Still Fighting to Save My Little House in the Pocono Mountains
A Letter-to-the-Editor and a Protest
The following letter was published in the AUTUMN, 2016 (Volume 9, Number 6); I believe it may be useful in making the case against the wind turbine proposal. Please feel free to share this where applicable
Will I Have to Walk Away from My House
While hearings before the Penn Forest Township Zoning Board go on, angst-producing speculation over an Iberdrola Wind Farm proposal including environmental destruction, property value declines, impassable local roads, a compromised water table and water-well systems and more … deep-pocket legal tactics and ploys, all come into play.
Zoning board hearings with wind farm executives and their attorney present, have been conducted at a fire house in reasonable proximity and accessibility to concerned property owners, a venue that enables people like myself to attend, express concerns, and, a show of opposition-solidarity to the placement of a wind farm on the ridge above Lipo Way.
At recent hearings, the attorney for wind farm representatives (Iberdrola and the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Water Authority), has claimed there have been "death threats" leveled at herself and company executives. I and others are waiting for verification of that allegation … waiting.
In addition to now attending a hearing with armed body guards, the attorney is attempting to have the hearing venue moved to the Court House in Jim Thorpe, a location that would certainly make it more difficult for residents to attend.
This tactic is nothing new when it comes to energy companies playing “victim,” that, while the potential real victims worry day-to-day over the adverse impact of such projects, the thoughts of which weigh heavily on their present and future well-being!
Get the picture?
While the State of Pennsylvania has parameters regarding wind farm placement proposals, should the wind farm construction actually begin, aside from health, environmental and other concerns, THERE IS THE ISSUE OF POTENTIAL CATASTROPHIC FAILURES associated with wind turbines and farms.
For example: Since my house would be one of the closest to the proposed turbines location … if the 37 proposed, 525’ high turbines are placed … I must ask:
What would be my recourse, should, during heavy rains and/or snow melts, these, after hundreds of acres of pristine forest were replaced with millions of pounds of concrete turbine foundations,
• If a mud or rock slide were to take down my tiny, 900 square foot house,
• If a turbine propellor blade were to break away and crash through my roof, maim or killed myself or a family member,
• If the water from my well were to be rendered unfit for human consumption,
• If I could not sell my house, or, if I could only sell it at less than half its current market value …
• If a wind turbine motor burst into flames during one dry, windy autumn day, and, my house and the entire community were to burn to the ground?
My educated guess is, that despite the State's protocols regarding liability, individuals would be forced to sue for damages as the company would likely argue that "it was not liable" … and, consequently, individual legal fees in a series of protracted litigation proceedings, would exceed the "little guy's" financial and time constraints!
The deep pockets usually prevail in such cases, and, should this scenario play out, I see no other realistic outcome than to simply walk away from my house as my resultant legal fees could easily exceed the value of my property … AND NO SETTLEMENT WOULD BEGIN TO ADDRESS ANY LOSS OF LIFE OR LIMB!
Even in its current limbo status, the possibility of 37, 525' tall wind turbines appears to have started people selling, trying to sell, leaving the community, and, to make a once tiny-dream-house become a nightmare of bad outcome scenarios. What used to be my "happy place" and, the only “permanent” homes of others, are now sources of apprehension, stress and at times, even depression.
While there are LAWS … one has to wonder if there will be JUSTICE.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
That was almost two years ago … still … the possibility of a Wind Farm remains in litigation.
My wife and I still spend occasional weekends at our house in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, but virtually every weekend is taken up in part with meetings and fund raisers (the legal expenses to litigate against a huge corporation is daunting).
I'd much rather fish and take photos all weekend long … AND I OWE A FEW NT FRIENDS AN INVITATION FOR SEVERAL DAYS OF DOING JUST THOSE THINGS …
… but not until the issue is settled in favor of the community.
HERE IS THE LATEST
Dear Friends,
The following news article is a real shocker. We are trying to wrap our heads around it and although it complicates things, it won’t stop us from giving this fight all we’ve got!!!
The RED DOTS on the above map represent the proposed wind turbine placements.
FYI: A new application issued by Atlantic Wind means a new round of hearings before the zoning hearing board.
During the previous round of hearings, Atlantic Wind refused to attend the last two hearings due to its attorneys’ and employees’ concerns with safety. Atlantic Wind had filed a suit requesting that the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas appoint an independent hearing officer to replace the hearing board and that the hearings be moved a safer setting.
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Hopefully, before I'm too old to fish and take photos in the woods, this will be settled in the favor of the community that could be devastated by such a project being realized.
