Madison County officials have issued a statement opposing a proposed 100-megawatt wind farm in the town of Fenner.
A statement issued by the Madison County Board of Supervisors said “…[the] proposed wind farm project developer is willing to gamble the public safety of Madison County residents on just 16 meters” and that it would “greatly impact public safety.”
Potential issues with microwave networks
According to Madison County, analysis done by an engineering firm, Microwave Networks Incorporated, shows that at least four of the proposed 24 wind turbines have the potential to interfere with the microwave links between Madison County 911 Towers.
One of those turbines, RMUT 4 (or Turbine 6), has a significant risk of interference. This interference could hamper communications between 911 and first responders within Madison County.
“Technical drawings indicate that Liberty Renewals intends to build a turbine whose blades will be located directly above a link between transmission towers,” Madison County officials said in the statement. “That path between Mutton Hill Tower and Carry Hill Tower is critical for communication in Madison County’s largest town, the town of Sullivan. The interference would not only impact Madison County first responders, but also New York State First Responders, and emergency response on I-90.”
According to Liberty Renewals this turbine will have 52 feet of clearance with the microwaves and will not interfere with the path of communication.
Madison County Board Chairman James Cunningham said Madison County was not willing to gamble the safety of its public and that of first responders “…on just 52 feet.”
County asks company to reconsider
To that end, Madison County is asking that Liberty Renewals reconsider this information and either relocate or simply not build Turbine 6 at all. Madison County officials will be attending a hearing with Liberty Renewals to address this issue on Monday, Aug. 25.
“Madison County is a rural community and already deals with interference from trees and hills when it comes to communications,” said Madison County Emergency Management Director Dan Degear in the statement.
“Why risk interfering even more by putting up windmills that are in the line of sight of our towers? Madison County Emergency Management is not against renewable energy or the project completely. However, we are concerned that Liberty Renewals is not taking the impact these turbines can have on the safety of our community seriously. We here at Madison County are not willing to risk public safety on just 16 meters.”
911 communicators use the towers to communicate with the Sheriff’s office, fire departments, EMS, and other police agencies, including State offices that are in and responding in the area of the town of Sullivan
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Madison County officials opposed wind farm, citing safety concerns
Reporting by Casey Pritchard, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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