Published on December 17, 2003

At face value, Windfarm’s petition for a certificate of public good seeks approval to erect four industrial wind towers on East Mountain, at the site of the former radar base.

“There is only one project on the table,” advised Windfarm’s attorney John Castle as the first hearing before the Public Service Board (PSB) concluded Thursday, December 11.

Mr. Castle is right as far as he goes. But he doesn’t go anywhere near far enough.

Beyond the straightforward language of the petition looms a debate that is sowing division within the environmental community and pushing state planners to draft a policy on whether industrial wind turbines should be erected on public lands, such as the former Champion lands in Essex County.

The use of public lands as a site for industrial wind turbines is one of Windfarm’s long-range objectives. Developer Matthew Rubin of Montpelier unveiled a plan last winter that would put 50 wind towers on the ridge lines of lower Essex County. While Windfarm purchased the radar base and approximately 450 acres in East Haven this year, most of the towers in its long range plan would go on ridgelines like Seneca Mountain.

The mountain is part of the 84,000 acres purchased by Essex Timber that, along with the state and U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, was one of the major players in the Champion land deal. The fly in the ointment is there is a recreational easement on the land held jointly by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) and the Department of Forests and Parks. A second working forest easement is held jointly by VHCB and the Vermont Land Trust.

No one is sure whether opening those easements up to erect wind towers will require the Legislature’s permission or, at least, tacit approval.

Given the controversy surrounding the Champion land deal, the issue is seen as a “political hot potato” in the eyes of one of the state planners.

The Agency of Natural Resources, the lead state agency in the Champion lands deal — that saw roughly 133,000 acres of paper company forest land preserved for public use, is presently preparing to take the siting issue to the public.