To friends Kavika, Enoch and others (Buzz … with LOTTERY WIN) … perhaps one day soon.
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Big corporations often count on outspending and outlasting the little guy!
Yes they do. They also finds ways around everything (money)...Sadly it's only money that counts with them. The environment, people, property count for nothing in their world.
We are fighting the same fight in northern MN. The Sandpiper pipeline was defeated once, now they are back with a new board at the PUC and another route, same damage and we are fighting the good fight.
Also a iron ore or copper mine at the edge of the Boundary Waters one of the most pristine areas left in the U.S.
While that is true if you have no other insurance of your own covering your home for damage, hopefully you have a policy that would cover you. A standard home insurance policy in most States would cover either falling trees or a falling wind turbine pole or blade. That means usually you'd just have your deductible to pay and then the company covering your home would go after the corporation for liability and most insurance companies are as big if not larger than the company owning and operating the wind turbines. So just make sure you have adequate coverage then you'd don't have to worry about that. As for the reduction in resale value, unfortunately that's not something you can insure for and would have to sue directly but any decent lawyer should be able to show what homes in the area were selling for prior to the installation of the turbines and then be able to show the sales after installation and if there was a noticeable decrease they should be able to prove financial damage and come to a reasonable settlement for the difference.
I have insurance … but a burned out mountainside, a contaminated water table and an ever present mud slide possibility are issues that insurance only (possibly) covers after the damage is done. And no insurance undoes death and maiming.
You are correct that most insurances do not cover mudslide/rockslide or bodily injury to residents, hopefully you'd have some health insurance and life insurance in place, but otherwise it would take hiring an attorney to sue for those types of damages. Unfortunately there are some risks insurance just won't cover so you're right to be concerned, though without any evidence that the turbines would increase the risks of any of those factors it's hard to quantify how much worry you should spend on them. It seems that while the risk exists, so far there have been very few major wind turbine losses so it seems the risks are small.
You made what should logically be considered an irrefutable argument in favour of defeating the corporation, but then justice does not always prevail, as we both know. I wish you the best of luck in this battle, because considering the direction things seem to be going these days, you will need it.
Sorry to hear about your troubles A. Mac .
BUT
Green energy has to be put somewhere. I guess "Green" isn't all it's cracked up to be if it's in your backyard though.
Maybe if your last name was "Kennedy", you could get them moved.
I've seen those "Green Windmills" sitting on top of what used to be "pretty sites to see". Not very Pretty at all when your on a scenic road tour in a convertible.
The City of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has the option of placing "egg beater" style wind turbines … IN THE CITY OF BETHLEHEM!!!
Those turbines exploit the multiplying factor of bouncing the wind off of buildings increasing their efficiency.
Putting 35 WIND TURBINES atop a heavily forested ridge of mostly deciduous trees …
REALLY?!!!!
If the objective is preserving "GREEN" … then don't place a potential catastrophic failure where green in spring and summer, turns red, yellow and brown … AND HIGHLY COMBUSTIBLE … in autumn and winter.
Since Bethlehem can put the wind turbines in its backyard, why do they want to put it the backyards of others?
Putting 35 WIND TURBINES atop a heavily forested ridge of mostly deciduous trees …
REALLY?!!!!
I agree.....it's ridicules !
But
When something becomes an obsession by some, "Common Sense" doesn't matter....sadly. Apparently the best air is where they want to put it.
Other countries can make them look pretty, why can't we? Or is that not possible?
Each wind turbine is 525' in height!
I've stood next to those.....THINGS. They're actually kinda scary to be next to with that big blade whipping around.
So sorry to hear this A. Mac. My parents owned a little cabin up there when I was little and use to take me camping, I even potty trained on a hollowed out tree stump (TMI? LOL) lined with towels. My dad and Aunt sold it about 30 years ago when I was little but I do have a couple memories from that place. If Dad was still alive, I'm pretty sure he would be pissed about this too even though he lived in Ga with me. I hope you are able to save it and they can find another spot.
Sorry, but I have little compassion for NIMBYs. Just look at the list of "concerns". Seriously concerned about a blade crashing through their roof? I guess that the aviation industry needs to be shut down too then.
I just don't get why people are so opposed to windmills, no matter where they are. Would you rather see coal smokestacks? Energy needs to come from somewhere, and a windmill is about the least visually offensive means of getting it. When I see them in the distance from the highway, they catch my eye as engineering marvels, not eyesores.
