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9/21/18, 2(56 PMNo end in sight for Somerset wind power battle – The Buffalo News
Page 1 of 12https://buffalonews.com/2018/07/29/no-end-in-sight-for-somerset-wind-power-battle/
A survey showed two-thirds of Somerset property owners oppose plans for a wind powerproject. (Getty Images)
No end in sight for Somersetwind power battleBy Thomas J. Prohaska (https://buffalonews.com/author/thomas_prohaska/) | PublishedJuly 29, 2018 | Updated July 29, 2018
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9/21/18, 2(56 PMNo end in sight for Somerset wind power battle – The Buffalo News
Page 2 of 12https://buffalonews.com/2018/07/29/no-end-in-sight-for-somerset-wind-power-battle/
It's Year 4 of the battle over a potential windpower project near Lake Ontario, and lastweek opponents said they expect things todrag on into Year 5 at least.
Meanwhile, the developer said the project willbe somewhat smaller than originally proposed.
Gary A. Abraham, an environmental attorneyworking against the project, said at a meetingof opponents Wednesday that he anticipates itwill be at least 16 months before there's adecision on whether the project is built.
Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville, Va., filedpreliminary plans in Albany for permission toerect as many as 70 wind turbines in the townsof Somerset and Yates.
In past years, the company said each wouldbe as much as 620 feet tall, including thelength of the propeller-like blades, makingthem the tallest structures in the state outsideof New York City.
The company said Saturday it now expects toerect 45 to 50 turbines, each less than 600 feethigh.
But the company hasn't filed a final applicationfor its Lighthouse Wind project.
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9/21/18, 2(56 PMNo end in sight for Somerset wind power battle – The Buffalo News
Page 3 of 12https://buffalonews.com/2018/07/29/no-end-in-sight-for-somerset-wind-power-battle/
"We expect the siting process to begin inJanuary and take at least a year," a companyspokeswoman said Saturday.
"They're asserting the pre-application phasewill be done by the end of the year, but theapplication phase that follows, by statute, willtake about a year," Abraham said. "That's wherethe 16 months comes from."
In March, Apex signed a 290-page agreementwith the state, determining 34 topics thecompany must address(https://buffalonews.com/2018/03/06/wind-power-developer-to-study-34-topics-on-somerset-yates-project/) in its application.
A seven-member siting board, which includesfive state officials and two local residents,eventually will rule on the project.
State law took the permitting power for windprojects away from local governments, but thesame law says the siting board may apply locallaws to the project "unless they'reunreasonably burdensome," Abraham said.
Somerset(https://buffalonews.com/2018/01/30/somerset-passes-tougher-anti-wind-turbine-laws/) andYates(https://buffalonews.com/2018/02/12/yates-passes-more-restrictions-on-wind-energy-projects/) both have passed highly restrictive
9/21/18, 2(56 PMNo end in sight for Somerset wind power battle – The Buffalo News
Page 4 of 12https://buffalonews.com/2018/07/29/no-end-in-sight-for-somerset-wind-power-battle/
wind power laws. Somerset Supervisor DanielM. Engert said last month the town has spentmore than $260,000 on lawyers andconsultants to fight the Apex project.
Although surveys of property owners by thetown governments have shown about two-thirds oppose the Apex plan,(https://buffalonews.com/2015/06/18/two-thirds-of-somerset-residents-oppose-wind-turbines/) there are supporters.
In Somerset, according to listings at theNiagara County Clerk's Office, 36 propertyowners have signed long-term leases onpotential turbine sites. One of them told TheBuffalo News in 2015(https://buffalonews.com/2015/08/16/windmill-promoter-signs-leases-with-several-farmers/) that he expects to be paid $15,000 ayear for every turbine built on his land.
Eight Somerset property owners also havesigned easements allowing Apex to buildinfrastructure on or under their land.
9/21/18, 2(56 PMNo end in sight for Somerset wind power battle – The Buffalo News
Page 5 of 12https://buffalonews.com/2018/07/29/no-end-in-sight-for-somerset-wind-power-battle/
(https://s3.amazonaws.com/bncore/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Gary-Abraham-7-27-19.jpg)
Attorney Gary A. Abraham addresses a meeting of SaveOntario Shores in Somerset on July 25, 2018.(Contributed photo)
At a Wednesday meeting of the mainopposition group, Save Ontario Shores,Abraham said the turbines could generatenoise of about 45 decibels above the normalbackground levels in the two sparselypopulated rural towns.
That's enough to be heard a mile away fromone of the turbines, Abraham told the meetingat Niagara Shores Campground andConference Center in Somerset.
"Wind farms industrialize rural areas," Abrahamsaid. "They industrialize a rural community’scharacter. People come here for the peace andquiet. That will be gone for most of the peoplewho live within the project area."
9/21/18, 2(56 PMNo end in sight for Somerset wind power battle – The Buffalo News
Page 6 of 12https://buffalonews.com/2018/07/29/no-end-in-sight-for-somerset-wind-power-battle/
Apex issued a statement saying that turbinenoise is measured in "A-weighted decibels,"which pertain to relative loudness, notabsolute loudness.
"To the human ear, the sound produced by aturbine is no louder than a kitchenrefrigerator," the company contended.
(/author/thomas_j._prohaska)Thomas J.Prohaska – Thomas Prohaska has been areporter for The Buffalo News since 1995. A
graduate of Starpoint Central High School and St.Bonaventure University, he previously worked atWLVL Radio in Lockport.
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9/21/18, 2(56 PMNo end in sight for Somerset wind power battle – The Buffalo News
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