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The (Syracuse, NY) July 22, 2003 OSWEGO STEAM STATION OWNER'S BANKRUPTCY RULES IT OUT AS SITE FOR WINDMILL. Catie O'Toole Staff writer The Oswego Steam Station will
not host the nation's largest wind turbine because its parent company
declared bankruptcy, officials announced Monday night.
NRG Energy, which owns Oswego Steam Station and many other power
plants throughout the nation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
reorganization in May. General Electric, in partnership with UPC Wind Management of
Massachusetts, was planning to build its 3.6-megawatt turbine on NRG
property at the Oswego Steam Station site. Developers, who received
permission to go ahead with the project last month from the Oswego
Planning Board, had hoped to begin construction this summer.
Now, it's searching for a new home.
"GE has asked to place (the windmill) somewhere locally,
possibly at the Alcan facility," Barnes said at the Oswego County
Environmental Management Council meeting Monday. He was among six
panelists at the meeting, which drew about 25 people.
So far, the developers haven't signed an agreement with a host
site, said L. Michael Treadwell, executive director of Operation Oswego
County. However, GE is working on an agreement with Alcan Aluminum Corp.,
in Scriba, he said.
If Alcan agrees to house the turbine, Barnes said the project won't
otherwise change.
"We're still talking about a very large project," he said.
The windmill is designed to be offshore, but because the
first model will be for demonstration and research, GE wants it to be on
land.
UPC Wind Management wants to use what would be the largest, most
powerful wind turbine in the nation, said the company vice president,
Brian Braginton-Smith.
The 500-foot windmill would join a smaller, 350-foot
windmill in Lake Ontario, he said. Over the next few years, the
company would like to place about 80 of the larger windmills
farther offshore and as many as 20 of the smaller versions on land near
the lake.
During Monday's meeting, a handful of bird advocates expressed
worries about the project.
Jerry Smith and Gerard Phillips, of the Derby Hill Bird
Observatory, said the windmill would kill migrating birds. Phillips
said 14 species of birds migrate through the area. Eight of those species,
including the bald eagle, golden eagle and osprey, are in danger or nearly
extinct in New York state, Phillips said.
"Wind power could adversely affect the birds," Smith said. "Birds
see these (windmills) as very tall trees so you're going to have a
reaction."
Brewerton resident John Rogers said he opposes the project because
it would impair the beauty of Lake Ontario.
"What attracts people to Oswego? The sunsets, its beauty," Rogers
said. "We're going to destroy it with this windmill. There's
something about a windmill that's polluting. It disrupts the lake."
Not everyone will agree with Rogers, according to John Hecklau,
principal for Environmental Design & Research, in Syracuse.
Hecklau said his company found most people enjoyed having
windmills in Fenner, Madison County, because they attract
tourists and revenue to the community. His company also found no
significant risks to birds, he said.
"We view it as an economic benefit to the community," Hecklau said.
"People who live in the area have a positive reaction to windmills
because they're fairly graceful looking and they're generating power."
Barnes said if Alcan agrees to house the windmill on its
property, the next step will be presenting the project to the Scriba
Planning Board. Copyright, 2003, The
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