Falmouth "Nuisance" Wind Turbines RFP July 2019

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) in 2012 released the results of a study that ended the dispute over the Falmouth turbines.

The state-financed study compared sound levels to the State’s 10-decibel threshold for Wind #1

Sound levels were tested at residences on separate nights. Falmouth has a population of 31,000 plus.

Unacceptable sound levels (over the 10-decibel threshold) were measured.

A KEMA Inc study and map from 2005 prepared for the Town of Falmouth prior to construction shows one-megawatt wind turbine noise could affect up to 99 residential homes.

There are NO studies of the two town owned wind turbines and a third private wind turbine operating at the same time all megawatt wind turbines.

The Town of Falmouth has a letter dated August 3, 2010, showing the turbines are twice as loud as those in the KEMA Inc study of 2005

On June 17, 2017, the Massachusetts courts in multiple decisions shut down the two nuisance wind turbines.

In January of 2019, the Falmouth Select Board voted not to operate either Wind 1 or Wind 2 again in Falmouth. The Massachusetts courts in multiple rulings June of 2017 two years ago the turbines are a nuisance and shut them down.

The Select Board the same night board unanimously voted to direct Town Manager and Town Counsel to prepare three requests for proposals (RFPs).

Since January 2019 the Town of Falmouth has been paying an engineering firm to prepare a Request for Proposal to sell or move the wind turbines.

In order to receive ARRA, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 stimulus funds for Falmouth Wind II the town had to file for a Federal EPA waiver to buy a foreign made Vestas V-82 wind turbine to the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 1—New England.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice.
Page 22129
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 80 / Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The Town of Falmouth failed to file a Special Permit 240-166 and had been warned the town owned wind turbines generate up to 110 decibels of noise.

The town received $5 million in State Reserve Fund loans for the Wind turbine II project. The money was allocated by the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

(The ARRA federal funds can not be used if they create a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety related to the implementation or use of ARRA recovery funds.)