Wind turbine opponent speaks in Greece

If there was any question about where Alan Isselhard stood on the issue of offshore wind turbines in Lake Ontario, it was answered by the very first thing he said.

"We want to see the offshore turbine project defeated. That's what we're after," Isselhard said Thursday evening to about 125 people crowded into the small sanctuary of Lakeview Community Church on Edgemere Drive in Greece.

Based on the crowd's reaction, most of them were after the same thing.

Isselhard, who lives on the lakeshore in Huron, Wayne County, has become a leading opponent of the New York Power Authority's plan to promote construction of dozens of huge turbines in one or more wind farms in Lake Ontario or Lake Erie.

He said his group, Great Lakes Concerned Citizens, is pressing the Monroe County Legislature to join colleagues in the three counties to the east in opposing the offshore project. "Unfortunately, Monroe County is dragging its feet and doing nothing, increasing the chances this project will be located in the lake off Monroe County," he said.

The county legislator who represents Greece shoreline neighborhoods, Republican Rick Antelli, attended the meeting and said a resolution to oppose the project is being discussed by some lawmakers.

The power authority announced a week ago that it had received five proposals from wind developers. Officials have declined to say what companies submitted the proposals, how many turbines each wants to build and where in the lakes they would put them.

The authority has laid out five areas it found suitable for wind farms — the eastern ends of lakes Erie and Ontario, and areas in Lake Ontario off parts of Monroe, Wayne and Niagara counties.

Isselhard and several other speakers ticked off a long list of reasons why they believe putting them anywhere is a bad idea — bird and fish impacts, noise, visual pollution, oil leaks, navigation impediments and diminution of shoreline property values.

"It would be the beginning of the industrializing and the trashing of this beautiful resource," he said.

Authority spokeswoman Connie Cullen has previously said information about the winning proposal would be made public only after the group's board voted on the matter, months from now. She initially said "state procurement law" forbade the release of information, but later said it was authority policy to say nothing. "Releasing bid information ... before an award is made would jeopardize the interests of taxpayers to get the best price and businesses to receive fair evaluation," she said.