|
On May 10, 2006, representatives of
the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and Florida Power and Light
(FPL) addressed the membership of the Freeport Tuna Club concerning
the proposal to construct a wind-powered electrical generating
facility off the South Shore of Long Island. Following is a
synopsis of the information they provided and comments reflecting
the federation’s position on this project.
THE PROPOSAL
The proposed “Wind Park” will consist
of 40 individual wind turbines located in a rectangular area lying
3.6 to 5.5 miles off the south shore of Jones Beach, beginning
roughly at the pipeline and extending east to a point just south of
Fire Island Inlet. The distance from the center mall at Jones Beach
to the site is 4.6 miles, from Cedar Beach it is 4.1 miles and from
Gilgo Beach 3.7 miles. An artist’s rendering of the view from each
of these locations indicates the facility will be clearly visible
from shore from Robert Moses State Park to Long Beach. Each turbine
will stand on a single cylindrical support tube driven into the
seabed. An individual turbine unit resembles a giant three-bladed
fan. The turbine support tube extends 260 feet above the water and
the fan rotor blades have a diameter of 364 feet. There will be a
minimum of an 80-foot clearance between sea level and the lower edge
of any blade. The turbine units will be located 1/3 to ˝ mile
apart. In addition to the 40 turbine units, there will be an
offshore sub-station at the site to gather the electricity generated
and send it to shore via a buried undersea power cable. This
sub-station reportedly will be the size of a large barge and will
stand on pilings above sea level.
The facility will be constructed and
owned by FPL. LIPA is not responsible for any development or
maintenance costs, but is required to build the undersea cable to
connect to the site and to purchase all the power generated by the
site. In addition, LIPA will be responsible for all the costs
associated with the disassembly and removal of the units when the
facility reaches the end of its useful life. At this time, it is
assumed that the turbines and supports will have a life of twenty
years.
THE LOCATION
The site selected for the placement
of the turbines had to meet several criteria. Because of its huge
size, the closest turbine unit had to be at least 3.5 miles from
shore while the average wind speed in the area had to be at least 18
mph. The maximum water depth could not exceed 70 feet because of the
limitations of the turbine’s single support tube. The site could not
be located in any bird flyway zone. The site had to be close to an
existing land-based electrical substation. Finally, the site had to
be separated by at least one mile from any shipping lanes.
The average wind speed on the North
Shore does not exceed 18 mph, so all of Long Island Sound was
eliminated as a possible site. East of Fire Island Inlet the sea
floor slopes off more steeply than the bottom to the west, resulting
in water depths greater than 70 feet at the required 3.5 miles from
shore. The shipping traffic in the vicinity of New York Harbor
eliminates consideration of any area west of Jones Inlet. When all
of these unsuitable areas are eliminated, the only area left is the
proposed site.
COSTS AND BENEFITS
It is estimated that the project will
cost between 400 and 500 million dollars to build. As stated
earlier, this entire cost will be borne by FPL. LIPA is obligated
to buy all the power generated, and no estimate of the cost to buy
that power could be provided by the representatives present at the
meeting, nor could any assurances be given that the obligation to
buy the power would not result in rate hikes for LIPA customers. At
maximum capacity, the site will provide 140 megawatts of power,
enough to supply approximately 44,000 Long Island homes. To place
these figures in prospective, this amount of power is less than 2%
of the island’s current daily requirements.
Once built, maintenance of the site
will be the responsibility of FPL. The FPL representative stated
that the company has built wind farms at several locations in the
Middle West, but has to date never built a marine project. He
further stated that FPL did not expect the turbines to require much
routine maintenance and anticipated only having to visit each unit
once a year, despite the fact that the units will stand unprotected
in the open ocean several miles offshore. Anyone who has ever
maintained any kind of mechanical equipment in a marine environment
will be skeptical of those claims.
The representatives of both companies
stated that operation of the wind farm is projected to save 13.5
million barrels of oil over a period of 20 years, or approximately
680,000 barrels of oil per year. To provide prospective once again,
680,000 barrels is about one-half of the capacity of a modern oil
tanker. So therefore the proposal is to spend up to 500 million
dollars, obligate LIPA’s customers to buy power form FPL in the
future at whatever the cost may be and to further obligate LIPA’s
customers to pay for all future removal and clean-up costs, whatever
they may be, all in order to save at most half a shipload of
oil a year!
