LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Limits proposed for wind turbines 

The Hamburg Town Board received recommendations for a new wind power ordinance Monday night and set a June 11 public hearing to consider them.

The measures were available at the meeting and included 16 pages of proposed rules. Among them are:

“¢ Limiting the wind turbines to M-3 industrial zones, the heaviest industrial zones in the town. That means BQ Energy’s proposed Steel Winds project would fit into the Hamburg portion of the former Bethlehem Steel site. BQ is tentatively proposing a six-turbine extension of its Lackawanna project.

“¢ Reports and calculations on blade and ice throws – how far the ice from the blades and the blades themselves could go – in worst-case scenarios.

“¢ A minimum lot size of 2 acres per commercial wind tower.

“¢ A maximum height – ground to tip of the blades at their highest – of 500 feet. BQ’s proposed towers top out at about 410 feet. The 500-foot limit is consistent with Federal Aviation Administration standards, the proposal says.

“¢ No advertising or logos can go on the towers, and they have to be painted a “non-obtrusive” color, such as white, gray or beige.

“¢ Noise studies are required, including low-frequency noise and “repetitive/ impulsive” sounds.

“¢ Audible noise at the boundary of the project can’t exceed 45 decibels for more than 5 minutes out of a one-hour period, or 50 decibels anytime. According to one science book (Time-Life’s “Sound and Hearing”), that’s the equivalent of somewhere between “a residential area at night” and a quiet restaurant.

A removal and site restoration plan is required for the eventual demise of the tower.

Supervisor Steven Walters said that while the proposal had been in the works since last year, the process became more urgent when the BQ project was announced and a possible moratorium was considered.

“All the public comment that came out over this, it got all of us to really buckle down and get this done,” said Walters. “We were able to get something done for the good of the town and for the good of business that’s trying to come into town in an area where nobody expected anything to be done for a long, long time.

“We’re happy that there won’t be a moratorium on this project.”

The Bethlehem site contains numerous areas of toxic pollution.

By Elmer Ploetz
News Staff Reporter

Buffalo News

buffalonews.com

15 May 2007

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon