Plan to block turbines up in the air
Jul 26 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Alfred Diaz Walla Walla
Union-Bulletin
A proposal to create a 200,000-acre, scenic-protection area to keep out most
commercial wind turbines created so much public interest that planning
commissioners had to cut their Thursday meeting short, with the promise to
continue the public testimony at their next hearing.
At the heart of the issue is an amendment to the Umatilla County
Comprehensive Plan proposed by Blue Mountain Alliance. The proposal would
ban unsightly placement of wind turbines on some 200,000 acres between the
Blue Mountains and Highway 11 and the Washington state line and the Umatilla
Indian Reservation.
But many people at the meeting voiced concerns that the proposal would also
restrict far more than wind turbines, and would infringe on the rights of
private property owners to place cell phone towers, commercial signs and
other large, commercial facilities on their property.
"The real issue as I see it is an issue of property rights," said County
Planning Commissioner Clinton Reeder, who has served on the Planning
Commission since the early 1980s.
"He (the attorney for Blue Moutain Alliance) has drafted a document that
takes care of anything and everyone. And that is not what the people in the
area want. I think it will have to come back and focus more on the windmills
themselves," Reeder said.
In its draft amendment, Blue Mountain Alliance pointed out that Umatilla
County has more than 2 million acres, which it said was more than ample area
to provide other locations for wind turbines. The alliance's proposal also
stated that in addition to protecting the view, its amendment would also
protect cultural and natural resources.
To some county officials, those two secondary goals seemed to become the
focal point at Thursday's meeting. "The scenic issue has almost become the
secondary issue. The bulk of the people who are in favor of this are
concerned about the impact of other resources," said Planning Director Tamra
Mabbott. She added that she and commissioners were surprised by the number
of people in support of the proposal for environmental reasons.
"The discussion during the hearing, during the public testimony, has been
that they (the public) have drawn the Planning Commission's attention to the
watershed, both to surface water and ground water, and to species," she
added.
One of those drawn to the proposal because of its environmental protections
was Dale McKain, who points out that Couse Creek runs through his backyard.
"From here I can see golden eagles and bald eagles. I have several nesting
hawks in the bluffs behind my house. And I have spawning salmon that I have
videotaped in my backyard," McKain said.
An avid fisherman, McKain said one of the reasons to support the Alliance's
proposal was to reduce erosion in the area and keep silt out of the local
streams, which harbor a number of threatened species.
The former North Carolina resident, who speaks with a slight Southern drawl,
added that he has seen first-hand what can go wrong with wind turbines, and
saw what happened when one of the first large-scale experimental turbines
was placed near his previous home in Boone, N.C.
The wind turbine on Howard's Knobb Mountain near Boone was a Department of
Energy project constructed in the late 1970s. The turbine, with its two
97-foot steel blades, caused a number of problems, including television
interference created by a recurring low-pitch vibration that was coined the
"swoosh."
But what McKain is most concerned about is harm to fish, fowl and elk.
"We really need to look at what this is going to do to the habitat. I am in
favor of green power. And in the arid areas or Oregon and Washington, the
white pinwheels are quite attractive ... But not whenever you start going up
the mountains," McKain said.
The Planning Commission must now determine if the proposed 200,000-acre,
scenic-protection area constitutes a significant resource.
"The commission is not yet convinced that the entire 200,000 acres should be
designated significant," Mabbott said. She also pointed out that the county
already has a protected scenic area along Tollgate Highway, but has yet to
test that scenic protection against a major wind turbine project.
However, there are a number of wind turbine studies now taking place on
Lincton Mountain, and Mabbott expects that one day her department will have
to decide on how close a wind turbine can be located to Highway 204.
"My staff interpretation is you probably couldn't put up a windmill that is
visible from Highway 204. You have to blend it with the natural landscape. I
don't know how you would blend a 200-foot tower with the natural landscape,"
she said.
If the Planning Commission determines the area is a significant resource, an
economic impact analysis will be conducted and reviewed by the Planning
Commission.
Umatilla County commissioners will have a final vote on the proposal, should
it be approved by the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission's next meeting will be 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 27 at the
Pendleton Convention Center, 1601 Westgate Road.
Alfred Diaz can be reached at alfreddiaz@wwub.com or 526-8325.
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