This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette

December 26, 2005

DEP staying out of wind-power debate

Mollohan concerned windmill owners could exploit state as coal barons did

By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer

West Virginia’s top environmental regulator is staying out of the growing debate over the siting of industrial-sized wind-energy projects in the state’s Potomac Highlands.

Environmental Protection Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer says her agency is not empowered to examine questions about these projects and their potential impacts.

“We don’t intend to get more involved in that,” Timmermeyer said in an interview. “We regulate what the Legislature gives us the power to regulate.”

Today, the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center’s 44 turbines near Thomas are West Virginia’s only wind-power producers. But the state Public Service Commission has approved two much larger wind farms for the ridges along the Allegheny Front.

The U.S. WindForce project would put up to 166 turbines in the Mount Storm area of Grant County. Shell WindEnergy plans up to 200 turbines in the same area as part of a project it is buying from NedPower.

Developers also are seeking PSC approval for a 124-turbine project in Greenbrier County and a 50-turbine project on Jack Mountain in Pendleton County.

Numerous other wind projects are up and running or proposed along the Allegheny Front in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., has expressed serious concerns about the growth of wind projects in the state. His district includes the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center.

Mollohan has compared the situation of wind power in West Virginia to the beginnings of the growth of the coal industry.

“With regard to wind energy, the prospects are that West Virginia will be relegated to something of a colonial status,” he said, “with its resources being exploited by and for the benefit of outsiders, and with West Virginians being left with a legacy of environmental damage.

“If this set of circumstances sounds familiar to West Virginians, that’s readily understandable, because it’s happened here before.

“Up to now, the environmental damage suffered by this state has taken such forms as past, unregulated mountaintop mining and acid mine drainage,” Mollohan said. “This time, the prospect is for destruction of wildlife and scenic views from a proliferation of industrial wind turbines on the state’s mountain ridges.”

Mollohan fears that too little is known about the potential impact of wind projects, and that the state and federal governments are not doing enough to restrict their siting and operations.

He has pressed for two major governmental studies of wind power. One, by the National Research Council, is ongoing. The other, by the Government Accountability Office, was released earlier this year.

In its study, the GAO reported that the PSC is the only state agency that reviews or signs off on windmill projects.

The PSC has begun to require wind-power companies to conduct wildlife impact studies. But, the PSC told GAO officials that its employees “do not have the expertise to evaluate wildlife impacts and review studies prior to construction.”

At the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, experts get involved in wind-power projects only if those projects seek specific environmental permits required by water, air-pollution or waste-management laws.

For example, the DEP is reviewing — and Timmermeyer promised a public hearing on — a stormwater-pollution permit application from U.S. WindForce.

The DEP does not get involved in other issues, such as whether the location of a particular wind project would harm a local view or tourist attraction.

“This is simply not something that we regulate,” Timmermeyer said.

She said that, as DEP secretary, she does not has no stance on whether the growth of wind-power projects is an issue state policymakers need to examine and possibly regulate.

“I don’t have a personal opinion on it,” she said.

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.