As a land development professional, I routinely see hysteria from those who just don't want something in their back yard, and will throw any reason against the walls to see if it sticks. Consider that roads start as narrow travel ways. More popular places generate more traffic, and property values go up accordingly. Home owners welcome the rise in property value, and then turn around and complain about the road needing to be widened to accommodate the very thing that made their property increase in value. It's all relative.
Probably the most contentious public hearing I ever attended was for an apartment complex I designed at a small lake resort town. The 20 acre property only had a couple duplexes on it, but it was zoned correctly to facilitate multifamily housing, so a smart developer bought the property and developed it with ten apartment buildings. The neighbors had a fit, with one even publicly claiming that if the development were permitted he would burn his house down. Here's a thought - BUYER BEWARE! You bought a house next to a 20 acre lot that was zoned to allow something you don't want. You rolled the dice, and you lost. Go ahead - burn your house down.
2017 WIND TURBINE ACCIDENT REPORT
Summary of Wind Turbine Accident data to 30 September 2017
These accident statistics are copyright Caithness Windfarm Information Forum 2017 . The data may be used or referred to by groups or individuals, provided that the source (Caithness Windfarm Information Forum) is acknowledged and our URL http://www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk quoted at the same time. Caithness Windfarm Information Forum is not responsible for the accuracy of Third Party material or references.
The Summary may be downloaded in printable form here
This is GLOBAL data – see Detailed Accident List with sources and locations
The attached detailed table includes all documented cases of wind turbine related accidents and incidents which could be found and confirmed through press reports or official information releases up to 30 September 2017. CWIF believe that this compendium of accident information may be the most comprehensive available anywhere.
Data in the detailed table attached is by no means fully comprehensive – CWIF believe that what is attached may only be the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of numbers of accidents and their frequency. Indeed on 11 December 2011 the Daily Telegraph reported that RenewableUK confirmed that there had been 1500 wind turbine accidents and incidents in the UK alone in the previous 5 years. Data here reports only 142 UK accidents from 2006-2010 and so the figures here may only represent 9% of actual accidents.
The data does however give an excellent cross-section of the types of accidents which can and do occur, and their consequences. With few exceptions, before about 1997 only data on fatal accidents has been found.
The trend is as expected – as more turbines are built, more accidents occur. Numbers of recorded accidents reflect this, with an average of 22 accidents per year from 1997-2001 inclusive; 70 accidents per year from 2002-2006 inclusive; 135 accidents per year from 2007-11 inclusive, and 164 accidents per year from 2012-16 inclusive.
READ MORE:
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If it's no big deal to put them in a backyard, then why, when it's to their economic benefit, don't they in Bethlehem, put the turbines in their backyard.
The energy generated by these proposed turbines will not benefit my community … the intent is for the energy to be sold elsewhere.
Hal,
I moved because of so called "property development" that was supposed be a benefit to my little village. 88 units of 4 and 5 bedroom condos put at the bottom of my street. The village roads are from the 1700's and can not accommodate the traffic. I would be forced to make a right turn always.. which is not the direction that everyone is going. We fought this, brought in engineers that agreed totally with the rest of the village. Then they lied about what they were going to do and the village mayor pushed it through.
So we moved to an area that is zoned 2 acres or more. I didn't want to move, but I now my home is worth less than what I sold it for. Not a shock.
So please don't tell me that development is always for the good of the people. Sometimes it's good for the developer and who ever else is in their pocket.
That is exactly what I would expect from a NIMBY. Your data has conveniently left out any indication of the number of windmills that exist, so that the actual chances of a failure occurring are not obvious. Where is your threshold where the chances of failure are too high? Is it 1%? How about 0.1%? There are 70,000 of them in the US alone, and several hundred thousand of them globally. In 2014 , it was estimated that the chances of any given windmill catching fire to be about 0.005%.
It seems that you just want these to be someone else's concern. Setting your precedent would only make windmill development an impossible task, as you just want the developer to be forced into eternally kicking the can down the road to the next possible location over dramatic concerns about events with an extremely low likelihood. With that mindset, this country would never have become what it is today.
I would never make the assertion that "is always for the good of the people". Sometimes it is just a legal entitlement that you are powerless to fight. However, generally speaking, improvements lead to higher property values. Based on your location, I'm betting that you lived in an area of million dollar homes to begin with.
I met with the neighbor of one of my projects yesterday. He was one of our biggest objectors in the long and drawn out process of gaining approval. He now sees that our improvements have paved the way for him to develop his own property. He is planning on using that increased equity to pay for his two kids' college education.
