Camp Allegheny Battlefield Needs You! Now, More than Ever.

Unless We, The People, speak out now its very likely that the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) hearing between the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) and Highland New Wind Development (HNWD), now scheduled for November 10, will be dismissed.

Originally scheduled for September 23, the hearing has been postponed twice as a result of the developer’s skillful use of legal maneuvers, closed-door negotiations, and the last-minute presentation of so-called “new information.”

After receiving DHR’s August 19 letter of complaint, it has been the developer’s apparent intention to do whatever it takes to avoid the public presentation of evidence and testimony regarding the wind utility’s devastating impact on the pristine historic setting of Camp Allegheny Battlefield.

Why such dogged determination?

Because public presentation of evidence and testimony will reveal that the bulk of the “information” HNWD has provided to DHR and the SCC (and repeated in the media), is nothing more nor less than untruths assembled to mislead.

If a hearing occurs, then HNWD's assertion that Camp Allegheny is 2 or 3 miles from the closest proposed wind turbines will be subject to scrutiny. And such scrutiny will reveal that this assertion is a lie.

The physical evidence shows that the key battle area, Varner cemetery, and Varner homestead battlefield hospital are all within 1.2 miles of the closest proposed turbines. This is a distance at which the turbines will be quite audible.

Four hundred-foot-tall, nearly 300-foot-wide structures that spin at speeds up to 200 mph, make 75 decibel noise, and are topped with blinking lights will have a devastating impact on the cultural, scenic, and historic integrity of Camp Allegheny, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990.

HNWD understands this. That’s why they’re working overtime to avoid public exposure of that impact.

The facts do not bolster HNWD’s case. That’s why the developer is engaged in a no-holds-barred effort to prevent the public from knowing the facts.

At this political moment, when the desire for “green energy” has blinded so many of our leaders to the real costs of windpower, the regulatory community behaves as though obligated to assist industrial wind wherever possible, even if this assistance comes at the expense of the public interest. Such misplaced sense of obligation has left rural communities excruciatingly vulnerable to the lies of corporate profiteers, who will say anything to get at the bottomless trough of taxpayer subsidies for Big Wind.

For this reason, above all, it is essential that we speak out now, before November 10, to save Camp Allegheny Battlefield, located in the rural heart of West Virginia, yet belonging to the nation.

We must remind our elected leaders and government officials that their jobs exist at our pleasure. We, The People, are not pleased when outrageous profits for the very few are extracted from our environment at the expense of our cultural values—our sense of place, purpose, and the past.

If The Peoples’ concerns about the impact of HNWD on Camp Allegheny are NOT heard and this developer is NOT required to address those concerns in a forthright manner, then the loss to all of us will be much greater than the defacement of one patch of hallowed ground.

Our loss will be Big Wind’s gain through the establishment of a very scary precedent. Tangible proof that, when it comes to industrial windpower in America, absolutely nothing is sacred.

If You Can Only Write One Letter...

Write to:

Joel H. Peck
Clerk of the State Corporation Commission
Document Control Center
P.O. Box 2118
Richmond, VA 23218-2118

or email the Clerk at this address:
sallie.holmes@scc.virginia.gov

Please reference case PUE-2009-00092

Tell him that in order for the interests of The People and Justice to be served, the November 10 hearing between DHR and HNWD must go forward. If the hearing is dismissed, it will establish the precedent that an industrial wind utility's devastating impact on a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places is of absolutely no concern to regulating authorities, such as the SCC. In our national rush to site wind utilities anywhere and everywhere, such a damaging precedent will have repercussions for historic properties across the land. Does the SCC want to set such a precedent? On September 23, SCC Hearing Examiner Alexander Skirpan declared "visual impact evidence will be presented at future hearings." Simply put, if no hearing occurs, no evidence can be presented, and justice cannot be served.

(Note: Brightside has recently discovered that all letters to the Clerk are admitted as "evidence" regarding the case and posted on the SCC website. We're trying to find out what happened to the dozens of letters already submitted by our faithful readers to the General Counsel and the Commissioners. Needless to say, all letters sent to the SCC regarding this case should be admitted as evidence. Brightside is working to make sure that they are.)

Click here to read a letter from a citizen in California.

If You're Feeling Inspired and Ambitious...

Copy your letter to Mr. Peck to:

Martin Saffer, President
Pocahontas County Commission
900 Tenth Avenue
Marlinton, WV 24954
martinsaffer@martinsaffer.com
304-799-6063

Representative Nick Rahall, II
2307 Rayburn House Office Building
District of Columbia 20515-4803
nrahall@mail.house.gov
202-225-3452

Governor Joe Manchin, III
1900 Kanawha Blvd, East
Charleston, WV 25305
Governor@WVGov.org
1-888-438-2731

Kathleen Kilpatrick, Director
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
2801 Kensington Avenue
Richmond, VA 23221
804-367-2323
kathleen.kilpatrick@dhr.virginia.gov

Go For It!

No effort made in the interest of the common good is ever wasted.

Good attracts good. Good creates good. Ultimately, good overwhelms.

Thank you.