Recall and Replace the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority Commissioners

On page 5 of the GE Energy publication titled “Wind Energy Basics” (www. gepower.com/businesses/ge_wind _energy/en/downloads/wind_energy_ basics.pdf), it states, “Siting wind turbines and assessing the feasibility of a proposed location must consider factors such as Community Acceptance and compatibility with adjacent land uses. … Hence, megawatt-scale wind turbines cannot be located in densely populated areas.”

In Union Beach, NJ a “densely populated area” begins just 1,080 feet from the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority’s site for their planned 380-foot-tall GE industrial wind turbine. There are real and serious concerns regarding the negative impact the turbine will have on property values, health and safety due to its proximity to homes. Many experts recommend a minimum setback of 1.25 miles from residential property lines. Our current BRSA commissioners have categorically denied these dangers in their zeal to erect the turbine, although there is a large and growing body of evidence to support these claims. As for "Community Acceptance," Union Beach, Hazlet, Keyport and Monmouth County have all passed resolutions opposing the turbine. About 80 percent of area residents are staunchly opposed and 10 percent are ambivalent. There is a bill before the state legislature calling for a 2,000-foot mandatory setback. Yet, the BRSA has claimed that area residents are friendly to the idea of a turbine. They clearly are not.

What is most troublesome is that the BRSA already constructed the foundation in order to meet their deadline for receiving fifty percent funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. However, they did this prior to having all their permits finalized and also prior to acquiring an additional half-acre of land from JCP&L on Conaskonk Point, a pristine wetland and bird-nesting ground. They need this to allow for the blades of the industrial turbine to overhang their existing property line. Essentially, they spent that money on spec because they are in a legal battle with Union Beach and its neighbors for the rights to purchase the land and finish the project. The outcome is uncertain. This is the height of fiscal mismanagement. They have spent millions of ratepayer money already and even more ratepayer money is in jeopardy of going down the sewer if the BRSA is unable to erect the turbine and they have to pay back Uncle Sam.

The commissioners were appointed to represent the interests of their towns, residents and ratepayers. Clearly, they do not. The two from Union Beach even voted to sue their own town for putting www.noturbine.com on a sign outside of borough hall. Union Beach won that suit, a First Amendment victory, but it further makes the case that the commissioners put the wind industry above the interests of their communities. An organic outcry has begun among area residents, “Recall and replace the commissioners with ones who represent their towns, not Big Wind.” This petition is in response to that outcry.