FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Turbines too loud? Here, take $5,000
Editor s Note: The follow
ing article was written by
William Yardley and was
published July 31, 20/0
online at www nytimes.com
A version o f this article ap
peared in print on August
l, 2010, on page A14 o f
the New York edition o f The
New York Times.
IONE- Residents
of the* remote high-desert
hills near here have had an
unusual visitor recently, a
fixer working out the kinks
in clean energy.
Patricia Pilz of
Caithness Energy, a big
company from New York
that is helping make this
part of Eastern Oregon one
of the fastest-growing wind
power regions in the coun
try, is making a tempting
offer: sign a waiver say
ing you will not complain
about excessive noise from
the turning turbines — the
whoosh, whoosh, whoosh
of the future, advocates
say — and she will cut you
a check for $5,000.
“Shall we call it
hush money?” said one
longtime farmer, George
Griffith, 84. “It was about
as easy as easy money can
get.”
Mr. Griffith hap
pily accepted the check,
but not everyone is taking
the money. Even out here
— where the recession has
steepened the steady decline
of the rural economy, where
people have long supported
the massive dams that har
ness the Columbia River
for hydroelectric power,
where Oregon has invested
hundreds of millions of
dollars in tax incentives to
cultivate alternative energy
— pockets of resistance are
rising with the windmills on
the river banks.
Residents in small
towns are fighting proposed
projects, raising concerns
about threats to birds and
big game, as well as about
the way the giant towers
and their blinking lights
spoil some of the West’s
most alluring views.
Here, just west of
where the Columbia bends
north into Washington,
some people are fighting
turbines that are already
up and running. In a region
where people often have to
holler to be heard over the
roar of the wind across the
barren hills, they say it is
the w indmills that make too
much noise.
“The only thing we
have going for us is the Or
egon state noise ordinance,"
said Mike Eaton, an oppo
nent of the turbines.
Oregon is one of a
growing number of places
that have drafted specif
ic regulations restricting
noise from wind turbines.
The Oregon law allows
for noise to exceed what is
considered an area’s ambi
ent noise level by only a
certain amount. But what
those ambient levels are is
sometimes disputed, as is
how and where they should
be measured.
And while state
law limits turbine noise,
the state office that once
enforced industrial noise
laws, housed within the De
partment of Environmental
Quality, was disbanded in
1991, long before wind
power became a state pri
ority.
“We have the regu
lations still on the books,
and entities are expected to
comply with those regula
tions,” said William Knight,
a spokesman for the De
partment of Environmental
Quality. “But there really
isn’t anybody from D.E.Q.
going around to find out if
that’s occurring. I’m not
sure who you’d call out
there in Columbia Gorge.”
Local government
is one answer. In May, af
ter testimony from private
acoustic experts, the Mor
row County Planning Com
mission agreed with Mr.
Eaton, his wife, Sherry, and
a small group of other op
ponents that Willow Creek,
a wind farm directly behind
the Eatons’ modest house
on Highway 74, was indeed
exceeding allowable noise
levels. The commission
ordered the company that
operates the site, Invenergy,
to come into compliance
within six months.
Invenergy quickly
appealed — and so did the
Eatons and their allies. The
county’s board of commis
sioners also asked the plan
ning commission to clarify
its decision. A hearing is
scheduled for this month.
“The appeals were
all based on the same ques
tions,” said Carla McLane,
the county planning director.
“What does ‘not in compli
ance’ mean, and what does
it take to be in compliance
in six months?”
Opponents say the
constant whooshing from
the turbines makes them
anxious and that the low-
level vibrations keep them
awake at night. Some say
it gives them nausea and
headaches. Many other
residents say they hear little
or nothing at all, and the
question of whether wind
mill noise can harm health
is in dispute.
Critics say those
complaining about Willow
Creek are just angry that
they were not able to lease
their land to wind develop
ers. Some opponents say
they would be happy if In
venergy just turned certain
turbines off at night, but
others say they want reim
bursement for losing their
pastoral way of life.
“ What w e’re re
ally trying to do is get In
venergy to the bargaining
table,” said Dan Williams,
a builder who is part of the
group frustrated with the
noise from Willow Creek.
