Says Wind Turbines Cause Radar Interference

After five years of strong objections by the Barnstable, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket airports and others on the safety of the 400,000 flights per year over Nantucket Sound, on Friday the Federal Aviation Administration formally issued a Notice of Presumed Hazard for the Cape Wind project.

Cape Wind is proposing a 44-story, 25 square-mile wind project centered under the flight paths between Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. Opponents to the project assert those wind turbines would affect FAA radar sites in North Truro, Nantucket, and Otis Air Force Base that provide ATC service for aircraft in the area.

The FAA apparently agrees. The NPH finding states wind turbines can cause radar interference, and reduce the probability of detecting small aircraft. Problems for primary and secondary radar coverage identified by the FAA include beam distortion and clutter, which reduce the probability of detecting small aircraft.

Based on a recent aeronautical study of the proposed project's turbines, the FAA has found that each of the 130 structures "exceed obstruction standards and/or would have an adverse physical or electromagnetic effect upon navigable airspace or air navigation facilities."

In a July 8, 2008, letter to the FAA raising concerns for the safety of VFR aircraft, as well as radar interference for ATC systems, the three local airports jointly stated "while we all believe strongly in the need for renewable energy, the placement of a 25 square mile wind plant in the middle of three of the busiest airports in the state, in some of the most unpredictable weather conditions on the East Coast, poses an unacceptable risk to both our aircraft operators and passengers."

Those airports assert MMS, the federal agency reviewing Cape Wind, "has ignored and misrepresented the issue of aviation safety, and Cape Wind has denied for years that a significant issue exists. However after relentless objections by the airports as well as UK Ministry of Defense real world field studies, the FAA has now elevated the action to further studies of the potential dangers."

FMI: www.nantucketairport.com/, www.capewind.org