Falmouth Select Board Wind Turbines 4 PM

Board of Selectmen Agenda for: 06-08-2015

http://www.falmouthmass.us/agenda.php?depkey=selectmen&number=7348

TOWN OF FALMOUTH
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
AGENDA
MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2015 – 4:00 P.M.
SELECTMEN’S MEETING ROOM


4:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER

EXECUTIVE SESSION
- M.G.L. c. 30A s. 21(a)(3) – Litigation – Discussion - Wind Turbines

REGULAR SESSION

- Wind Turbines

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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.

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

The following are quotes from a local news item from April 2013 :

“MTC-commissioned feasibility study for Falmouth over-estimated the likely acoustic impact”

“According to the MassCEC memo, MassDEP has conducted regulatory compliance testing of the Wind 1 turbine at night and concluded that the sound impact from the turbine does exceed state noise policy under certain conditions – while MassDEP monitoring during daytime found no exceedances of state noise policy.

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.
”
truncated due to possible copyright] click here to read the entire article :https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/04/03/details-on-masscecs-april-2-memo-on-falmouth-turbines/