Work resumes at Roth Rock wind project

From Staff Reports
The Cumberland Times-News Thu Sep 30, 2010, 07:51 AM EDT

— OAKLAND — Construction is again under way on a Garrett County wind project after work was halted for two weeks for violations related to water runoff and soil erosion controls.

On Aug. 25 the Maryland Department of the Environment ordered Annapolis-based developer Synergics and contractor White Construction Co. to stop work on the Roth Rock wind farm until erosion controls at the site were brought into compliance with the project’s permit requirements.

MDE allowed construction to continue Sept. 9 after an inspection confirmed that the site was in compliance, according to MDE spokesman Jay Apperson.

But Apperson declined to comment on the possibility of fines or other punitive measures against Synergics, saying the situation is “still an active case.”

The Roth Rock project will consist of 20 2.5-megawatt wind turbines stretched across about 3 miles of Backbone Mountain near the West Virginia border. It is Garrett County’s second wind project, the other being developed near Eagle Rock by Constellation Energy.

Members of Save Western Maryland, a local wind farm opposition group, alerted MDE of problems at the site July 29. Agency inspectors first went to the site Aug. 3 and found “numerous” violations throughout the project, including some inadequate erosion controls and other areas of construction where there were no controls at all, according to Apperson.

MDE told Synergics to stop all earth-moving work until the violations were corrected, and the developer agreed.

But in another inspection Aug. 24, MDE found that Synergics had continued some earth-moving work, like excavation to prepare for building wind turbine pads.

Apperson said MDE conducts periodic inspections of the site and will continue to do so as construction moves forward.

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Roth Rock Wind Project Halted By MDE Work Stoppage Order

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Aug. 26, 2010

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) issued a stop work order on Wednesday to Synergics Wind Energy LLC and White Construction Company, forcing stoppage of work at the Roth Rock wind power project except for the work necessary to comply with all requirements of the approved sediment and erosion control plan.
According to Jay Apperson, deputy director of the MDA's office of communications, work may resume on the project when MDE determines that the site is in compliance with the approved sediment and erosion control plan.

It was after receiving a complaint from a citizen that an MDE inspector went to the site on August 3 and found violations of the discharge permit's requirement for compliance with sediment and erosion control approvals. Apperson confirmed that the violations were numerous and throughout the project, including: failing to comply with the approved sequence of construction in the sediment and erosion plan; not having sediment controls in some areas of construction; installing in some areas regular silt fence instead of the required super silt fence; and lack of interim controls in some areas where earth was being disturbed for stormwater controls. Notices of the violations were provided to representatives of both Synergics Wind Energy and White Construction.

"We immediately advised them to stop all earth-disturbance work except for work needed to bring the site into compliance, and representatives of Synergics and White Construction agreed to do so," Apperson said. "We did follow-up inspections on August 9 and August 17, and found both times that they were not doing earth-disturbance work other than work toward bringing the site into compliance, but that the site was still not in full compliance with the permit requirements."

Another inspection was scheduled for Tuesday of this week, during which inspectors found that the companies have made progress, but still have additional items to address before they are in compliance.

These include additional sediment control structures such as sediment basins and microbasins (smaller versions of sediment basins) and ditches to convey and control runoff.

"We also found that they had done earth-disturbance work (such as excavation work for windmill pads and crane pads) not related to work needed to bring the site into compliance," Apperson said. "This was inconsistent with what we had advised them to do and what they had agreed to do after the August 3 inspection. So on Tuesday, we advised White Construction and Synergics to cease all work at the site (including work that does not involve earth disturbance) other than work needed to bring the site into compliance until the site is in full compliance. They agreed to do so."

Apperson refused to comment on enforcement action against the companies since the matter remains under investigation.

Read the article here.

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Erosion violations halt Garrett County wind project

State finds 'numerous' problems on Synergics site

Nature By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun

7:46 p.m. EDT, August 26, 2010

State environmental officials have halted construction on Maryland's second industrial wind project after finding "numerous" erosion-control violations on the remote Garrett County mountain ridge where an Annapolis-based developer is putting up 20 turbines.

The Maryland Department of the Environment ordered Synergics Wind Energy and its contractor, White Construction, to stop work until they fix all the shortcomings in their measures to prevent mud from washing off the building site into nearby streams. The work shutdown, ordered Wednesday, comes a little more than three weeks after state inspectors first visited the site in response to a complaint from a nearby resident.

"They had four miles of mountaintop completely torn up and had minimal — I mean minimal — controls," said Eric Robison, a contractor who lives on a different stretch of Backbone Mountain near Oakland. He said he contacted the state in late July after taking hundreds of photographs to document conditions at the construction site. "I was amazed at what they were doing."

MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said inspectors found problems throughout the project, including missing and inadequate "silt fences" to filter sediment out of storm runoff whenever it rains. The state officials advised the companies Aug. 3 to stop grading and excavating until the controls were in place, and both agreed to do so. The contractor was allowed to continue other construction work, such as pouring concrete.

Read the rest here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

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Clean energy isn't pretty - Baltimore Sun blog

Like them or not, wind turbines are apparently coming to Maryland. If the wind turbines are in your backyard, or in your line of sight, you probably oppose them. If they are not, it is probably easier to regard them as a clean way to produce energy.

This week, as the first of 28 wind towers were being erected on Backbone Mountain in Garrett County, environmental groups were contending the turbines were likely to harm federally protected Indiana and Virginia big-eared bats. Their challenge mirrors an action in West Virginia where a federal judge temporarily halted construction of a wind farm.

Meanwhile, at Monday’s Baltimore County Council meeting, a pilot wind power program was withdrawn when community groups complained that the turbines would be eyesores, create noise in residential areas and drive down property values.

More and more, the question of how we generate the electricity we need to run our lives comes down to tradeoffs. Getting energy from coal-fired plants has been our traditional practice, but it pollutes the environment. Nuclear power is an option, but building nuclear plants is expensive and there is the nasty question of what to do with the spent fuel. No one wants nuclear waste in their backyard.

Read the rest here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350

Deep Creek Do It All specializes in cleaning services in Garrett County & @ Deep Creek Lake. Give them a call (301-501-0217) or visit the website - competitive rates and quality results from a locally owned & operated company!