MassDEP- Falmouth Wind Turbine II A Predatory Loan

The MassachusettsDEP approved a Project Regulatory Agreement (“PRA”) and loan of zero percent to build Falmouth Wind Turbine number two. The money came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The loan was also combined with a power production agreement that required an increase in loan rates if power falls below a certain level.

The MassachusettsDEP loan was written while the first Falmouth wind turbine was breaking Massachusetts DEP air pollution regulations 310 CMR 7.02.

The Town of Falmouth had a letter from August of 2010 that showed the turbines generate 110 decibels of chest pounding noise. This was at least one year prior to the 2011 Project Regulatory Agreement (“PRA”).

Mass DEP continued to ignore air pollution regulations 310 CMR 7.02 until the Massachusetts Superior Courts shut down both wind turbines in June of 2017 .

The loan agreement did not take into account the health and safety of those living around the wind turbines thus requiring MassDEP to take no action on noise regulations in Falmouth or any other commercial wind turbine site in Massachusetts because of the Project Regulatory Agreement (“PRA”).

The Project Regulatory Agreement (“PRA”) made it impossible for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to act in twenty-one other communities with poorly placed wind turbines.

Here is an excerpt from an April 2, 2013, letter

To; Falmouth Town Manager Julian Susso

From the lenders; Susan Perez, Massachusetts Water Pollution Trust
Ken Kimmell, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

"Outside legal counsel has advised that Wind II is subject to specific provisions of ARRA and applicable federal regulations and guidelines (“Federal Law”) in addition to the terms and conditions of the Project Regulatory Agreement (“PRA”) and the Loan Agreement associated with the funding of Wind 11. Under Federal Law and the PRA and Loan Agreement, the Town must maintain Wind II as an “energy efficiency” project, as described in EPA guidelines dated March 2, 2009, in order to benefit from the financial subsidy provided by the Trust under ARRA and the Trust’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund program."

Link to letter :

http://www.falmouthmass.us/DocumentCenter/View/132