Wall Street Journal Editorial Hits Mark On Falmouth Wind Turbines

The Town of Falmouth installed two foreign-made Vestas V-82 megawatt turbines to power its wastewater treatment plant between 2010 and 2012. They installed the two turbines named Falmouth Wind I and Wind II in that same time frame.

These were not built following the normal process. The town had a study that was done by KEMA Inc in 2005 that shows a General Electric wind turbine would break state noise guidelines at surrounding homes in which case the town needed to file a Special Permit which it did not.

The town constructed them without correctly following local zoning requirements. It also chose to perform important components of the project’s development itself rather than using professional wind developers because Vestas wind company had warned the town in writing the turbines generate 110 decibels of noise each. Each foreign made Vestas turbine is twice as loud as the General Electric turbine. General Electric refused to build a single turbine because of residential setbacks and ice throw to a nearby highway. It was too dangerous.

The United States Attorney Office in Massachusetts and/or the Massachusetts Attorney General has failed to look into the misuse of 5 million in ARRA, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds used to build Falmouth Wind II.

The Town of Falmouth created a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety related to the implementation or use of ARRA recovery funds.

The Town of Falmouth prior to the construction of Falmouth Wind II had an August 2010 letter from Vestas the turbine was twice as loud as the GE turbine. The town had emails from Vestas and the KEMA Inc study from 2005 with a map that showed exactly how loud the turbines are.

On top of all this, the town filed a federal EPA waiver to use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds that were supposed to be used to buy American products and put Americans to work. The waiver stated they were going to file a Special Permit which they did not.

Any federal or state prosecutor can go back to the June 2009 Falmouth "Special" Town Meeting and follow the 5 million dollar agreement between the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust and the Town of Falmouth. The Falmouth Wind II agreement was brokered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Town Meetings Members at the June 2009 Special Town Meeting were led to believe the 5 million in stimulus money was a free grant. They were even told this is the money you have heard so much about !

The Town of Falmouth is in the process of trying to get the Falmouth Wind II loan forgiven which was written and distributed by federal regulations.

The Town of Falmouth is still hiding the August 2010 Vestas 110 decibel noise warning letter.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds should never have been used to build Falmouth Wind II.

----------------------------------------------

Link to Actual Wall Street Journal Story :

A Green New Deal in Profile
Falmouth spent $10 million on wind turbines. Now it’s losing money.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-green-new-deal-in-profile-11549325968