January 8, 2010
Mr. Stephen Tomasik, Project Manager
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway, 4th Floor
Albany, New York 12233-1750
Re: Proposed Galloo Island Wind Turbine Project - Environmental Impact
Dear Mr. Tomasik:
I had written to you and spoken to you on several occasions about my concerns about sounds from the turbines proposed for Galloo Island affecting residents on the mainland, particularly on Point Peninsula in the Town of Lyme. Point Peninsula is closer to Galloo than any other part of the mainland and it is also downwind from the Island with the westerlies that prevail in the area.
I have reviewed the acoustic study dated October 8, 2009 prepared by Tech Environmental, Inc. of Waltham, Massachusetts. This study makes use of the old wind developer dodge, claiming essentially that when there is sufficient wind to activate the turbines, the wind and wave noise will be sufficient to mask turbine noise. This is not true. The worst case is that of a stable atmospheric condition where the wind at the surface is still, yet there is enough wind at turbine blade height to activate the turbines.
In addition to reviewing the paper myself, I gave copies to Clif Schneider, who has researched and written extensively on this “stable atmosphere” phenomenon, and also Chuck Ebbing, who is a retired acoustical engineer and has taught acoustics at RPI. I have attached a copy of Clif’s paper for your review.
Chuck Ebbing sent the report back to me with a number of notes in the margin, but the most telling note was one that said if a student at RPI had handed in this study “he would have flunked acoustics and English.”
Tech Environmental simply assumes an ambient sound level at each of several points on the mainland of 50.7 dB and concludes the turbine sound would be masked. The typical nighttime ambient in a rural area such as Point Peninsula can be expected to be in the range of 25 dBA. In this environment, the predicted turbine noise of 32.5 dBA would not only be heard, but could be quite obtrusive.
Sound will carry with little attenuation on quiet nights from Galloo to the nearby points on the mainland, including Point Peninsula (Lyme) and Pillar Point (Brownsville) as well as Henderson. Transmission to these points will be entirely across the water, or in the winters across ice in the direction of the prevailing winds. The nearest points of land are only about five miles from Galloo. I had previously recommended to you that noise studies should consider the condition of a stable atmosphere where the winds at ground level are still, but the turbines are operating in the steady winds at higher elevations. The sound levels should be predicted for the shoreline of the Lake on both the A and C decibel scales. Unless predicted sound levels fall within 5 dBA of the ambient nighttime levels on the lakeshore, the sound levels generated by the Galloo project may be unacceptable, and cause sleep deprivation, to the residents of those areas. The study produced by Tech Environmental is not a satisfactory answer to the questions asked.
I would ask you to consider why a person would build, on the shore of Point Peninsula, a home looking out on the Lake, which is an hour’s drive from the nearest store. It can only be that the owner puts a very high premium on peace and quiet. The installation of industrial wind turbines on Galloo removes the peace and quiet as well as the pristine view and substantially devalues the home site without notice or compensation to the homeowner. This is wrong.
Sincerely,
Albert H. Bowers III, Co-Chair
The Coalition for the Preservation of the Golden Crescent and the Thousand Islands
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