FAA reverses approval of some turbines
In a reversal of an earlier decision, the Federal Aviation Administration has declared that the majority of wind turbines proposed on the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod would pose an air navigation hazard, effectively scaling back the once-ambitious proposal to use alternative energy to power the military base.
A week after initially approving eight of the 17 wind turbines proposed by the Massachusetts Army National Guard, the FAA reversed its decision this past week and declared that five more of those would pose a hazard. Now, three of the proposed wind turbines for Camp Edwards meet FAA standards.
An FAA spokesman did not return a call for comment on the decision yesterday.
But Major James Sahady of the Army National Guard said the FAA - after initially declaring that the turbines would pose no threat - updated its decision to say the additional five posed a “presumed’’ threat above 200 feet. The wind turbines as proposed would stand 400 feet.
The FAA told the Army National Guard that it had “new information’’ on which it based its decision, Sahady said. He said Guard officials have not seen that information but plan to meet with the FAA and state officials to review the decision.
He said the National Guard plans to continue with its proposal to build the wind farm in some form.
“When we began to explore the turbines, we knew it was not going to be a simple process but the Massachusetts National Guard at the end knows hard work will pay off and we will have alternative energy,’’ he said. “We knew it was going to be a long process.’’
State officials, including legislative leaders, had endorsed the Guard’s plan to build the 17 turbines on the 22,000-acre military reservation.
Aside from producing clean energy, the farm would also help reduce energy costs at a time when the federal government is cutting funding for military bases.
Also, the proposal had been part of Governor Deval Patrick’s goal of creating 2,000 megawatts of wind power statewide by 2020.
While any proposal still needs an environmental review, the 17 turbines had been approved by the US Air Force Space Command, which operates the base’s radar station.
Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com. 
