Falmouth 200 Wind Turbine Homes

Falmouth 200 Wind Turbine Homes

Many residential home owners do not come forward over noise concerns with wind turbines because of fear, embarrassment and they don’t wanted to be painted as a minority.

The Town of Falmouth was warned in 2005 that up to 99 homes could be impacted by Falmouth Wind 1 .The follow article shows the homes streets and numbers .

The town then went forward placing a second turbine to affect up to 200 homes. Falmouth Wind II

TOWN OF FALMOUTH COMMUNITY WIND PROJECT FEASIBILITY STUDY
November 2005 Prepared by: KEMA, Inc. & Ecology and Environment, Inc.

“6.1 Visual and Noise Impact
The potential visual and noise impacts of the proposed wind turbine are best considered in the context of where existing dwellings are located in relation to the turbine site. A total of 99 residential properties are located within a half-mile radius of the turbine site. All of these properties lie to the west and south of the site.(See Attachment A for a map of the site).

There are 68 properties located to the west of the turbine site. All 68 properties are located on the west side of Route 28 (Rte. 28). Rte. 28 therefore serves as a barrier between these 68 dwellings and the turbine site. Approximately one third of the 68 dwellings are within 500 feet of Rte. 28, and all are within a quarter mile of Rte. 28. The closest dwellings are approximately 1700 feet due west of the proposed turbine site. Sixty-one of the 68 properties are located on one of the following residential streets: Ridgeview Drive; Ambleside Drive; Westmoreland Drive; and Brantwood Road. Seven properties are located to the east of West Falmouth Highway.

There are 31 properties to the south of the turbine site. A vast majority of these dwellings are located off of Blacksmith Shop Road, primarily on the south side of the road. A few dwellings are located off of Durham Road and Durfee Drive. The closest dwelling to the south of the proposed turbine site is approximately 1350 feet due south”

http://www.falmouthmass.us/energy/falmouth%20feasibility%20study_111505.pdf

Vestas raises concerns about turbine noise (Letter)

Bruce Mabbott - August 3, 2010

Impact on People Noise Massachusetts

After noise complaints started coming in following the erection of WIND 1, the first Falmouth turbine at the wastewater treatment facility, Vestas required 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.” WIND 2 would not be released to the town for erection until the letter was signed.

The letter explaining the situation is provided below and can be accessed by selecting the link(s) on this page.

http://www.windaction.org/posts/41357-vestas-raises-concerns-about-turbine-noise-letter#.VR0lp_nF9-c

Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Memo :

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center in a memo admitted: “Even though the original MTC-commissioned feasibility study for Falmouth over-estimated the likely acoustic impact, that study did not include a detailed acoustic analysis based upon sampling of ambient acoustic conditions (as is our current, more rigorous practice) which might have identified a potential exceedance of the 10 decibel limit,” the memo reads.

“The Falmouth wind turbines are of an older design which does not offer ‘low noise operations’ or other retrofit options.”