A variety of issues: Wind farm study draws comments from neighbors

Six neighbors of First Wind’s proposed wind farm in north central Whitman County submitted eight suggestions for study topics in the county’s environmental review of the project.

As part of the environmental impact statement on the project, County Planner Alan Thomson called for comments on the company’s plan.

Deadline for comments was last Thursday, Sept. 16.

Palouse Wind, a subsidiary of the Boston-based First Wind, has proposed 55 industrial turbines on Naff Ridge and Granite Butte northwest of Oakesdale.

Responses came in from neighbors last week. Those who commented expressed concerns over the impact the wind farm would have on the area both during construction and operation.

Thomson said many of the complaints were on the list of topics to be addressed in the environmental impact statement, or EIS.

Brad and Teresa Hodges live along the eastern edge of Naff Ridge. In their written comment, they said the turbines would change the way they farm the hill. Roads would split up fields, forcing them to change their farming patterns. They also argued the farm would limit their ability to have farm chemicals applied to crops by aerial spray pilots.

Along with their farming concerns, the Hodges also said the turbines would spoil the unique landscape of the area.

“We hate to see Whitman County and the Palouse landscape scarred by the towers,” wrote the Hodges.

Wayne Maley, who raises cattle west of the ridge, supported the plan in his letter to Thomson.

He said the site’s proximity to high-tension electric transmission lines makes the area uniquely suited for a wind farm.

“I think it’s an ideal area,” he wrote. “The wind blows quite a bit here.”

David and Katie Hockett live near the southern border of the wind farm site. They urged the study include the impacts the turbines would have on their home.

They worried shadows from the spinning turbines may create a flicker effect at their home. They also expressed concern that blasting on the ridge could impact the stability of neighbors’ wells and the foundations of their homes.

They urged the county consult with landowners, and not Palouse Wind, to hire a consultant to study sound impacts from the turbines.

The Hocketts also worried sound and visual impact from the wind farm would discourage people from moving to nearby Oakesdale.

In his letter to Thomson, David Gibbar, who lives near Thornton, said primary concern was the impact noise from the turbines would have on home values in the idyllic rural area around the buttes.

The other four comments came from perennial wind farm critics Roger Whitten and Rick and Carolyn Kiesz.

Whitten and Kiesz were unsuccessful in a court challenge of the county’s industrial wind farm ordinance early this year. Both Whitten and the Kiesz’ live within a couple of miles of the south border of the proposed site.

The Kiesz’ submitted comments as individuals and as a couple.

Their combined statement alleged First Wind has been “corrupt” in the company’s dealings in regards to a wind farm it built in New York.

Rick Kiesz urged further restrictions on the noise produced from turbines. He said he suffers from an inner ear malady that could be made worse by sound waves produced by the turbines.

Carolyn Kiesz urged a two-year study of bird and bat flight data for the area be included in the EIS. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife requires such a study, she said. She added the only available information about avian flight patterns is how they migrate during breeding season.

Whitten again urged the county to mandate noise from turbines be measured in the low-frequency C scale. The ordinance refers to state guidelines, which measure noise pollution of the high-frequency A scale.

“Washington State noise abatement laws do not protect people from low frequency noise pollution because the state laws use the A scale to measure noise,” Whitten wrote.

Whitten argued, as he has for the past three years, that state code is not sufficient protection for the public health. He cited several studies that show low frequency noise can cause vibroacoustic disease.

During his protest of the county’s noise restrictions, Whitten has called for towers to be set back five-eighths of a mile from houses. The company’s proposed map shows two houses within five-eighths of a mile.

The comments will be forwarded to CH2M Hill for inclusion in the engineering firm’s EIS study. CH2M Hill was contracted by First Wind to perform the EIS.