Residents and environmental groups continue to question the public health effects of wind turbines in high-density coastal communities like those in the Bayshore, where a wind turbine is planned.

A 380-foot-tall industrial wind turbine planned for Union Beach borough received conditional approval from NJDEP and would be taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Keyport Water Tower and the Twin Lights in Highlands, according to noturbine.com. PHOTO COURTESY NOTURBINE.COM In an effort to inform the public on the issues, the Hazlet Environmental Commission (HEC) hosted its first educational community forum about the ecological effects of industrial wind turbines along the New Jersey coastline on June 7.

HEC has not taken a position on wind energy and the environmental commission is working to educate the public about the positives and negatives of renewable energy.

The forum featured guest speakers from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ (BPU) Clean Energy Program and the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) to provide a general overview about the state’s energy master plan and wind incentives for local municipalities.

Locally, opposition to a wind turbine planned for Union Beach is growing. A new website, noturbine.com, was launched to provide information about wind energy quality-oflife and health issues that could affect coastal Monmouth County and the Jersey Shore.

The question-and-answer style event attracted approximately 75 people, including local officials from the township and Union Beach Borough, as well as residents from Ocean Gate Borough and Atlantic City, where other wind turbines have been constructed.

“I just want to emphasize this is not a discussion of any neighboring town’s intent or investigation into putting up a wind turbine or not,” said Rosemary Mazza, chairwoman of the Hazlet Environmental Commission. “This is our way of educating ourselves and the interested public on wind energy.

“We will then move on to other issues involvingwind energy at another time, but this is not the time or place to discuss any other town’s intent to install a wind turbine.”

The Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority (BRSA) has received conditional approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the construction of a 240-foot-tall on-shore concrete pedestal for a wind turbine on the plant’s 24-acre site adjacent to the Raritan Bay.

The blades of the turbine will measure approximately 118 feet in length and when placed on the pedestal, the entire installation would stand 380 feet high, taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Twin Lights in Highlands and the Keyport Water Tower, according to noturbine. com.

The turbine project, which would be 1,080 feet from a residential neighborhood, is scheduled to receive funding through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). The authority will be borrowing up to $7.7 million, and $3.85 million of that loan will not have to be repaid, under the federal stimulus package.

The turbine would produce a little more than 3.5 million kilowatt hours a year, about half of BRSA’s annual energy usage, according to a previous statement by Robert Fischer, executive director of BRSA. The authority would receive an additional $400,000 clean energy grant from the state’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

By installing the turbine, the BRSA estimates that 4 million pounds of carbon dioxide would be eliminated from the atmosphere.

Gov. Chris Christie and acting DEP Commissioner Bob Martin announced in February that the administration is looking to “move forward quickly” to make wind energy sources a reality in the state.

HEC invited speakers, including Mark Loeser, renewable energy technical director for the New Jersey Clean Energy Program, who said there are “typical myths” associated with wind turbines that can be explained through science, including concerns about noise, ice throws, property values and tower failure.

“At 100 feet, the average wind turbine produces as much noise as a room air conditioner,” Loeser said. “In fact, what you hear in here is what you would hear from a typical 100-foot wind turbine.”

With regard to ice throws, Loeser said ice buildup slows a turbine’s rotation and would be sensed by the turbine’s control system.

“Think of a wind turbine blade like an airplanewing,” he said. “How can an airplane fly with ice on the wing? Not very well. If the [turbine] blade had ice on it, would it go faster or slower? It would slow down to the point where it would stop. It [the turbine] will stop.”

However, resident Bill Heller, of Union Beach, expressed concern about low-frequency noise emitted from the turbine, which he said could cause inner-ear and other balance-sensing mechanism problems within the body.

“It [low-frequency noise] is not like hearing an air conditioner,” Heller said. “I am a recording engineer, so I know a spectrum analyzer can measure the various volume levels and various frequencies. The general decibel meter would not give you the impact of the low [frequency]. In music recording and movies, there are sub-sonics, which are frequencies you can’t hear, and that’s part of wind turbine syndrome.”

Public health studies about long-term effects of wind turbines have not been funded due to the state’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit for fiscal year 2011, Loeser explained.

Several of those in attendance said more scientific analysis should be conducted before wind turbines are placed in densely populated coastal communities.

John M. Curran III, president of Hazlet Area Quality of Life Alliance (HAQLA), questioned Loeser’s claims, calling for greater action from local legislators and state officials to protect residents.

“I doubt anybody in this room is an expert in the field,” Curran said. “Although you [Loeser] are representing studies that have been done, we have no experts.

“The position I speak from as the president of HAQLA is that we need the lawmakers to step in to define the expert answers for the issueswe nonexperts are sitting here trying to debate or become enlightened about.”

He added, “Our position is thank you very much, but we want to hear from our lawmakers to substantiate not only your [N.J. Clean Energy] presentation, but anything we are hearing at this point in the renewable energy process.”

Since the turbine was proposed by the BRSA in 2009, HAQLA has been advocating for more scientific and environmental studies about on-shore turbines and their affect on residents and wildlife.

The group also would like to see pre- and post-construction precautionary measures taken by the authority, such as monitoring of sound intensity and decibel levels; studies of shadow and flicker effects within three miles of the tower; annual health surveys of the population near the turbine; wildlife impact studies; and monitoring of real property values; and sales patterns within 10 miles of the tower.

After questions and answers about New Jersey’s Clean Energy program, guest speaker Katie Vesey, comptroller and director of research and development at ACUA, spoke about Atlantic City’s five offshore 380-foot wind turbines that produce 1.5 megawatts to power 2,500 homes in the city.

Union Beach Councilman Louis Andreuzzi recently visited the Atlantic City facility and raised a question about the “flicker” effect, which is shadowing caused by the rotating blades of the turbine.

“When I was there, I never heard the word flicker before, and one of the gentlemen that gave us the tour talked about flicker,” Andreuzzi said. “This one guy told us he had to leave his office two hours a day because of the flicker, and that is the concern I have.”

In response, Vesey said there is flicker onsite at the sewage plant, but it does not affect the nearest neighborhood because the turbines are on an island.

The 2010 state renewable energy incentive program (REIP) plans to dedicate $4.5 million to small wind projects based on a statewide goal of constructing 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind power, 1,600 megawatts of solar power and 200 megawatts of onshore wind power.

Loeser explained that the REIP offers cost reductions for municipalities that install wind, biomass or solar energy systems.

“It is based upon estimated performance,” Loeser said. “We look at all the wind turbines that are available in New Jersey, and we do an evaluation about what their expected performance would be for different wind speeds.”

The wind incentive level is calculated by the height of the turbine, location of specific wind speed and obstructions within 500 feet.

According to estimates from the New JerseyClean Energy program, a wind turbine with an annual estimated production of one to 16,000 kilowatt hours can save $3.20 per annual kilowatt hour.

A larger turbine that produces between 16,000 and 1 million kilowatt hours provides an incentive level of 50 cents per annual kilowatt hour for the sewerage authority.

According to the New Jersey Clean Energy program, the required wind resource — 11 mph — is along the shore and Highlands area.

“The New Jersey wind market is very sitespecific,” Loeser said. “There are areas that have good wind resources, and areas that don’t have good wind resources.”

Several of those in attendance were concerned about public health issues associated with the placement of wind turbines near residences, schools and hospitals in the Bayshore region.

“The Atlantic City application is located on an island and is pretty much buffered from the city,” said Eugene Geer, of Hazlet. “The problem we are having is that larger turbines are being moved closer to communities.”