redington Township. The area to be annexed includes the site of the Redington/Black Nubble wind power project.... By annexing the site to an organized town, the legislation would allow this ill-advised project to be reconsidered....

This bill (LD 741), which now goes to the state senate, is an unprecedented attempt to do an end run around LURC's permitting process.

Please call your state senator today and ask him or her to reject LD 741.

If I find a more permanent link, I will post it.

 

[rup]

Road (to replace herd paths) to follow?

 

[jniehof]

The current road/trail is partly for the wind farm study, so I would imagine they'd upgrade it. Then they would blast the top off the mountain, which might leave us with 66 New England 4's...but the 400' towers would compensate for that, easily visible from the Bigelows. Don't know if the summit would still be accessible.

Gene Daniell's assessment: "If you like what they did to Jay Peak, you're going to love this one."

 

[injektilo]

Ugh. This thing has been rejected three times now. Twice by LURC and once by the state's Wind Power Task Force who, despite heavy lobbying from the developer, did not include Redington/Black Nubble in areas of the state with an expedited permitting process. This is a terrible location for this kind of development and we shouldn't be having this conversation yet again.

 

[Fitz]

Farms

FWIW and just a comment: I just drove through a massive wind farm east of St. Regis in Northern New York on my way to and from Ontario. I found it to be rather ugly and the spinning turbines to be mildly annoying (maybe you can get used to it if you are a resident). Proponents/Opponents should both take a gander at it.

Fitz

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Don't know if the summit would still be accessible.

I've been waiting a long time for this. Dogs are not awarded NE4000 and NEHH certificates because they are not allowed in Baxter and can't hike those peaks. By the same logic, if humans aren't allowed access on Reddington the committee will have to put a freeze on any certificates above the NH48 unless the person managed to bag the peak before the freeze.

There's liable to be a crowd on Reddington for the next few months.

 

[John H Swanson]

I've been waiting a long time for this. Dogs are not awarded NE4000 and NEHH certificates because they are not allowed in Baxter and can't hike those peaks. By the same logic, if humans aren't allowed access on Reddington the committee will have to put a freeze on any certificates above the NH48 unless the person managed to bag the peak before the freeze.

There's liable to be a crowd on Reddington for the next few months.

Unless you work for the wind power company and can get access. Then technically you would be able to complete them and should get the certificate.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

FWIW and just a comment: I just drove through a massive wind farm east of St. Regis in Northern New York on my way to and from Ontario. I found it to be rather ugly and the spinning turbines to be mildly annoying (maybe you can get used to it if you are a resident). Proponents/Opponents should both take a gander at it.

Fitz

I now live in an area where wind farms are almost commonplace, and a large solar installation will be built a few miles away.

We can debate the aesthetics of wind farms and industrial solar installations ad nauseum, but the reality is that if we're going to have an impact in lowering carbon emissions, these forms of electrical generation will be built with greater frequency.

Want a job with longterm prospects and not likely to be outsourced? Look into wind power (have to like heights, however!).

 

[Fitz]

Acreage

Kevin:

I'm sure there are all sorts of statistics we can rehash, but what struck me on my little jaunt through The Farm, is the amount of acreage involved, and the probably cost (just for the structure) of each turbine.

(Wouldn't just a little conservation make these gizmos obsolete?)

 

[arghman]

Last week, a Maine legislative committee voted 8-3 to allow the Town of Carrabassett Valley in the western mountains to annex the adjacent Redington Township. The area to be annexed includes the site of the Redington/Black Nubble wind power project.... By annexing the site to an organized town, the legislation would allow this ill-advised project to be reconsidered....

This bill (LD 741), which now goes to the state senate, is an unprecedented attempt to do an end run around LURC's permitting process.

Please call your state senator today and ask him or her to reject LD 741.

OK, a technical question for you Maine residents in the know: What's the difference between LURC's permitting process and the permitting process for wind farms in organized towns? (e.g. would it be the Carrabassett Valley planning board?)

It's one thing if this is really to provide an "end run" around regulation, but changes in municipality organization aren't necessarily detrimental by themselves, & maybe having Redington Twp be part of Carrrabassett Valley is a good thing. (though it would screw up the accuracy of my DeLorme map! )

edit: Actually, now that I think of it, I'm against this purely because it would cause unnecessary change in both the USGS database and the MNAP database (Maine Natural Areas Program, which is Maine's Natural Heritage bureau) and would screw up my geodatabase for photos. (I'm 2/3 serious here)

 

[jniehof]

We can debate the aesthetics of wind farms and industrial solar installations ad nauseum, but the reality is that if we're going to have an impact in lowering carbon emissions, these forms of electrical generation will be built with greater frequency.

I wish conservation were a higher priority, but I do agree that we're stuck trying to increase production of renewable sources. I'm not against all wind, just as I'm not against all highways or all trail bridges

I am against a wind farm in a largely undeveloped area, very close to a protected corridor (the AT), that will replace biomass and hydro power rather than fossil fuels. It's about the context. I don't much like redrawing the map to circumvent the land use process, either.

