Wind Farm looms in the sky over Waymart

By TOM KANE

	TRR photo by Tom Kane A wind turbine towers over a cell tower on Moosic Mountain. (Click for larger image)

WAYMART, PA — George Podunajec, a retired farmer in Waymart, suspiciously eyes the huge wind turbines that tower over his tiny home a quarter of a mile away.

“They ruined our hunting land,” he said. “They tore down all the trees. I don’t know what it’s going to be like.”

Just west of his home, FPL Energy of Juno, FL is erecting 14 large wind turbines that stand 213 feet over the field with an additional 115 feet of mammoth, rotating blades.

“I’m wondering how much noise they’re going to make when they get going,” Podunajec said. Podunajec farmed the fields on which the turbines are built for many years.

“I leased the land from my neighbor,” he said.

Leasing is also the method being used by FPL to maintain the fields.

“I guess the folks who own the fields are going to get some nice income from this,” he said. “I suppose it will work out okay. What else can I do?”

Over a year ago, a local group of residents began a campaign to stop the construction. Their efforts failed.

According to Mark Carmon, a representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, who held a public hearing on the proposed wind farm in April of 2001, wind farm companies search out communities with no zoning to build their projects.

At the time Canaan and Clinton Townships had no zoning.

Wind farms are a trend that is happening across the country as the nation seeks new, environmentally friendly, alternate sources of electricity.

This project, with an estimated cost of $64 million, will receive production incentives from the Sustainable Development Fund of Philadelphia, a non-profit clean energy fund managed by the Reinvestment Fund, a foundation of Northeastern U.S. energy companies. The money was set aside under an order from the Mid-Atlantic Public Utilities Commission for the purpose of developing clean energy sources, according to Rob Sanders of the Reinvestment Fund.

In all, 43 turbines will be erected, 20 in Canaan Township and 23 in Clinton Township to the north on the other side of Route 6. All are stationed atop the Moosic Mountains.

The electrical energy will be sold to Exelon Generation Company, LLC and will be marketed by Community Energy of Wayne County.

Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2003, according to Mary Wells, FPL spokesperson.

During the six-month construction period, up to 150 construction workers are expected at the site. When fully operational, the site will require two staff workers.

Each turbine manufactured by General Electric, generates 1.5 megawatts of electricity with the final generation reaching 64.5 megawatts when the project is completed.

Atop each tower sits a structure called a nacelle, housing the generator that makes the electricity. The nacelle turns in the direction of the wind and can begin generating power when winds reach a speed of five miles an hour. The nacelle cuts off when wind exceeds 55 miles and hour, to protect the equipment.

“This project spells a long-term benefit to local businesses resulting from tourism and it provides a benefit of clean power for Pennsylvania,” Wells said.

“We’re tremendously excited about this project,” said Wayne County Commissioner Anthony Herzog. “It’s a clean, efficient source of electricity that will add more energy to our grid. It also will give our tourist industry a boost since people will want to come see it. I’m sure our local chambers of commerce will be promoting it.”