lakes residents fight green plan, a8

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A8 Sunday, May 3, 2009, Antelope Valley Press

and ecological impacts the projectmay have on the area.

The turbines — 417 feet tall atthe uppermost reach of their blades— would be placed on 3,503 acres of private property near Tweedy Lake,about 1.5 miles north of Pine Can-yon Road and about six miles north-west of Lake Hughes. Proposed tobe completed in 2012, the turbineswould generate electricity enough toserve at least 245,000 people in Los

Angeles County, proponents said.White Oak Wind Farm LLC, a

subsidiary of Advanced Develop-ment Services LLC, is proposingthe wind farm to sell electricity toSouthern California Edison.

Members of the Lakes TownCouncil said they did not know yethow much of the project would be a

visual blight for the Lake Hughes,Elizabeth Lake and Leona Valleycommunities.

But if power lines stretchingfrom west to east and north to southintersected in Leona Valley, the areawould become a “spiderweb of powerlines and towers,” according to a let-ter the council drafted to SupervisorMichael Antonovich.

Members of the newly foundedLakes and Valleys Conservancywere also concerned what the windturbines would mean for preservingthe habitat of several birds listed asendangered, threatened and or spe-cies of concern.

According to Advanced Develop-ment Services’ outline of the project,the location proposed for the tur-bines “is not a wilderness area, an

area used for military operations orcritical habitat.”

But Alice Benoit, a member of the Leona Valley Town Council, saidthe area contains important species.When Benoit reported the sightingof a tri-colored blackbird, she said itbrought biologists from as far as theCalifornia Institute of Technologyand the University of California,Davis.

Benoit admitted, however, it’sbeen hard to get enough biologists

in the area to prove to governmentagencies that the area needs to bebetter protected.

“Honestly, I feel like we’re in overour heads because we don’t haveenough experts supplied to us,”Benoit said.

Instead she proposed residentsconduct an informal study of thearea’s habitat by handing out freedisposable cameras and takingphotos of the birds everyone shouldkeep an eye out for.

“Start taking pictures of them if you see them, then note the date,time and location,” Benoit said. “It’sa crazy idea, but what else are wegoing to do?”

Norm Hickling, a representativeof Antonovich, offered some comfortto the town council when he said theWhite Oak Wind Farm’s applicationfor a conditional-use permit hadbeen stalled because of a lack of information.

“The good news is that it looks

like they’ve got a lot of work to do,”Hickling said. “I think we’d all liketo burn less fossil fuels for our en-ergy, but putting transmission linesinto someone’s backyard to havemore green energy doesn’t t thebill, at least not as I think of it.”

Walker said he is still uneasyabout what he sees as an ongo-ing trend of government agenciesand companies using the excite-ment over green energy to neglectthe communities that must make

sacri ces for it.“In no way do we want the wind

energy plans to stop — we just wantthe county to come up with a well-thought-out plan,” Walker said. “I’mall for green energy, but our govern-ment has some responsibility tolisten to the communities affectedby plans for it.”

The council unanimously ap-proved a call for the creation of aBoard of Supervisors special com-mission for rural transmission lineoversight.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which wants tobuild power lines from Tehachapiwind farms through the lakes area;Southern California Edison, whichis building a new power line throughLeona Valley, and White Oak WindFarm of cials all say their projectsare meant to help the state meetthe California Renewable PortfolioStandard.

The California Renewable Port-folio Standard mandates that thestate must produce approximately3,500 megawatts of wind and solarenergy by 2010 and another 7,000megawatts of wind and solar energyby 2020.

avaughn@avpress.com

FUTUREREALITY?An artist’sconceptionshows the

proposed WhiteOaks wind farmplanned on aridge northwestof Lake Hughes.AdvancedDevelopmentServices Inc.

PLAN:Turbines could support at least 245,000From A1

Honestly, I feellike we’re in over

our heads becausewe don’t haveenough expertssupplied to us.

— Alice Benoit,Leona Valley Town Council

You can get up-to-date information on the

environmental cleanup program at Air Force Plant 42 (AFP 42) in Palmdale by attending the upcoming AFP 42 Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting.The primary function of the RAB is to enhance community awareness of the ongoing Environmental Restoration Program at AFP 42 and to ensure that community concerns are part of the environmental cleanup decision-making process.

Get The Facts On The Environmental Cleanup

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For details, call: Estella HolmesPublic Affairs Office1.800.982.7138, ext. 53395

Agenda• Biological Resources at

AFP 42• Site 27 Fieldwork Update• Site 28 Remedial Investigation

Update

Wednesday May 6, 20096:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Palmdale Water District2029 E Avenue QPalmdale, CA 93550661.947.4111, ext. 103

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