Apr 2 2013
First Wind, an independent U.S.-based renewable energy company, today announced that for the second year in a row the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) Biomonitoring and Aquatic Studies Program has issued a report that showed that water quality tests at the Sheffield Wind project demonstrate the project has not had an adverse impact to water quality and aquatic life of nearby cold-water streams.
The second study, released last month and which spans from 2006 to 2012, looked at aquatic life forms as indicators of water quality in five streams adjacent to and downslope of the Sheffield Wind project in Sheffield, VT. The report measured “biological integrity” – an index of ecological health based on the condition of aquatic life (macroinvertebrate) and fish populations – both before and after the construction of the Sheffield Wind project.
The state conducted pre-construction tests in 2006, 2009 and 2010, during-construction tests in 2011 and post-construction tests in 2012.
According to the report, “Four of the five stream reaches sampled during and after-construction (2011 and 2012) maintained an excellent to very good level of biological integrity in the primary biometrics....” A fifth stream, which was rated “fair” in 2011 in part because of high water runoff due to Tropical Storm Irene, improved to “very good.”
This independent state study shows that water quality in the area potentially affected by the Sheffield Wind project has remained at very good and excellent levels.
“We’re proud of the measures we put in place to protect the water quality at the Sheffield Wind project,” said Josh Bagnato, Environmental Permitting and Compliance Manager of First Wind. “For the second year in a row, these test results have proven that the things we did in planning and building this project have worked and worked well. With careful planning and construction, along with monitoring of natural resources, wind projects like this one can be built in a way that protects the surrounding environment while delivering clean wind energy with no pollution or emissions.”
Located in the Town of Sheffield in the Northeast Kingdom, the Sheffield Wind project is comprised of 16 Clipper Liberty 2.5 MW turbines, and generates enough power for about 13,000 homes in Vermont.
The Sheffield Wind project has several cutting-edge environmental mitigation and conservation measures that far surpass industry standards. One of these measures is an intricate system of 27 retaining ponds designed to catch and clean storm water. In addition, the project features smaller roads than most utility-scale wind projects to adapt to the more mountainous terrain, and protection of approximately 2,700 acres surrounding the project to benefit bears and other wildlife, as well as recreational uses. The project’s environmental impact was also minimized by using existing logging roads at the site. The project has been operational since October 2011.
A traditional fossil-fuel plant of the same scale as the Sheffield Wind project would burn 61,000 tons of coal and emit more than 45,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Source: http://www.firstwind.com/