While Invenergy
is still dealing with the
noise issue even after Wil
low Creek, which has 48
turbines, has been up and
running for more than 18
months, Caithness Energy,
the company asking some
residents to sign waivers
allowing noise to exceed
certain limits, hopes it can
solve the issue upfront. It
also has more at stake.
Caithness is build
ing a much larger w ind farm
adjoining Willow Creek
called Shepherd’s Flat. The
new farm is expected to
have 338 turbines and gen
erate more than 900 mega
watts when it is completed
in 2013, which would make
it one of the largest wind
facilities in the country.
Large farms like
Shepherd’s Flat are regulat
ed by the state. Tom Stoops,
the council secretary for the
Oregon Energy Facility Sit
ing Council, said that large
projects must prove they
will comply with the noise
ordinance and that noise
waivers, or easements, are
among the solutions. Asked
if it was common for com
panies to pay people to sign
such easements, Mr. Stoops
said, “That’s probably a
level of detail that doesn’t
come to us.”
Ms. Pilz, the local
Caithness representative,
did not volunteer the in
formation that Caithness
offers people money to sign
noise easements, though
she eventually confirmed
in an interview that it did.
She also would not say
how much money it offers,
though several property
owners said she had offered
them $5,000.
“ What we don’t
do in general is change the
market price for a waiver,”
Ms. Pilz said. “That’s not
fair.”
Some people who
did not sign said that Ms.
Pilz made them feel un
comfortable, that she talked
about how much Shepherd’s
Flat would benefit the strug
gling local economy and
the nation’s energy goals,
and that she suggested they
were not thinking of the
greater good if they re
fused.
“The lady that
came said everyone else
signed,” said Jarrod Ogden,
33, a farmer whose house
would be directly opposite
several 300-foot turbines
once Shepherd’s Flat is
completed. “But I know
for a fact that some people
didn’t. I’m all for wind
mills, but I’m not going to
let them buy me like that. I
think they’re just trying to
buy cheap insurance.”
Community
Lunch Menu
Heppner Christian
Church members will be
serving lunch on Wednes
day, August 18, at St. Pat
rick’s Senior Center. The
menu will include turkey
tetrazzini, peas and carrots,
mixed melons, hot rolls,
and ice cream.
Cowboys tuckered after
long rodeo weekend
Tate Gentry (top photo) and Garrett Robinson (bottom photo)
took a break from rodeo festivities this past weekend in Hep
pner. -Contributed Photos
Parents required to complete
sports exam forms
Parents of students
needing sports physicals
are reminded that they must
complete a questionnaire
and sign the examination
form before the physical
can be performed.
Free sports exams
will be conducted at Pio
neer Memorial Clinic in
Heppner on Tuesday, Au
gust 17, from 1:30 to 5 p.m.
for girls and on Wednesday,
August 18, from 1:30 to
5 p.m. for boys. Irrigon
Medical Clinic will hold
free sports physicals on
Thursday, August 12, and
Thursday, August 29, from
9 a.m. to 12 noon and from
1:30 to 4 p.m.
Exam Forms are
available at the clinics.
There will a $30 charge
for sports exams scheduled
outside the free dates listed
above.
Education First Italy/Switzerland
^
tour schedule announced
The Education First
Tour to Italy and Switzer
land will be held March 17-
28,2011. The tour schedule
is as follows:
Day 1 - Flight from Port
land to Zurich
Day 2 - Zurich/Lucerne
Region
Day 3 - Mount Pilatus
Cog Railway tour
Day 4 - Italian Lakes
Region
Day 5 - Venice, Italy: St.
Mark’s Square, Grand
Canal
Day 6 - Transfer to Flor
ence, Italy
Day 7 - Tour Pisa and the
Leaning Tower
Day 8 - Transfer to Rome
via Assisi
Day 9 - Visit to Vatican
City: Sistine Chapel, St.
Peter’s Basilica
Day 10 - Rome: Colos
seum, walking tour of
Rome, Sorrento, Pompeii
and Mt. Vesuvius
Day 11 - Sorrento, Rome,
Capri
Day 12 - Return home to
Portland
Approximate costs
for the trip are: adults $3,400
and students (grade 10 and
up) $3,000. Price includes
air fare, hotel, breakfast,
dinner, and all tour costs.
Passports are required. Sign
up now for the best rates
and tour availability. For
more information, visit
www.eftours.com tour #
583224 or contact Mary
Haguewood, 676-9759.
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