Falmouth Turbine Loan Cheats On State Renewable Goals

The Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

#Take Notice -Taxpayers need to take out full page advertising to point out corruption?

Massachusetts State Revolving funds no longer revolving due to Falmouth wind turbine corruption in state lending.

The Massachusetts Clean Water Trust (aka the Trust) is supposed to be a state agency that improves water quality throughout the Commonwealth by providing low-interest loans to municipalities and other eligible entities.

The Trust, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), lent the Town of Falmouth 5 million dollars to build its second wind turbine Falmouth Wind II.

MassDEP provided Falmouth a project regulatory agreement and accomplished this objective by providing a low-interest loan from the monies received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The money was distributed to the Falmouth Waste Water Treatment Plant to build the turbine on-site through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The condition of the PRA loan is Falmouth Wind II has to remain an energy-efficient project or the five million is due plus interest.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds also cannot be used to create "a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety related to the implementation or use of covered funds." The town was aware prior to construction in writing from the manufacturer the turbines generate 110 decibels of noise twice as loud as a domestic turbine. That's why the courts shut down the nuisance turbines.

The Massachusetts courts curtailed the operation of the two town-owned wind turbines in 2013 and completely shut them down in 2017. The Falmouth Select Board and Town Meeting this month voted 2.5 million to take down the turbines.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner has opined in court documents that either a complete shut down or operation of the turbines "only for a very limited period of time each day" would result in a violation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009's requirement that the turbines be operated as an "energy efficiency" project, as defined by the U.S. EPA.

The Falmouth wind turbines were in violation of the MassDEP project regulatory agreement starting in 2013.

The Mass Clean Water Trust administers the SRF program. the Clean Water and Drinking Water SRFs. MassDEP manages project development and oversight while the Trust manages the flow of funds to borrowers.

SRFs receive funding from the EPA in the form of annual capitalization grants such as the ARRA program, supplemented by state matching funds and the repayment of loans.

When loans to local governments are paid back, the funds are then loaned out again, which is how the fund “revolves.”

The Falmouth wind turbines were curtailed in 2013 which appears to a violation of the energy efficiency definition by the federal EPA

The Falmouth wind turbines were shut down by the courts in 2017 is definitely a violation.

The town recently voted 2.5 million to take down the 15-year-old gear-driven turbines with the hopes of selling the antiquated turbines or moving them at least another two or three-year project. Highly unlikely.

Falmouth owes the balance of the 5 million dollar loan which is 3.5 million plus interest.

The money should go back to the State Revolving Fund where it can be lent out to real renewable energy projects that are waiting for funding.

Federal and state taxpayers need to ask their legislators about the financial fiasco over the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loan on Falmouth Wind Turbine # 2.