BP’s Cape Vincent Wind’s development manager wrote a letter to the Town of Cape Vincent and the Article 10 siting board. Each letter had the same theme.
Chandler: BP Wind Energy has already been engaged with the local community for years on the Cape Vincent Wind Farm project and such work should not be ignored.
Additionally Chandler added: the proposed Zoning Law would effectively prohibit wind generation from being sited within the Town. The Town has already evaluated potential impacts from the Cape Vincent St. Lawrence wind farm projects and made favorable findings.
The favorable findings that BP’s Chandler speaks of resulted from BP and Acciona tampering with the Local Legislative Process.
In 2006 both BP Energy and Acciona Energia began the permitting process for two proposed industrial wind projects in Cape Vincent. At the time we had no provision in our zoning law to regulate or guide wind development. After two aborted attempts at drafting a wind law by previous town lawmakers, a committee convened in 2010 for a third try. The committee consisted of a representative and leader of a local wind leaseholder group as well as wind lease holding town officials.
At the February 5 and 6, 2010 meetings, with the assistance of the Town's consulting acoustical engineers, Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, Sudbury, MA, the noise section of the draft wind law was completed . It followed the NYSDEC guideline that no new noise source can exceed background sound by more than 6 dBA, but it also included details for measuring background sound and compliance testing that is missing in the NYSDEC policy.
Contrary to BP's assertion, they did NOT support development of our wind ordinance.
The wind law committee had reached a consensus at the February 2010 meeting but through the efforts of BP and their leaseholders that agreement was sabotaged.
Shortly after the May 2 wind law meeting began Beth White, committee member and spokesperson for the leaseholder group, suggested picking 50 dBA for a noise limit rather than what the committee had agreed to at the previous meeting. At this point she began discussing economic impacts. White explained that a 50 dBA noise limit would have financial benefits to the community. White presented a spread sheet containing facts and figures to support her claim.
Bottom line a less protective wind law would mean bigger money for the community and lease holders. The lease holding committee members agreed with White blindsiding the other committee members.
May 5, 2010 Three days after this travesty of a meeting, BP’s Business developer, Jim Madden sent a letter to the Cape Vincent Town Board containing data prepared by BP; coincidentally it was the same spread sheet with the same data that White had claimed as her own.
Madden: “The Town of Cape Vincent has been working on developing a wind ordinance for almost two years now. Through this time, BP Wind has supported the development of a wind ordinance so that expectations for siting, construction and operations of wind farms can be clearly established and uniformly enforced. However, despite recent efforts, it appears that a wind ordinance will not be implemented this year, largely due to a lack of agreement on noise limits.”
Additionally Madden wrote “As the limits are tightened, there will be a reduction in the number of turbines and reduction in economic benefits.”
Comparing Madden’s data to that presented by White at the committee meeting, it is clear that she was acting as an agent for BP to thwart the efforts of the committee.
This is only one example of how “BP Wind Energy has been engaged with the local community for years on the Cape Vincent Wind Farm project.”
BP’s Noise Consultant Misrepresented Background Sound: Hessler Associates, Haymarket, VA was retained by BP Wind Energy to complete summertime, background sound study within the project boundaries of BP's Cape Vincent wind power project.
Because there were concerns early on among local citizens that the developer’s noise report was misleading, the Wind Power Ethics Group (WPEG) contracted Dr. Paul Schomer, of Schomer and Associates, Inc., Champagne, IL, to conduct an independent study and review of BP/ Hessler's report.
Schomer's report uncovered a number of questionable practices. One sound level meter was less than 100 ft. from a marshaling yard for heavy construction equipment being used for a water line project.
Hessler suggested this site is typical for residences along Rte. 12E .
Additionally, Hessler claimed that insect noise, elevated background sound levels and would provide a natural making noise that, would minimize wind turbine noise impacts.
Schomer, however, disagreed: The presence of insect noise does nothing to mitigate the wind turbine noise; the measurement of insect noise only masks and obfuscates the truth.”
Schomer concluded by stating, ““Hessler’s BP study for the Cape Vincent Wind Power Facility appears to have selected the noisiest sites, the noisiest time of year, and the noisiest positions at each measurement site. Collectively, these choices resulted in a substantial overestimate of the A-weighted ambient sound level, 45-50 dB according to Hessler.”
In contrast Schomer found background sound levels were 30 dBA averaged for night-time, daytime and evening. Night-time levels in Cape Vincent averaged 25dBA
BP’s sordid history in Cape Vincent began with their signing many of our town officials and their families to wind leases and good neighbor agreements, knowing this would create blatant conflicts of interest.
This is a violation of the town’s ethics code and NY State law.
BP’ has stated lofty intentions with their Cape Vincent Wind development however the facts speak for themselves.
