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Ball Hill Wind Farm work back on track

Work at the Ball Hill Wind Farm in Villenova and Hanover appears to be back on track, a Northland Power official reported this week.

Jeffrey Nemeth, director of project development with the company, noted the blasting of the turbine foundations came to an end during the middle of last month. He also expects the 100-megawatt project that will consist of 25 turbines — with three in the town of Hanover — to be completed before the end of this year. Nemeth said company concerns as well as some third-party studies led to the recent removal that took about six weeks.

“It was determined we didn’t think (the foundations) were going to be structurally sound for hosting the turbines. … We didn’t want to run the risk of any of them not being structurally sound for us to be able to install a turbine on it,” he said.

All of that concrete, Nemeth reported, is being recycled. “We have our crusher on site … and it is being reused on the aggregate for all of the access roads,” he said. “It’s not getting hauled off to a landfill or anything. It’s being reused back there on site.”

Within the past month, some residents impacted by the blasting and work contacted the OBSERVER and The Post-Journal over a lack of information from the company. In addition, those residents also noted they were unaware of the times when some of the blasting would occur.

Northlands, however, maintains it has been in contact with town officials — as well as residents — throughout the process. Nemeth also said despite those comments, the latest a blasting took place was at 3:51 p.m.

With the $15 million reconstruction continuing, Nemeth said the project will become more visible toward the end of the summer. At that time, some of the largest land turbines in the nation — reaching 592 feet — will begin to be visible.

“We’ve already started pouring the foundations,” he said. “We anticipate the foundations will be done … (and) turbines will begin arriving in August.”

Yvonne Park, Villenova town supervisor, said despite recent reports, the company has kept an open line of communication with all who have been affected. “Northland Power has been very forthcoming on blasting activities that were carried out on the Ball Hill Wind Project,” she said. “They diligently made sure the permits were approved, engaged in daily correspondence with the Town Boards and project land owners within the required area of the turbines.”

Nemeth said a land owner cookout will take place on Saturday to address any questions or concerns regarding the project as company officials also will be in attendance. The event will take place on Round Top Road.

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