By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
Residents in northern Cattaraugus and Allegany counties living near sites where wind turbines are being constructed by Alle-Catt Wind Energy got some good news Tuesday.
The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment ruled against a request by Alle-Catt to amend conditions of its permit limiting nighttime noise to residents who do not have a wind lease.
In denying Alle-Catt’s request, the Siting Board specified the methodology the company will use to measure nighttime sound at the turbine sites — 14 in Farmerville and 27 in Freedom.
Other turbines are located in the towns of Centerville and Rushford in Allegany County and the town of Arcade in Wyoming County. Turbines and blades are already being raised in Allegany and Wyoming counties. The distance from ground to tip of the blade is nearly 600 feet.
“ACWE’s petition is inconsistent with Siting Board and Commission precedent on noise impact minimization and avoidance,” the Siting Board said in its decision Tuesday. “ACWE’s petition is inconsistent with Siting Board policy on protecting against long-term noise exposure. Granting the petition would remove protections against long-term noise exposure with no replacement. It would, as commenters note, pose a public health risk. The Siting Board therefore denies ACWE’s Petition to remove the L(night) Design Goal” of 40 dBA.
Residences with wind leases could face noise levels from turbines of up to 50 dBA. The Siting Board said Alle-Catt had not properly addressed the night sound issue.
Alle-Catt Wind Energy, a division of Chicago-based alternative energy giant Invenergy, opted for a larger turbine to produce its 340 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 134,000 homes. The larger turbine resulted in fewer wind tower sites, but is louder than the previous turbines.
In its decision, the Siting Board cited Cattaraugus County Legislators Ginger Schroder and Brenda Hanson, Stephanie Milks as well as the Town of Freedom and Concerned Citizens group represented by Gary Abraham, a Great Valley environmental attorney, for pointing out the night sound from the turbines would impact human health.
“Milks emphasized the deleterious impacts to sleep of continuous exposure to noise. She supported maintaining the L(night) Design Goal,” characterizing it as a measure to protect the health of those exposed to the facility’s noise,” the Siding Board’s decision said.
Both Schroder and Hanson cited the negative health impact on residents’ health of continuous exposure to noise. Hanson pointed out that Alle-Catt had presented no expert testimony behind its request to amend the noise limitations.
The Town of Freedom asked the Siting Board to reject Alle-Catt’s petition to amend the longtime nighttime noise limit of 40 dBA, or “provide a clear, enforceable, transparent, and conservative model for modeling continuous average nighttime noise.”
Schroder reported the good news to fellow county lawmakers at Wednesday’s meeting in Little Valley.
“The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment unanimously denied Alle-Catt Wind’s request to remove a critical noise-protection condition that was imposed as part of the wind project’s approval,” Schroder said.
Hanson has already penned a request to the state Public Service Commission on how to track Alle-Catt’s response to long term continuous night noise above 40 dBA, Schroder said.
“This was not a minor technical amendment. It was an
attempt to eliminate one of the very most important protections designed to safeguard the health, safety, and quality of life of the people who must live with this project every day,” Schroder said.
“The developer sought to remove the requirement that the project be designed to limit long-term nighttime noise exposure at non-participating residences,” she said. “In
plain English, Alle-Catt wanted the State to eliminate a standard specifically intended to protect families who are getting no personal financial benefit from the project whatsoever, from the cumulative effects of continuous nighttime turbine noise.”
In rejecting the request, the Siting Board rejected that request. “In doing so, the board expressly
recognized that long-term nighttime noise exposure presents different concerns than short-term noise spikes,” Schroder said. “The Board found that the existing standard protects against continuous and cumulative exposure and agreed with citizens and local governments that removing it would create a public health risk.”
This is an important victory. It is not a victory of money, influence, or corporate power. It is a victory for determined citizens who refused to give up, who educated themselves, who participated in the process, and who
demanded that the government hold a developer accountable to the commitments it made when this project was approved.”
Schroder also singled out Stephanie Milks, who continued to play a leading role in opposition to the wind farm after moving to Ohio from the town of Freedom. Her work was cited by the Siting Board in its decision.
Schroder, who is vice chairman of the county legislature, said, “This decision does not end the debate over Alle-Catt, nor does it resolve every concern that remains. Today, Legislator Hanson sent a multi-page letter to the DPS seeking their input on how they are going to police Alle-Catt and ensure that the decision has teeth. I have no doubt that the developer will still try more tricks when it comes to nighttime turbine noise. We need to be ready to assure that does not happen.”
Cattaraugus County has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past decade for legal fees and expert testimony associated with Alle-Catt’s proposed wind farm — including negotiating a road use agreement.
The Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency negotiated host comm
unity agreements worth $48.4 million over 20 years. Instead of a typical payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement, the host community agreements provided twice as much revenue over the period.
Cattaraugus County will receive $10.8 million over the 20 years, Freedom, $16.8 million; Farmersville, $9.4 million; Yorkshire, $412,313; Pioneer School District, $6.6 million; Franklinville School District, $3.7 million and Cuba-Rushford School District, $315,674.
The Industrial Development Agency will receive a fee of $6 million, just under 1% of the $618 million cost of the portion of the Alley-Catt Wind Energy project in this county.
Alle-Catt Wind Energy did not reply to an email seeking comment.
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