BP has left a profound mark on our community, tearing apart families, friendships, and ripping the fabric of our community to shreds.
7 comments:
tzedek tzedek tirdof, translated justice justice pursue. I think Proverbs 29:2 sums it up.
Then the righteous (tzadikim) thrive, the people rejoice, when the wicked rule, the people groan.
When there is no justice, there is no appreciation of the right of every human being to be treated with fairness, respect and kindness.
BP's Dirty Little Path is the path of a world-class polluter; the corporate equivalent of a scumbag. Aside from the issue of wind or no wind for Cape Vincent, we should also consider if we did choose wind, would we choose BP as a developer? Can we trust BP will be a responsible corporate neighbor? If complaints arise, could we be confident BP would act responsibly? The answers are NO, NO, NO! If you don't think a convicted child molester should be employed by our school system, then you must also believe a convicted polluter has no place developing an energy project in our little community. KEEP THE CAPE CLEAN, BP LEAVE CAPE VINCENT.
60k... A very good post..... Keep up the truth telling because that really upsets the pro-wind crowd and B. P.
I tried reading Marion T. speach, but i could't get through it all because she is such a MORAN i can't stand her ignorance!!!!!!!!
I disagree with Mr. Chandler.
"already been engaged with the local community for years on the Cape Vincent Wind Farm project and such work should not be ignored."
During the years of Acciona and Bp "engagement" Bp wind lease holders were sitting on the town board and the planning board making decisions favorable to wind development.
Also, the lead agent in wind development, the Cape Planning Board was being chaired by a Bp leaseholder who was being paid by Bp. When he went through the motions of what he called recusal, he stayed in the room and listened.
The years of engagement claimed by Mr. Chandler were being conducted during a time of conflicts of interest of certain public officials and our town was being investigated by the New York State Attorney General who has yet to render an opinion of an investigation announced in the main stream medial.
An Article X siting board who will make the decision for Cape Vincent will be encouraged to recognize that it appeared that Cape citizens were being held hostage by what many have claimed to be wind corruption. Even Assembly member Kevin Cahill publicly recognized that that some towns were corrupted by wind and others did not have the same opportunity.
Here,again we express our disgust with the thought of BP coming into our community ,with its horrific history of abusing environmental and human rights issues,yet we submit to a New York State Article X abrogation of our right to self-govern,knowing full well these rights have been stolen with the complicity of a corporation wielding its ugly influence,namely BP.
What would our Declaration of Independence or American constitution look like today if our forefathers acted with the same resignation as the citizens of New York are displaying presently?
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Lets send this off to King George and wait for his decision to reveal to us whether or not it is reasonable, or overly burdensome for the British Empire.
We'll wait until he has decreed it is unreasonable,then plan a revolution. Hopefully it won't be too late or too expensive to challenge the sovereignty of the British army.
Did the patriots in Boston wait for word from the King of England that dumping the tea in the harbor was unreasonable??
We have already legally decided our land use laws are reasonable folks,exercising our "unalienable rights."
Why are we willing to submit to this patronizing,Article X siting process that treats us as children in a very real adult world?
You should have more faith in the very active group of people who have stepped forth and volunteered expertise and thousands of hours and several years of their lives battling wind in Cape Vincent and are working to put our once corrupt government under the influence of Bp's community organizer back on an even keel.
Every single day for years has been a revolution for them. They have won battle after battle and have not laid down their arms.
I certainly respect your ideas and perhaps your revolution against Article X will at some point fester.
But, this is no time to surrender, retreat and start a new war.
You should start a new war, take it to a state level and do not sacrifice all that our locals have worked for.
Find your own Army. They might be one out their bigger and better. Perhaps the state towns organization.
Our Army in Cape Vincent has to face reality and operate under the law that was passed nearly unanimously and our diligent town officials are far too busy to do anything other than deal with the reality of that unanimous law.
But have faith that our State Reps, Addie Russell, Patty Ritchie and Ken Blankenbush voted no on Article X.
6:16 You misinterpret the context of my message if you consider what I propose to be a surrender,and retreat. It is exactly the opposite. What I propose is to take the product of those thousands of hours of work and dedication,by committed people, who have sacrificed much and put their community first before their own personal lives, and stand it before any corporation that applies to develop in Cape Vincent, as the law of our town, New York State be damned!!
Any development here requires a permit from the Cape Vincent Zoning enforcement officer.
If you consider that a surrender,and retreat,then we are from different planets.
Our diligent town officials may be busy, but they still represent the people of this town as elected officials with the responsiblity to defend and implement the laws that we gave them the authority to enact,by virtue of the Declaration of Independence, The US Constitution, and New York Home Rule.
What if the Minute Men had told the Massachussetts Provincial Congress to go find another army,we're to busy.
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