An Ogdensburg Journal article on April 28 suggests the invasion of Spanish wind developers is moving east and Cape Vincent will no longer be the only local town with a foreign wind company sales office in its presence. Industrial wind developer Iberdrola Renewables (aka Atlantic Wind, LLC) is eyeing an office on Main Street in Hammond in the hopes of becoming part of the fabric of this little town.
While the official opening of the office at the corner of Main Street and St. Lawrence Avenue has not been announced to the public, one would believe Iberdrola has been preparing for this move since their first wind measurement test tower was erected on the Pitcher farm in 2005. Since that time it appears they have attempted to determine if there is enough wind here as well as landowners willing to lease to them to make a project worthwhile. While it looked as though most of their work had been done behind the scenes with only a privileged few informed of what was happening, eventually residents found that, in addition to two town board members, there were several Hammond landowners who had already signed wind leases with this foreign company that finally made a formal appearance at a town board meeting in February 2010.
Normally a town would welcome a new business with open arms, particularly given the present economy. Unfortunately this company comes with mixed reviews, having a reputation of appearing to be secretive and divisive as well as a plan to industrialize the town with almost 500-foot structures topped with noise-producing whirling blades and red lights that blink all night.
If this company finds the majority of residents do not welcome its presence, it may have to do with the fact it has already changed Hammond in ways the present generation will never forget. The division that has been created between families, friends and neighbors will be Iberdrola's legacy as it continues its efforts to convince residents how much it can do to enhance their lives. The people of Hammond would be wise to keep an open mind and listen to all sides of the wind issue; www.croh.org is an informational source that provides facts about how wind issues are affecting people worldwide. The information it provides is not part of a corporate social marketing kit with wind turbines subliminally placed in the background of advertisements and the sources are not the opinion of an industry that is funded by Wall Street conglomerates like Goldman Sachs.
Mary Hamilton
Hammond
The writer is president of Concerned Residents of Hammond.
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