Company Withdraws Wind Farm Application

Tuesday January 7, 2003

By Paul J. Nyden
STAFF WRITER

Dominion Mount Storm Wind Inc. withdrew its application to the Public Service Commission for a permit to build a wind farm in Grant and Tucker counties to generate electric power.

In a Jan. 3 letter, Dominion lawyer Lee F. Feinberg stated the company hired consultants to conduct several studies about the impact the wind farm would have on the local viewshed, on wetlands and on rare or endangered species including birds, flying squirrels and salamanders.

“Dominion Mount Storm believes that some of the analyses and studies that are necessary for the project will not be fully completed by a date that will provide the parties and the [PSC] sufficient time to fully review the application and participate in a hearing,” Feinberg wrote.

Judy Rodd, executive director of Friends of Blackwater, said Monday, “Dominion apparently realized they were building in a very unique and sensitive habitat when they found 15 flying squirrels on the site. They withdrew their application.

“We think other wind companies should look carefully before they locate in these sensitive areas,” Rodd said. “If they say they are trying to protect the environment, why aren’t they protecting migratory birds and endangered species?”

Dominion Mount Storm filed its permit application to the PSC on Aug. 16, seeking to “construct and operate a wholesale wind power electric generating facility.”

Windmills at some of the proposed wind farms will be more than 300 feet high, taller than the length of a football field.

The Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation has praised wind farm developers for their willingness to hire union workers to build the huge towers. A typical wind farm project hires about 100 workers for several months.

Critics of wind farms include many local landowners in northeastern West Virginia who believe huge towers will permanently scar some of West Virginia’s most beautiful scenery. Once built, wind farms employ just a handful of people to operate them.

Ed Hamrick, director of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, wants his agency to get as much information as possible about projects still underway.

There are three other wind farm projects in the state today:

· Atlantic Renewable Energy Corp. developed a 44-tower, 66-megawatt project on Backbone Mountain in Tucker County, calling it the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center. Atlantic sold its project to Florida Power & Light Energy. Construction, which began in July, is nearing completion.

· Mount Storm Wind Force won PSC approval to build 166 windmills to produce up to 250 megawatts of power, also near Mount Storm.

· NedPower Mount Storm LLC, based in the Netherlands, and Magellan Resource Group hope to jointly finance 200 wind turbines to produce up to 300 megawatts of power in the Mount Storm area. This would be the largest windmill farm east of the Mississippi.

In a Dec. 10 letter to the PSC, Hamrick stated NedPower should be required to comply with environmental laws and complete all required environmental studies. Hamrick specifically asked for copies of “pre-construction study plans for avian species” that assess the potential impact of huge wind towers on migrating birds.

Hamrick asked the PSC to require NedPower “to file evidence that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has accepted and approved the endangered species studies and any mitigation plans that it may think are required.”

Hamrick also wrote that NedPower should be required to “obtain appropriate approvals on any wetland delineation surveys from the [Army] Corps of Engineers. ...

“In addition, NedPower must follow the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the National Environmental Policy Act during all phases of the project,” Hamrick wrote.

An Oct. 22 internal memorandum, obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, raises additional concerns about environmental studies. Friends of Blackwater obtained the memo under a Freedom of Information Act request.

In the memo, Linda S. Smith of the Fish and Wildlife Service wrote about conversations she had with Dr. Ed Michael, a wildlife specialist hired by both Dominion Mount Storm and Magellan Windpower to survey the prevalence of endangered flying squirrels on proposed wind farm sites.

Smith wrote that Dominion officials “told Ed not to tell the Fish and Wildlife Service about the captures [of flying squirrels] or anyone for that matter. I told him he was obligated to tell us. ... He said his collection permit only requires that he tell Craig Stihler” of the state DNR.

In his conversation with Smith, Michael mentioned his survey for the proposed Dominion Mount Storm wind farm site “is the second-highest capture site ever” for the West Virginia northern flying squirrel.

The proposed site, withdrawn from PSC consideration by Feinberg’s letter, is located south of W.Va. 93, between the Mount Storm power plant and the town of Davis.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.
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