BEP Rejects Abutters’ Appeal of Oakfield Wind Power Project

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection voted Thursday, June 3, 2010 to deny an appeal of First Wind’s permit to build a 34-turbine wind energy project Oakfield, Maine.  The BEP rejected the abutters’ claims that the Department of Environmental Protection had not properly assessed the project’s potential sound, health and visual impacts in issuing the permit. 

The attorney for one of the abutters, argued unsuccessfully that the state’s noise regulations were inadequately protective with respect to wind turbine noise and should be ignored by the BEP.  The BEP was also not persuaded by the abutter’s allegation that the DEP and the Mainer Center for Disease Control had conspired to advocate for wind energy development and disregarded purported public health concerns.  In a separate vote, the BEP denied the appellants’ request that the BEP hold a public hearing regarding the health effects of wind energy developments.  Both votes were by a tally of 7-1.

The BEP’s ruling was based in part on evidence that the accuracy of First Wind’s sound modeling has been verified by measurements taken of turbine sound emissions at the operational Stetson facility.  Those measurements showed that actual sound levels from working wind turbines were markedly quieter than the sound levels predicted by pre-construction computer modeling.

This was the third appeal of a grid-scale wind power project heard by the BEP.  In each of the appeals the BEP has rejected the appellants’ claims and upheld the project permit.  Verrill Dana attorneys Juliet Browne and Gordon Smith have represented the project developers in all three appeals to the BEP.   

The abutters can appeal the BEP’s denial of the appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court within 30 days of receiving the BEP’s written order.