 

[peakbagger]

The town has a lot more latitude to give a special exception to zoning than the LURC does. It is also of great interest to the town as they can tax the windfarm and most likely cover a significant portion of the towns tax bills. There could also be some special payments made by the developer to the town to support special services (like specialized rescue gear and equipment). Berlin NH has just approved a windfarm on the doorstep of the Kilkenny's in the Whites and it took three local public hearings to approve and to date there has been no controversy on the project from any conservation organizations I am aware of. The much larger windfamr in Millsfield NH has been going through 6 months of hearings and still isnt approved.

For the prior comment about doing away with the need by conserving, its possible but not probable. The power from windfarms usually is sold to cover renewable portfolio requirements that various states have in place, essentially every megawatt of wind could in theory displace a megawatt of fossil fueled generation (note this is a major "can of worms"). The carbon credits currently are sold separately from the power and are bought on the currently voluntary carbon credit market so that some company can claim that their widgets are carbon neutral. Dependent upon the outcome of the congressional action, these credits may suddenly become real valuable.

 

[RoySwkr]

Unless you work for the wind power company and can get access. Then technically you would be able to complete them and should get the certificate.

You can get permission for dogs in Baxter (Orient for one) but I think you still don't get a scroll

 

[Sugarloafer]

I wish conservation were a higher priority, but I do agree that we're stuck trying to increase production of renewable sources. I'm not against all wind, just as I'm not against all highways or all trail bridges

I am against a wind farm in a largely undeveloped area, very close to a protected corridor (the AT), that will replace biomass and hydro power rather than fossil fuels. It's about the context. I don't much like redrawing the map to circumvent the land use process, either.

I don't support the project but that area is hardly "undeveloped". In fact it's almost adjacent to Sugarloaf ski area and golf course, as well as condo developments and single family ski homes. From the summit of Sugarloaf, you can see that several surrounding mountains have been pretty severely clear cut. It's a beautiful area, but not exactly pristine.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

You can get permission for dogs in Baxter (Orient for one) but I think you still don't get a scroll

Very interesting!!

I'd love a bit more info on this. I did some checking and all I could find was that Baxter use to make some exceptions, especially for through hikers with a dog, but that they no longer do it.

If you have any other info please pass it on. I will follow up on it.

Also, "Orient" means nothing to me. Is that a dog's name?

 

[jniehof]

Also, "Orient" means nothing to me. Is that a dog's name?

Orient was the guide dog of blind thru-hiker Orient Express (Bill Irwin), who estimates he fell at least once every mile of the way. Someone said that anyone thru-hiking in 1990 stopped complaining about the Trail as word of Orient Express spread from Springer to Katahdin.

 

[brianW]

Orient is (or was) a guide dog for a visually impaired hiker. I would have to say guide dogs for handicap individuals would have to be allowed into Baxter under the law. Family pets on the other hand are not.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Orient was the guide dog of blind thru-hiker Orient Express (Bill Irwin), who estimates he fell at least once every mile of the way. Someone said that anyone thru-hiking in 1990 stopped complaining about the Trail as word of Orient Express spread from Springer to Katahdin.

Thanks (and to Brian W too) for that story. Great story. What an example.

 

[spencer]

I had the pleasure of meeting Bill and Orient (and Bill's sons) in March a few years back. They were on their way down from a winter Chimney Pond trip.

I guess Bill has returned to BSP on mutliple occasions since his thru-hike and uses the dog-exemption each time.

I was kind of nice to see a pooch in the park for once, although I very much appreciate the lack of them the rest of the time (despite being a dog lover).

so what do you think, should dogs be required to be on leashes? What if your dog is nice - shouldn't he be allowed to do anything you want?

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

so what do you think, should dogs be required to be on leashes? What if your dog is nice - shouldn't he be allowed to do anything you want?

My dog Duffy was interesting. He sensed peoples feelings more than any dog I've ever had. If you wanted to pet him he would come right up to you. If you didn't like dogs and wanted him to leave you alone he would walk right by.

My Lauky is totally different. He is convinced everyone likes him and he wants to greet everyone. If he knows a dog is up ahead he will take off. For those reasons he is always on a leash. It took a bit to get used to at first but after a year and a half of hiking together like that we're both pretty much used to it. It has meant going from two hiking poles to one, but I'm used to that now too.

I do appreciate it when other dog owners leash their dogs in the presence of other dogs, especially if they can't under those conditions have their dogs under complete voice control.

The funny thing is that while this type of question can draw some pretty hot responses, there are those I've encountered out there who have almost insisted that I let Lauky off the leash. It seems to bother some people to see a dog on a leash.

Personally, if it comes to a choice of hiking with a dog on a leash or not being able to take the dog, I'll take the leash.

It is so!!! true that some thoughtless dog owners have made it hard on all the rest of us who really do try to respect the rights of others.