Final wind hearings held in Goodhue

GOODHUE - Bryant Hokeness stepped to the mic Wednesday evening at a public hearing to gather input on the 78 MW Goodhue Wind project and made an argument for his rights as a landowner.

"In a free country with private property rights, a landowner should be able to use his property in the most productive manner," said the Elkton, Minn. farmer, who chairs a wind energy company that wants to build wind turbines west of Rochester.

Melody Ryan doesn't want wind turbines anywhere near her farm in Belle Creek Township, but she also argued for property rights -- albeit from a different point of view.

"My farm is my refuge," she said. "...I paid for that privilege."

The dozens of people who spoke at two public hearings on Wednesday and Thursday in Goodhue highlighted a stark divide over Goodhue Wind's plan to build 50, roughly 400-foot-tall wind turbines in central Goodhue County.

Supporters say it would be an economic boon for area farmers in a time when alternative sources of energy are taking hold across the country.

Opponents say wind turbines have no place in Goodhue County's rural setting, and would cause a host of health problems and annoyances for homeowners living in the project's footprint.

The hearings, held on behalf of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, were likely the last chance for residents to publicly comment to the state on the project. The written comment period ends Aug. 6, and an ultimate decision on whether to grant the company approval to build the turbines will likely come this fall.

A changing rural landscape

State Senator Steve Murphy of Red Wing says that Goodhue County is already ahead of the curve in its production of alternative energy. He pointed to alternatives to coal already existing in the county like nuclear power, natural gas, solar and waste.

A 78 MW wind farm in the county would build on a strong foundation, he said.

"I think wind is a good resource, and it fits with the energy diversity of this area," he said.

Farmers participating in wind projects throughout the state agreed.

Gary Luebke of Rosemount, Minn. said that farmers should look to wind as one more resource to utilize in a changing rural landscape. Southern Minnesota is especially suited to take advantage of wind technology, he said.

"Farmers in this area are in a very enviable position," he said.

For participating landowners in the Goodhue Wind project, the economic gain will be more than $20 million, according to Chuck Burdick, a senior wind developer with National Wind, which manages Goodhue Wind.

Beyond that, he said, five permanent jobs would be created and $2 million dollars would be spent on construction.

Noise concerns

Many landowners living in the project's footprint, however, say that any economic benefits attained would be at the expense of the tranquility they have come to expect from their rural homes.

Lyle Henrich says he works in downtown Rochester, and counts on his rural home in Minneola Township to be a bastion of calm at the end of the day.

"It's a great getaway to get out to the quiet and solitude," he said.

Noise from turbines would upset that tranquility, he said.

Sound and noise specialist Rick James said that current turbine setbacks of 1500 feet from non-participating homes are inadequate to prevent noise from disrupting the sleep of area residents.

"It's not a daytime problem, it's a nighttime problem," he said. "It sounds like a highway outside one's home."

He called for the PUC to limit turbine noise on homeowners to 40 dB. Anything over that, he said, would impact sleep, though a scientist at the hearing on behalf of National Wind disputed that claim.

In a predicted noise contour released last week by Goodhue Wind, roughly 30 homes fell within the 40-45 dB contour, though many of those are likely homeowners participating in the project, according to Burdick.

Other residents cited a phenomenon called "wind turbine syndrome," coined in a book of the same name by New York pediatrician Nina Pierpont, M.D. The illness -- described by Ann Buck of Goodhue Township as involving "headaches, vertigo, tension, anxiety and depression" -- is the reported result of low frequency noise and shadow flicker from living near a large wind turbine.

Dr. Mark Roberts, a scientist from Exponent, an engineering and science consulting firm, who was at the hearing on behalf of National Wind, discounted Pierpont's theory. Roberts said it was based on isolated observations, not rigorous scientific review.

Next steps

Presiding administrative law judge Eric Lipman will provide a summary of the public comments made at the hearings to the PUC. The written comment period for the project ends on Aug. 6 at 4:30 p.m.

Comments can be mailed Judge Eric Lipman, Office of Administrative Hearings, P.O. Box 64620, St. Paul, MN 55164-0620; faxed to 651-361-7936; or e-mail to eric.lipman@state.mn.us.

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