Open house on Cape Vincent wind project

CAPE VINCENT, N.Y. -- Various people with various opinions, all wishing to find out more information and ask questions about the 142-megawatt, 95-turbine wind project planned for the agricultural areas of Cape Vincent. BP Alternative Energy held an open house Wednesday to inform people of the potential project. The company detailed where they would build roads, place transmission lines and most importantly, put up turbines.

"We want to make sure that people don't get misconceptions about our project and that we're able to address specific details. There are a lot of concerns people have about location, visual impact, sound and environmental studies," BP Alternative Energy Cape Vincent Project Manager Jim Madden said.

Along with those concerns came a group of people very much in support of the project.

"Wind power is clean," said Beth White, the President of a group called Voters for Wind. "It's renewable and it's local. It's very abundant here in Cape Vincent. We have plenty of it. We think we should take advantage of this tremendous opportunity."

And then there were those who are just going with the flow.

"We're building a house in Cape Vincent. We're looking at the wind mills on Wolfe Island anyway. We might as well look at them behind us too and get some benefit out of it," Cape Vincent resident Richard Tetzlaff said.

"There's an active discussion. Not everybody is all supportive, but we've had a real good discussion. I think overall people have been very supportive. It's good to see so many people come out and ask questions. I think generally people have an open mind," Madden added.

This project is in the middle of a SEQR process. Environmental, visual and sound studies could be done as early as October. From there, the permit process would take place next spring and construction would begin next fall. BP Alternative Energy says if everything goes as planned, the project could be finished by 2010.