IMPACT ON NAVIGATION AND FISHING
Each turbine unit will be supported
by a single steel tube driven into the sea floor. These structures
will accumulate marine growth, and so as with any structure in the
ocean it can be anticipated that fish will be attracted to the
units. In addition, the proposal calls for artificial sea grass
made of plastic to be placed on the sea floor at the base of the
units in order to attract marine life. There will be no physical
reasons why vessels will not be able to fish near such structures.
It should be noted, however, that the
final decision on navigational limitations at the site will be made
by the Coast Guard. At this time, the Coast Guard has not expressed
an opinion as to access. At the meeting, both companies asserted
that unlimited navigation and fishing access would be available at
the site. However, one should consider that power generation
facilities are considered sensitive locations by the Department of
Homeland Security, which is the parent agency of the Coast Guard,
and that current regulations will require all vessels to remain a
specified distance away from all waterfront power plants. It is
conceivable that future events could result in such a regulation
being extended to the windmill site, resulting in a significant area
of the ocean being placed off-limits not only to fisherman, but to
all marine users.
THE FEDERATION’S POSITION
Previously, the federation has
expressed opposition to the project. The information provided at
the May 10th meeting has done nothing to change that
position. In addition to our earlier concerns, the presentation by
the representatives of the two companies has raised new questions.
Our opposition is based on the following major points:
-
An open-ended commitment to pay for future expenses is placed
upon the customers of LIPA. In exchange for this unlimited
liability, a maximum savings of one-half shipload of oil a year is
promised.
-
A significant area of the ocean lying within easy reach of
tens of thousands of New York anglers is potentially threatened by
this proposal. After it is built, a mere stroke of the pen by a
government agency could make this entire area inaccessible to all
marine users.
-
In addition to the economic perils of the proposal the
aesthetic impact of the project must be considered. Not only
fishermen, but beach goers and property owners along a wide swath of
the coastline will exchange the natural beauty of a wide-open ocean
visage for a horizon covered by a huge picket fence by day and
marred by the blinking of aircraft and navigation warning lights by
night.
The characterization of the project
as a “Wind Park” is a subtle attempt by the proponents of the
project to favorably influence public opinion. A park brings to
mind images of a bucolic public space where members of the public
may go for relaxation and recreation. This project provides no such
recreational benefits to the vast majority of the public. In
contrast, it negatively effects the public’s enjoyment of existing
seaside parks from Long Beach to Robert Moses. Originally this
project was called a “Wind Farm.” It really is an industrial
facility designed to extract economic benefits from a natural
resource.
The federation recognizes the need
for our nation to reduce American dependence on foreign energy
sources and the need to explore alternate sources and supplies of
energy. The proposed wind park not only does not address this need,
but actually diverts resources and attention from research and
development of more viable sources of domestic energy. Destroying
the natural beauty of the region and saddling Long Island residents
with an unlimited future economic liability in exchange for power
generation capability and oil savings that are so minuscule as to be
meaningless is bad policy. This proposed project is bad for
fishermen, bad for Long Islanders and bad for our nation.
EDITORS NOTE
Recently LIPA chairman Richard Kessel
said, “I happen to think wind towers are beautiful”. I don’t know
anyone else who agrees with him. Nowhere do these towers exist
along a coastline noted for its beauty. Senator Owen Johnson, a
supporter of the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem
Conservation Act, stated that he did not feel the South Shore of
Long Island was an appropriate place for this “wind park”.
In an article (Point of View) in
Suffolk Life Wednesday, August 9, 2006, Senator Owen Johnson pointed
out many of the potential problems and the limited benefits of the
proposed energy project. The unquantifiable costs associated with
maintenance and repair after the initial outlay are also reasons to
reject the concept.
Senator Johnson stated the countries
that have invested substantially in wind production, such as Denmark
and Germany, have not experienced the promise of a clean free source
of power that reduces the dependence on imported fossil fuels while
reducing greenhouse gases and other emissions. In fact, the
opposite has been true.
|