Seriously, if it was my property, my land, I wouldn't want that crap even with the %s you just shared. Its beautiful land, and they are trying to destroy it, I'm actually surprised that you think this is ok. Stick a pretty one in like they have in Europe. I'm sure a lot more people would be on board
I'm actually surprised that you think this is ok.
Land development is my bread and butter. The bottom line is that it is going to occur somewhere, like it or not, because it has to - that is the nature of life in the developed world. Windmills go where (a) there is wind, and (b) they will cause the least disruption. If a landowner is willing to sell his property to someone who wants to construct a windmill, and local codes allow for it, and the number of neighbors who may be impacted is minimized by this location, then the guy next door is not entitled to stop them just because they like the landscape the way that it is.
It's not a simple thing to understand unless you are professionally engaged in it. In my county we have a County Executive who is greatly influential in establishing county-wide policy. She is an elected official (D), and unfortunately for me her constituents tend towards anti-growth policies and environmental over-regulation. She serves those interests, and it makes my life miserable as a professional engineer. However, she is also very pro-education, and being that I have several friends working for the public school system, they are surprised to hear me say that I just can't support her because of her anti-growth agenda. People here love that their property values have increased, but they whine and bitch about the resulting traffic. They are just uninformed about the reality of how they fit into the machine, and that they wouldn't have what they have if the development that they so despise had not progressed to where it is.
The sub-sonic noise generated by turbines is believed to cause maladies ranging from headaches and sleeplessness to dizziness and even depression . And visually, the flicker effect of spinning turbines can cause vertigo and even seizures .
Wind turbines can also cause actual bodily harm, both to humans and wildlife, in areas around installation sites. From a distance, the blades seem to move slowly but the tip speed on these turbines can approach 200 miles per hour, creating deadly obstacles for birds. Birds of prey are particularly vulnerable since they hunt in open plains where visibility is high. One particularly highly publicized wind farm, Altamont Pass in California, has been a lightning rod of controversy because of the impact poor planning has had on the bird population. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, as many as 1,300 eagles, falcons, hawks and other predatory species are killed each year because the wind turbines were constructed along a critical migration route.
People are also at risk. As with any developing technology, progress and understanding usually happen simultaneously. Blade throw, although it's rare these days thanks to design improvements, is a malfunction that occurs when a blade breaks free of the turbine and becomes a very large, very dangerous projectile. Similarly, wind farms that operate in cold climates are also susceptible to ice formation. Accumulating ice can fall or be thrown from turbines, potentially endangering surrounding people and property.
Why anyone's back yard? There are alternative open spaces where catastrophic events can be minimized.
I have a beautiful park that butts up to my property. Really nice and heavily wooded right up to my property line. Very serene, you would never know that I live right in the middle of a city. Two houses down the park opens to a nice grassy field which was pretty to look at until this year when the dumbass city put in ugly solar panels. Now when you look over all I see are these ugly metal panels. My poor neighbors have those right up to their property line and are fuming about it.
Did you all voice your concerns at the local planning commission public hearing? That is not typically a move that could be made without being publicly advertised and discussed. I would think that there is a berm and/or dense landscaping screen around the property to minimize the visual impact.
I am sure there was a hearing. I didn't even know about it. I guess there was a sign on the other side near the road, but I never use that road.
I was thinking why there wouldn't be a fence around it and no there is no landscaping around it. Wouldn't help my visual though because I have a raised ranch style home.
Maybe I will get a break on my energy bill!
That’s why the systems we have are in place. They do what they can to inform the neighbors of the development intentions. If you are a neighbor you are personally invited, and if you show up you can go on record with your personal concerns. It is in the developer’s interest to satisfy the neighbors’ interests, if they are reasonable. Landscaping and screening are reasonable in that case.
A. Mac, I wish you and the rest of the Penn Forest residents luck in stopping these turbines from being emplaced. They are actually harmful to the environment by killing birds and if catching fire, releases really bad chemicals into the air. If anything, I would propose more hydro-electric generators and dams before wind turbines. Plus, most of the time, you will pass by a field of turbines to see at most 50% of them actually working, or at least that has been my experience in northern PA, Northwestern Missouri, and along the Columbia River Gorge.
Tomwcraig,
I greatly appreciate your good wishes and input.
My sincere thanks.
You're welcome.
Oh, and here is a supporting news article from The Telegraph about Wind Turbine fires from 2014:
Again, a debt of thanks.