It's A Simulation Right Now - But Maybe Not For Long. It Might Soon Be A Real Nightmare!!!

2008 visual simulation of part of the early Acciona project done for me with engineering software.  Looking inward from the River at the Cape Vincent town shoreline.

I am visually oriented with degrees in the visual arts. So several years ago soon after industrial wind invaded our community I started exploring what the visual impact would be of 400 ft. wind turbines as seen over water and across flat glacial terrain.  I used existing towers and structures to make estimates.  It quickly became real clear the impact would be devastating to the regional beauty, especially when viewed from the water or the islands including Wolfe Is.  It was also clear that many people did not have a real handle on what that impact would be. I didn't think it could be called "majestic".  In those days between BP and Acciona over 200 turbines were proposed for our Cape Vincent / Lyme area, and that didn’t include Wolfe Island, Clayton, Hammond, Orleans, Galloo, Henderson (which got smart and banned turbiners) or the Lake turbine proposals.

Early 2006 crude personal attempt to estimate the visual impacts compared to known object heights

like the CV prison water tower.

Acciona was avoiding taking pictures from the water and islands because they KNEW how the impact would affect people.  Of course once the Wolfe turbines went up then it became real clear and a lot of people on the wind fence dropped off when they could see and live with the impact day and night first hand.

Before the Wolfe turbines went up, I made a contact with somebody attached to the national wind opposition.  This person was an engineer and told me he could accurately reproduce the impact of the Acciona turbines near the River with engineering software if I sent him certain information.

So I took several pictures of the shore line from out on the River  and recorded the exact location by GPS  on a USGS topo map along with the coordinates.  Next I estimated the width of the camera view angle from those locations.  Along with this I sent topo maps from Acciona that showed the precise locations of their proposed 96 (at that time) turbines.  From this information simulations were developed, and he sent me the results as you see above.  It even included an animation. 

Later Acciona reduced their project from 96 to 53 then to 51 turbines, so the simulations were less accurate.  But I thought I would drag them back out now and post them since BP has BIG plans for their wind complex at 285 megawatts.  That could mean 190 -1.5 MW turbines, or 143 - 2MW turbines or 123 - 2.3 MW turbines like Wolfe Is.  or 95 3MW turbines.  Any way you cut it we could be going backwards toward a lot of turbines like in the beginning of these 2006 proposals.  If BP went with 190 turbines now , add that to the 86 on Wolfe Is and you have a major industrial wind factory of  276 giant turbines.  That is raw unadulterated environmental insanity, especially since we get minuscule amounts or unpredictable unreliable power for all that environmental damage…especially the visual damage to our beautiful region.  And wham!!!! The beautiful 1000’s and Golden Crescent could go almost overnight from being one of NYS’s most beautiful treasured regions, to being an instant sprawling industrial wind plant.  Instant environmental transformation.  Instant corporate political bullshit insanity!!!!

With the generous financial help of some friends I put this  1/2 page ad in the 1000 Islands Sun in the summer of 2008. The Website stlawrencewind..org was the old WPEG Website

 which apparently no longer exists.

But remember that the new Save the River director Lee Willbanks doesn’t think he or STR has a “dog in the hunt” when it comes to wind development  That is the most absurd things I have ever heard in trying to dodge the responsibility they “claim” for the River if you think of what might occur along the River and the tremendous impact it could have.  I wonder exactly when he would put his environmental “dog in the hunt?????   What exactly would it take.  I keep forgetting that STR thinks the River actually starts at the head of Grindstone Island. 

At any rate here are the simulations that have suddenly become relevant again, for people to consider as to what our town and region might soon look like.

I took a fair amount of heat from the pro wind side about these simulations as inaccurate blah, blah blah.
Judge for yourself against an identical real life condition on Wolfe Is.  Seems they were pretty damn close, maybe even an underestimate. 

Take a good look...this could be CV's future staring right back at you!!!!  Still want to play footsie with Article X by writing letters to the PSC???? They won't have to live in our BP nightmare!!!

Just imagine 190 - 400 ft industrial wind turbines in CV.  If that happens CV is no longer a town, it's a giant industrial factory site owned by BP. The name on the map will now read "Cape Vincent - BP Industrial Site!!!!