234-megawatt wind farm proposed in Columbia County
From an article by Kevin Murphy in The Capital Times:
Milwaukee-based WE Energies wants to build a 90-turbine, 234-megawatt wind farm located between the Columbia County villages of Cambria and Friesland.
In an application filed Monday with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, WE Energies proposes to locate the turbines with a hub height of up to 262 feet generally north and west of Friesland and northeast of Cambria in the towns of Randolph and Scott.
The project would gather power from up to 90 turbines, each with a half-acre footprint, by using up to 50 miles of 50-foot-wide corridors for collector cables. Twenty miles of permanent roads would be used to access the turbine sites, according to the application.
WE Energies acquired an option on the site from Florida Power and Light when it sold its interest in the Point Beach nuclear plant, said Brian Manthey, a WE Energies spokesman.
“The area was already sited for its potential for wind power, once we decided to (exercise the option) we saw that it was a good possibility for us, a good area for wind power production,” Manthey said.
Construction costs haven’t been finalized for the wind farm, now called the Randolph Wind Project, because the number and type of wind turbines haven’t been determined. WE Energies plans to submit those costs to the Public Service Commission within a few months, Manthey said.
He compared the new proposal to the company’s $300 million, 88-turbine wind farm spread across 10,600 acres in Fond du Lac County. The Blue Sky Green Field wind project, which became operational in May, has a 145-megawatt capacity, enough to power 36,000 homes, according to WE Energies.
It used turbines that are 397 feet tall from foundation to the blade tip.
Ryan Schryver, Clean Wisconsin’s wind power advocate, called the proposal a great example of the “choice that we have to make regarding our energy production.”
The Blue Sky Green Field project will be open for public tours on September 13.
This turbine facility will probably encompass 12,000 acres when complete. Consider this. Flight For Life from Milwaukee sent notice to Fond Du Lac EMS personnel last week that they will not fly into the 10,600 acre turbine field. They must now come up with some pre determined landing spots. The whole idea behind Flight for Life is speed in transporting the sick or injured, now that’s gone. You can what if, what if, this forever but the bottom line is the people that live within the boundaries of a turbine facility have had a very important emergency medical service taken from them. (Watch the story on Channel 4 Milwaukee)
Also there will be no crop dusting or spraying of this 12,000 acres. Crop yield could drop 30%.
???????What next????????
kitfox
August 27, 2008
Here’s the text from the story on WTMJ4. Check the last two paragraphs carefully.
FOND DU LAC COUNTY- The rolling farmland of this county is dotted with gigantic wind turbines. The futuristic looking structures tower 400 feet into the clear Wisconsin air. Each has a sun-blocking 270 foot wingspan.
The modern windmills may create clean energy but they are a clear and present danger to air ambulances.
Milwaukee-based Flight for Life has notified first responders in Fond du Lac County that air ambulances will not land near the windmill clusters here.
“They are up in the air,” said Flight for Life’s Claire Rayford. “We have to be aware of them. Depending on how high they are, they may not be lit.”
That decision worries former law enforcement officer and Byron resident Curt Kindschuh.
“I do understand where they’re coming from,” Kindschuh said as he stood in the shadow of one of the windmills he despises. “But, how many people here could potentially be at risk because of that?”
Kindschuh has a long list of complaints about the massive turbines. Still, he maintains public safety is his key concern.
“Does somebody have to get thrown into an ambulance now and carted two, three, four miles to Flight for Life,” he asked with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “That delay could make a major difference between life and death.”
Flight for Life maintains public safety does not have to be compromised.
“We can set up pre-determined landing zones right on the perimeter of the wind turbine farms,” said Rayford. “We can meet the EMS agencies at that location with the patient.”
In addition, here’s the text of a letter to the editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette by Ann Younger-Crandall, program manager for ThedaStar Air Medical in Neenah:
There has been much debate about the placement of wind turbines in Calumet County and their effect on air medical transport, specifically ThedaStar Air Medical, within the county.
I understand this has been a topic of controversy for more than a year in Calumet County. I have had numerous inquiries from citizens, the sheriff’s department, pilots and hospital administrators from Calumet County.
My message to all involved has remained constant: ThedaStar will continue to fly within Calumet County directly to accident scenes as requested or to Calumet Medical Center, even after the wind turbines are constructed.
When ThedaStar flies from Neenah to Calumet Medical Center, our typical flight altitude is approximately 1,000 feet above the ground. This is well above the height of the wind turbine blades and should not affect our flight patterns.
edblume
August 27, 2008
Ed
Please re-read the first three paragraphs carefully.
Please post the notice from Flight for life.
How long would you want one of your family members to be ride in an ambulance and then be re-loaded into a Med. Flight helicopter? How much time will this take away from what EMS personal refer to as the golden hour?
kitfox
August 27, 2008
Kitfox,
This post comes from an article in the Fond du Lac Reporter on September 4:
Although the 400-foot turbines can sometimes delay air medical rescues, emergency personnel are trained to cope artfully with such situations, said Claire Rayford, spokesperson for Flight for Life, which recently located an air base in Fond du Lac. Furthermore, helicopter pilots decide when and where to land on a case-by-case basis.
“Turbines are the same as any other obstruction, like radio towers, power lines and buildings,” said Rayford. “There may be some delays, but transporting a patient to a helicopter is a very efficient procedure.”
The pilot decides what is safe and makes a decision based on many different factors at the time of the incident, Rayford said.
Wind turbines in Fond du Lac County have also been vetted and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, said McNulty, [a WE Energies spokesperson].
Here’s the link to the article:
http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/FON0101/809040390
edblume
September 8, 2008