A modern wind turbine is larger than a Boeing 747, with rotor blades that weigh thousands of pound each (awea) and the nacelle which houses the generator and gear box can be the size of a bus. Wind Turbines no higher than 400 feet to the tip of the blades are allowed in the Newburyport I-1 and I-1B (Industrial Park) Zoning Districts Only. (nzo)
They must be a minimum distance of 300 feet from a residential zoning district and 150 feet from the base of the turbine to any property line. These setbacks may be waived at the discretion of the permitting authority. (nzo)
The approved Industrial Park Turbine will total 292 feet tall, almost the size of a 30-story building. For visual comparison, the cell tower on the abutting parcel viewable from Route One is 180 feet tall. (Industrial Park Turbine Application)
As required by the FAA, there will be a red beacon at the top flashing 20-40 times per minute. (Industrial Park Turbine Application)
A site wind regime can be extremely site-specific, influenced by regional weather, local topography, elevation, orientation, land cover (trees), and nearby structures. (eere) However, according to the applicant, there is no wind data for the site, so data from Ipswich was used relative to productivity, noise and flicker studies. (Industrial Park Turbine Application)
Wind as a resource is anything but steady. Wind speed, direction, and turbulence vary on an hourly, daily, and seasonal basis. As a result, wind power cannot be the only resource supplying the power grid. (eere)
Wind turbines make different types of sound, including broadband (swishing/whooshing), infrasonic (low frequency can cause structural virbration such as windows rattling), impulsive (thumping, ex. door slamming, clapping), and tonal (having a distinct pitch, such as a music note caused from rotation of shafts, generators, gears, and also air unstable airflow over holes & slits and non-aerodynamic instabilities interacting with blade surfaces). (eere)
In surveys of areas residents surrounding wind farms 47 percent of residents living 1/4 to 1/2 mile from turbines were bothered by turbine noise. The same percentage was also bothered by shadows from the turbine blades. (windwisefairhaven)
The primary health and safety considerations are related to blade movement and the presence of industrial equipment in areas potentially accessible to the public. (BLM) Flicker: Flicker is described as an intermittent shadow cast by the rotation of the blades. There is ongoing research relative to health issues related to wind turbine noise and flicker impacts. (Pierpont)
As with any structure, wind turbines can accumulate ice under certain atmospheric conditions and ice that is accumulated may be shed from the turbine due to both gravity and the mechanical forces of the rotating blades. (GE Energy) Catastrophic Failure: Wind turbines are subject to fluctuating winds, and hence fluctuating forces. This is particularly the case if they are located in a very turbulent wind climate. Components which are subject to repeated bending, such as rotor blades, may eventually develop cracks which ultimately may make the component break. (DWIA) Obstacles cause both turbulence and slowing of the wind. If the surrounding landscape is built up, forested, or otherwise rough, turbulence will increase. These are important factors in site selection for a wind turbine because they affect the power production and the longevity of a wind turbine, and may affect the type of turbine that can function reliably at the site. (MTC) In Germany in 2003, in high storm winds, the brakes on a wind turbine failed and the blades spun out of control. A blade struck the tower and the entire nacelle flew off the tower. Parts landed as far as 1650 ft from the base of the tower. (Pierpont)
Most fires in wind turbines are started by lightning and fueled by up to 200 gallons of hydraulic oil in the nacelle. (Pierpont)
(nzo) - Newburyport Zoning Ordinance - www.cityofnewburyport.com/planning, click on wind energy conversion facility
(Industrial Park Turbine Application) - Richey Properties LLC Application Materials - Public Record on File at Newburyport Planning Office
(MTC) - Massachusetts Technology Collaborative - www.mtpc.org and www.masstech.org
(AWEA) - American Wind Energy Association - www.awea.org
(eere) - U.S. Dept of Energy, search "sound" (EERE)
(DWIA) - Danish Wind Industry Association - Danish Wind Industry Association (DWIA)
(GE Energy) - Wind Application Engineering Report – GE report
(BLM) - U.S. Dept. of Interior - Bureau of Land Management - index
(FAA) - Federal Aviation Administration - Obstruction Evaluation / Airport Airspace Analysis (OE/AAA)
(Pierpont) - Dr. Nina Pierpont - www.windturbinesyndrome.com
WindWiseFairhaven.com - www.windwisefairhaven.com
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