Time for U.S. to Stop Funding Falmouth Wind Turbines

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency worked together in 2009 to provide Massachusetts a waiver to bypass the "Buy American" portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The goal was to finance the Town of Falmouth's second identical foreign-made wind turbine.

Ultimately the Town of Falmouth received a 5 million loan at zero percent interest as long as Falmouth Wind II the second town-owned wind turbine stays energy efficient or the entire loan is due plus 2 percent interest.

Both town wind turbines were shut down in June of 2017 have not been energy efficient for well over two years. The loan is long overdue.

Federal, state and local authorities are looking the other way while the "Project Regulatory Agreement" agreed to by the US EPA and MassDEP is ignored as a political favor to town officials. The Project Regulatory Agreement is a power production agreement that ignores health and safety. In other words, the US EPA and MassDEP ignore their own noise regulations over the health of the citizens around the wind turbines.

The ARRA does include oversight and reporting requirements which include power audits over the years of loans made to wastewater treatment plants such as the Falmouth site. MassDEP is not conducting the mandatory power production audits.

Massachusetts officials appear to be OK with corruption to achieve the goals of the so-called Global Warming Solutions Act.

Based on the areas that the ARRA funding was targeting such as the Falmouth Wastewater Treatment Plant this looks to be the most vulnerable.

Under Energy/Environment the increased popularity of renewable or alternative forms of energy coupled with the ARRA stimulus efforts to promote environmentally-friendly energy sources and create “green jobs” looks to result in more projects and more opportunities for corruption and fraud.

The US EPA issued a waiver along with MassDEP ignoring the safety and health of citizens during the application process. The waiver was issued in 2010.

Facts in hand:

After the Town of Falmouth had a 2005 KEMA Inc wind study done for the town General Electric in 2008 refused to build a single wind turbine due to residential setbacks and ice throw. The domestic wind turbine company read the report.

The Town of Falmouth was warned prior to construction of any wind turbines the foreign-made wind turbine a Vestas V-82 type 1.65 megawatt wind turbine generates 110 decibels twice as loud as the GE turbine. The emails and letters are in the court system but remain hidden from the voting public and the news media lacking journalistic integrity isn't in any hurry to do a story.

The town never filed Special Permit 240-166 a town bylaw as they knew GE had refused to build a wind turbine and the foreign-made wind turbine was twice as loud. The Falmouth Zoning Board would have to have hearings and additional notification to neighbors in which case the turbines would never be built.

There is no study of both wind turbines operating together. How could the second turbine be financed with the ARRA stimulus funds unless documents were omitted from the Buy American US EPA waiver?

MassDEP failed to meet its statutory requirements. Where is the US Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA)? The 5 million ARRA loan is due on Falmouth Wind II at 2 percent interest.

The federal government is funding a failed project by not calling in the 5 million loans.The money could go back out through the state revolving funds to more worthwhile Green projects. The old boy network at work on Beacon Hill again.

ARRA Section 1605 under the authority of Section 1605(b)(2)requires the funds do not create a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety and manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of satisfactory quality. One foreign-made Vestas V-82 wind turbine breaks all these rules. The town installed two identical turbines not knowing or caring how loud or how dangerous the turbines were to health and property rights.

Legal counsel has advised the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection 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 II.

Federal, state and local officials are trying to teach citizens a lesson and that lesson is don't mess with us we know what's good for you and we'll enforce laws against you but not against ourselves,
In the long-running dispute which included eleven lawsuits and unknown number of appeals between the Town of Falmouth and the neighbors to the Town’s wind turbine that powers the municipal wastewater treatment facility (WWTF), score one for the neighbors.

Politicians can't get over the fact the town was found guilty. The Massachusetts Superior Courts found the town was required to obtain a special permit from the Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals to install the wind turbine on Townland.

The 5 million dollar loan is due plus 2 percent interest. Time to stop corruption. Enforce the MassDEP Project Regulatory Agreement.

The US EPA by not requiring repayment of this loan is continuing to fund a threat to health and safety.

Note # The town is guilty: In the past ten years, the federal government or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health or any other agency has never interviewed a single victim or done a study of the Falmouth wind turbine health disaster.