Turbine sites aired for Galloo Island

The state Department of Environmental Conservation on Wednesday released preliminary plans for the surveys and information required on the Galloo Island Wind Farm environmental impact statement.

The 36-page draft scoping statement includes plans for studies on the effects of the wind project on the land, Lake Ontario, public safety, archaeological resources, wetlands and wildlife. The plan does not include the effects on public roads or from noise and shadow flicker from the turbines, because the site is remote, the plan said.

Interested parties have more than a month to file comments with the department before the scope of the impact statement is finalized.

Galloo Island is part of the Great Lakes Shorelines and Niagara River priority conservation project area for four DEC regions. That makes the fish and waterfowl habitat especially important for consideration in the impact statement.

And the draft guidelines that the department released in January for bird and bat studies for the proposed wind farm could indicate more studies need to be done.

"They could help the project developer to determine the aspects of what DEC is looking for," DEC spokeswoman Maureen F. Wren said.

According to a schedule in an appendix on bird and bat studies on the island, the developer, Upstate NY Power, has initiated a winter bird survey, a radar study of nocturnal migrants, breeding bird survey and acoustic monitoring for bird locations.

Babcock & Brown Ltd. spokesman Matthew Dallas said the developer has begun collecting data, but hasn't completed any studies. Babcock & Brown, an investment and advisory firm, is funding the Galloo Island project.

The scoping plan includes other surveys for wildlife. The plan calls on the developer to use DEC, New York Natural Heritage Program and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as references for a professional biologist carrying out a complete plant and animal survey on the island.

The plan calls for an impact assessment that would detail how many acres of each plant community would be destroyed by construction and how many animals and endangered species would be temporarily displaced or lost.

The plans were accompanied by a site plan for the location of turbines and infrastructure. The site plan includes 85 turbines, the boundaries of wetlands based on a preliminary study from October and the buildings for maintenance and housing, a substation, a pier and staging areas for construction.

The project could include up to 90 three-megawatt turbines with a rated capacity of 268.8 megawatts. Each turbine would be about 410 feet tall from the base to the top of the rotor's sweep. The turbines are spread out over the 2,000-acre island.

The project would also include roads to each turbine, a dock, helicopter pad, temporary concrete plant, two 12-unit housing facilities, water intake and purification systems, a sewage treatment system and a geothermal heating and cooling system.

Hounsfield Supervisor Jean H. Derouin said town officials are especially concerned about water and fire protection facilities for any construction and permanent staff.

"I'm sure we'll have comments," he said.

He said he sent links to the documents to the members of the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and Town Council.

The department published the plans and a declaration that the project could cause significant environmental impact — thus requiring an environmental impact statement — on its Web site. DEC is responsible for these procedures because it declared itself lead agency on the project on April 25.

DEC will accept written comments on the proposed scope through the end of the day June 30. The department will host two public comment sessions, at 3 and 7 p.m. June 17 at the Public Safety Building in Sackets Harbor, 411 W. Washington St.