Neighbor News
WIND TURBINE LETTER REVEALS WHY NO SPECIAL PERMIT 240 -166
Special Permit 240-166 Requires Additional Abutter Notifications-Public Hearings. SP notifications to home owners would stop wind project.
The Town of Falmouth for over five years hid a letter from Vestas wind turbine company that showed the true noise level of the wind turbine to be 110 decibels of noise. On a decibel scale the additional 6 decibels more than doubles the noise level of the wind turbines.
Town officials prior to considering a Vestas megawatt wind turbine had been turned down by General Electric a domestic wind turbine company because of setbacks. The town was well aware of setback problems siting a megawatt wind turbine.
Town officials took a gamble and hid the Vestas warning letter from the public for almost six years. The letter warned of harmful noise from the wind turbine above and beyond the manufacturer specifications. Revealing the Vestas warning letter to the public would have alerted residential home owners to harm and danger from the wind turbine.
Had the town made the letter public a special permit application would have to be made and the additional abutter notifications would have resulted in no installation of the wind turbines.
The town dropped safety and health of the abutters and avoided the special permit process by hiding the noise warnings. The town took a risk and got caught withholding safety information.
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center on April 2, 2013 wrote a staff memo that acknowledges there are " mistakes " in the original acoustic noise tests for Falmouth Wind I. Everyone including the original company that did the noise tests are aware of the so called "mistakes'"
The hidden letter, memo, studies and maps today all conclude the turbines should never have been built in such close proximity to up to 200 residential homes. The public has all the facts.
Falmouth Town Meeting Members and taxpayers need an explanation for spending up to $300,000.00 every six month on litigation and the ten or more ongoing lawsuits. All because the town hid a noise warnings.
The question needs to be asked why did the town hide the noise warnings from Vestas wind turbine company. Did they make the decision at that point to take the health and property rights of up to 200 residential families so the majority of the town would benefit ?
The letter shows that the turbine normally operates at 103.2dB but the manufacturer has also stated that it may produce up to 110dB under certain circumstances.
The Vestas Noise Warning Letter Next :
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August 3, 2010
Mr. Gerald Potamis
WasteWater Superintendent
Town of Falmouth Public Works
59 Town Hall Square
Falmouth, MA 02540
RE: Falmouth WWTF Wind Energy Facility II "Wind II", Falmouth, MA
Contract No. #3297
Dear Mr. Potamis,
Due to the sound concerns regarding the first wind turbine installed at the wastewater treatment facility, the manufacturer of the turbines, Vestas, is keen for the Town of Falmouth to understand the possible noise and other risks associated with the installation of the second wind turbine.
The Town has previously been provided with the Octave Band Data / Sound performance for the V82 turbine. This shows that the turbine normally operates at 103.2dB but the manufacturer has also stated that it may produce up to 110dB under certain circumstances. These measurements are based on IEC standards for sound measurement which is calculated at a height of 10m above of the base of the turbine.
We understand that a sound study is being performed to determine what, if any, Impacts the second turbine will have to the nearest residences. Please be advised that should noise concerns arise with this turbine, the only option to mitigate normal operating sound from the V82 is to shut down the machine at certain wind speeds and directions. Naturally this would detrimentally affect power production.
The manufacturer also needs confirmation that the Town of Falmouth understands they are fully responsible for the site selection of the turbine and bear all responsibilities to address any mitigation needs of the neighbors.
Finally, the manufacturer has raised the possibility of ice throw concerns. Since Route 28 is relatively close to the turbine, precautions should be taken in weather that may cause icing.
To date on this project we have been unable to move forward with signing the contract with Vestas. The inability to release the turbine for shipment to the project site has caused significant [SIC] delays in our project schedule. In order to move forward the manufacturer requires your understanding and acknowledgement of these risks. We kindly request for this acknowledgement to be sent to us by August 4, 2010, as we have scheduled a coordination meeting with Vestas to discuss the project schedule and steps forward for completion of the project.
Please sign in the space provided below to indicate your understanding and acknowledgement of this letter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me.
Sincerely,
(Bruce Mabbott's signature)
_____________________
Bruce Mabbott Gerald Potamis
Project Manager Town of Falmouth
CC: Sumul Shah, Lumus Construction, Inc.
(Town of Falmouth's Wind-1 and Wind-2 Construction contractor)
Stephen Wiehe, Weston & Sampson
(Town of Falmouth's contract engineers)
Brian Hopkins, Vestas
(Wind-1, Wind-2's turbine manufacturer, and also Webb/NOTUS turbine)