Rebuttal to the Adirondack Council
Originally Published 08/12/05 in the Adirondack Explorer Magazine
In the July/August 'It's Debatable' the Adirondack Council, discussing our Adirondack Wind Energy Park proposal,
makes several false claims that should be corrected. All of our future energy choices will have costs, but let's
not exaggerate them.
The wind turbines we propose are not "the same height as the Corning Tower in Albany" as claimed. The Corning
Tower is 589 feet tall - more than twice the height of the structure of the proposed Wind Turbines and 40% more
than the maximum tip height of the moving blade. The Corning Tower is also many times more massive.
"Barton's own assessment" does not show "they would be visible from Blue Mountain, 32 miles away on a hazy day."
First, Blue Mountain is 22 miles away, not 32, but the erroneous 32 mile figure is then used to claim an impact on
a huge area containing 7 wilderness areas. Our assessment, using a photo taken on a very clear day, showed visibility
only in the tele-photo magnification (as with binoculars). From the correct 22 miles, the stationary structure of a
wind turbine would appear to be about twice the height of the period at the end of this sentence. Our site is screened
from view by trees and surrounding topography from most nearby public viewpoints. The project would not "loom over the
Village of North Creek" as claimed. It would not be visible from the Village. This location has a very low visual impact
compared to most wind farm sites.
The renewable hydro-power made in the park is not "continuous" as claimed at the cited 240 MW maximum, but produces
at an annual average of about 40% of that rate. Therefore the total is significantly short of making the Park an exporter
of green power. It would make more sense to look at total energy use, including fuel burned for transportation and heating.
The shortfall then becomes huge.
Our project could meet the energy needs of 14,000 average NYS households - much more than a drop in the bucket, and
without releasing mercury, acid rain components, and green house gasses.
Please see our web site at www.adirondackwind.com for accurate information.
Adirondack Wind Partners, LLC
The Barton Group
Jim McAndrew is vice president of the Barton Group, partner for the Adirondack Wind Energy Park.
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