Vinalhaven Island Neighbors Win Round in Superior Court

One of the Fox Island Wind turbines on Vinalhaven Island, seen in the moonlight.  The turbines must be lit with flashing red lights to warn aircraft of their presence.

Neighbors living in the shadow and sound-shed of the Fox Island Wind turbines on Vinalhaven Island have been trying to get relief from the debilitating, near-constant noise for two and a half years.  Almost 2 years ago, Maine's Department of Environmental Protection found that the wind facility was out of compliance with the State's noise regulations--but FIW has not been forced to comply.  The story is complicated, but the issue is simple.  The wind facility (FIW) often operates outside the parameters set by law.  The wind facility has not been made to comply.  FIW has been allowed to thumb their noses at Maine Law and at citizens on the Island.  The DEP has not protected the People who are impacted and who have lost their quality of life.

This week, a Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the Neighbors, who petitioned to review the Conditional Compliance Order which DEP's Commissioner issued last summer.  When their motion was filed, FIW then requested the court dismiss the Neighbors' petition. 

Items of note: DEP had issued a Conditional Compliance Order requiring that FIW regularly demonstrate compliance and shut down operations if they weren't in compliance.  The wind facility was also told to post for the public its data on operations, sound and meterological data.  FIW objected to the DEP's order, and "negotiations continued".

Pardon me for this aside...but,  if "Joe Citizen" broke the law--and especially if the law he broke harmed others--he would NOT be allowed to "negotiate"!  How is it that a wind developer is allowed to arbitrarily decide it doesn't need to comply with a Maine law?

Is the system corrupt, or merely incredibly unfair and biased?

The story gets better.  On June 20th, Patricia Aho became Acting Commissioner of the DEP.  Her most recent job was as a lobbyist for Pierce Atwood, the legal firm representing FIW.  Did she recuse herself from having input on the FIW debate once she was directing the agency charged with forcing FIW to comply with DEP regulations?  Certainly not.  In practically her first official action in the DEP, she issued a final Conditional Compliance Order for FIW, and removed the Appendix which required that FIW affirmatively test for compliance, shut down operations when not in compliance, and post their meterological and operational data for the public, which effectively insulated FIW from any further regulation.  This Appendix, so haphazardly thrown out, had been written/recommended by DEP staffers who had worked exhaustively for months on the FIW issue.  In one fell swoop, their hard work was dismissed out of hand.

So, yes; the Neighbors filed a motion to review the Conditional Compliance Order--and FIW filed a motion to dismiss, stating that the Court lacked the jurisdiction to review.  And on March 20, 2012, the Kennebec County Superior Court Justice denied FIW's motion to dismiss the Neighbors' petition to review the Conditional Compliance Order.

Read the New York Times article on this judge's order here. 

To view the decision and other relevant documents, please visit the Fox Island Wind Neighbors website.