Proponents Expect Project To Still Move Forward

One of two plans to build a massive wind turbine farm near Rumford, ME has come up against strong turbulence from the FAA, though backers of the project say the objection should prove to be little more than moderate chop.

The Lewiston Sun Journal reports Rob Gardiner, principal investor behind the Record Hill Wind LLC wind farm project, is "baffled" by a recent FAA determination 13 of 22 turbines his company plans to build are over height limits, citing their proximity to a hospital helipad.

That pad is a hair over 7.5 nautical miles away from Record Hill... far enough away that Gardiner says shouldn't impact the project. "We're a little baffled as to what's behind this," he said. "We understand that there is some sort of an issue of somebody having raised a flag, but we cannot see how it can possibly become an impediment.

"There's no reason that a helicopter, which is the only kind of aircraft that can land at that facility, needs a 6- or 7-mile safety zone when it overshoots its target," Gardiner added. "That just doesn't make sense."

Gardiner also points out a similar, competing wind farm project is much closer to Rumford Hospital than his project is. "It also doesn't make sense when Black Mountain is half of that distance. Black Mountain is a much more serious impediment than we would be," he said.

"The hypothesis may be that they think it's an airplane landing strip and not a helicopter pad." Gardiner said of the FAA.

In addition to the height restrictions, a report by the FAA's Air Traffic Airspace Branch cites studies indicating the Record Hill project's 420-foot high wind turbines may also create electromagnetic interfence that could affect communications and navigation in the area... but adds the rejected turbines could still be approved, if they're lowered by amounts specified by the agency.

"We are treating this seriously because this is a federal agency," Gardiner said, "but we don't see that there's any real chance that there is an insurmountable problem here. It just seems that it's based on some misunderstanding."

Gardiner notes LifeFlight of Maine, sole user of the hospital helipad, has said in the past the wind farm wouldn't pose any problems for its operation.

FMI: www.faa.gov, http://recordhillwind.com/