MassCEC Admits Falmouth Wind 1 Noise Study Mistake Fails "Smell Test"

MassCEC Admits Falmouth Noise Study Mistake Fails “Smell Test”

Mass Clean Energy Center 2013 Admission Noise Study Mistake Falmouth Wind 1Timing Fails “Smell Test.”

Where is the news media ? What happened to journalistic integrity ?

It is general knowledge the Falmouth Public Works Department was aware of a noise warning letter from Vestas Wind Company. The warning stated the Falmouth Wind 1 turbine a Vestas V-82 type 1.65 megawatt turbine generates 110 decibels of noise almost twice the manufacturers specification. The warnings were given prior to the installations of the turbines. The letter date that reiterated the warning was August 3, 2010.

It is incredulous that the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center could admit in an April 2013 memo to the Town of Falmouth they made a mistake in noise tests three years after the installation based on what they knew about the 110 decibels of noise warning and they were the owners of the turbine before it was installed.

On September 10, 2015 the Falmouth ZBA will be looking at all the facts re-permitting Falmouth Wind 1.

The 110 decibels of noise is around 7 decibels higher than the specifications but equates to an almost doubling of the sound to that of a loud rock band playing outdoors.

The letter from Vestas was cc ed to everyone involved in the installation process. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center formerly the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative was the original owner of the turbine, Falmouth Wind 1.

Many negative wind turbine documents,letters, studies, videos and memos were suppressed or lost by the town for years.

In 2012 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection notified the Town of Falmouth the turbine was breaking the 10 decibel state noise guidelines.

The Vestas noise warning letter (August 3, 2010) prior to the installations was hidden from the public and not included in the Consensus Building Institute, Falmouth Wind Turbine Option Analysis Process (WTOP) to engage in an open, transparent, and collaborative negotiations at a cost of almost $400,000.00 to taxpayers. The letter remained hidden by the Town of Falmouth.

On April 2, 2013 the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center the former owners of the Falmouth 1 turbine admitted they had made “mistakes” estimating the likely acoustic impact of the turbine on near by neighbors.

The April 2013 memo to the Town of Falmouth fails the “smell test.” Prior to the installations of the turbines in 2010 everyone was aware the turbines generate 110 decibels of noise twice the specifications.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center admits they made “mistakes” in the noise tests. The admission comes three years after the wind turbine victims started making written certified noise complaints. The memo also reveals wind noise studies were done prior to the installations of the turbines were “estimated” by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center the turbines would not exceed the 10 decibel limit.

Folks, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center was the owner of Falmouth Wind 1. They couldn’t sell the turbine at public auction and had to bribe the Town of Falmouth with one million dollars to buy the turbine they had been stuck with in storage for 5 years at $3300.00 per month in storage costs. The owner of the turbine the MassCEC was the same ones that estimated and judged the figures from the noise tests all the while knowing the turbines generated twice the noise in 2010. Not only had they known the turbines were almost twice as loud they then took calculations from a wind study and then extrapolated the figures to be under the 10 decibel state noise guidelines.

The Massachusetts taxpayers are paying for this ?

Here is the quote from the memo :

“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.”

Here is the story :
April 3, 2013 • Massachusetts

Details on MassCEC’s April 2 Memo on Falmouth turbines
Credit: THE BULLETIN | Posted Apr 03, 2013 | www.wickedlocal.com ~~

FALMOUTH — The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) asked its board of directors to authorize the board chairman to appoint a three-person subcommittee that will review and potentially modify the existing renewable energy certificate (REC) purchase agreement with the town of Falmouth. However, the MassCEC staff memorandum that makes this request also states that Falmouth will not receive a contract waiver if Wind 1 is decommissioned and removed.

Under the existing REC agreement, MassCEC has prepaid $1.01 million to Falmouth for RECs to be delivered from a wind generating facility between 2015 and 2030.

“MassCEC is considering the terms of an amendment to the existing REC Agreement, which may include potentially waiving [Falmouth’s] obligation to deliver RECs to MassCEC under the existing REC Agreement,” reads a summary of MassCEC’s April 2 memo.
It further states the purpose of the potential waiver would be to reduce the financial impact on the town as it attempts to mitigate sound impacts from Wind 1 and Wind 2, its two wind turbines located at the Falmouth Wastewater Treatment Facility.

“[Falmouth] has been engaged in a prolonged effort to resolve strenuous complaints about noise and noise-induced health concerns related to the wind turbines. After the conclusion of a professionally facilitated joint fact-finding process, the [Falmouth] Board of Selectmen has placed articles on the warrant for an April 9, 2013 special Town Meeting that would authorize funding to ‘mitigate the neighborhood impacts of the turbines, including without limit, to dismantle and dispose or relocate both.’ The Board of Selectmen has endorsed the option to remove the turbines,” reads a summary in the MassCEC memo. “Shortly after their vote, the Board of Selectmen contacted MassCEC seeking assistance in the form of financial relief from the requirement to deliver RECs to MassCEC under the prepaid existing REC Agreement. With a MassCEC waiver of the REC delivery requirement, the town could avoid having to refund the MassCEC prepayment.”

The memo goes on to propose the three-person subcommittee, including the board chairman and CEO, review potential changes to the existing REC Agreement.

“The contemplated modification is for MassCEC to waive delivery of the RECs and to waive the contractual requirement that the town refund the MassCEC prepayment for RECs not delivered. The aggregate value of such refunds over the 15-year agreement term would be $1,959,960,” it says. “We anticipate seeking Board subcommittee approval prior to the April 9 special Town Meeting.”
The memo weighed the benefits and risks involved with modifying the existing REC Agreement, from the MassCEC viewpoint.

“A fair and equitable resolution of the wind facility public acceptance issues in Falmouth is important to the affected neighbors and the town, and is also of vital importance to our overall efforts to support appropriate siting of land-based wind energy in Massachusetts,” it reads.

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.
MassCEC also said there are unique circumstances in Falmouth, so a decision in that town would not set a precedent for others in the state.

“Falmouth Wind 1 was one of the earliest municipally-owned megawatt scale wind turbines installed in Massachusetts. 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.”
And MassCEC said in its memo that they do not believe the potential modifications to Falmouth’s REC Agreement would place unduly financial impact on the state rather than the town.

“The aggregate nominal value of the potential concession is about $2 million. In comparison and by way of example, the town will forfeit up to $8 million in aggregate financial benefit if operation of the wind turbines is curtailed to 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.,” it reads.

MassCEC also asked any recommended modifications be consistent with the following principles:
· The financial value of the waiver to the town shall not exceed the estimated financial loss expected to be incurred by the town through the action taken.
· The nature of the action taken by the town shall advance the general interests of ratepayers of MassCEC’s Renewable Energy Trust.
· The nature of the action taken by the town shall be designed to satisfy, but not exceed, the requirements of state noise policy, with allowance for the unique nature of sound from wind turbines and margins of error inherent in the noise compliance analysis of wind turbines.

· The MassCEC waiver shall not be available for a town action involving decommissioning and/or removal of the Wind 1 turbine.
· The town must agree to participate in the joint MassCEC and MassDEP acoustic research study, at least during daytime hours of operation of the wind turbines.

Source: THE BULLETIN | Posted Apr 03, 2013 | www.wickedlocal.com

https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/04/03/details-on-masscecs-april-2-memo-on-falmouth-turbines/