CLEVELAND , OH - Will Lake Erie be home to wind turbines? It's now a proposal.
Icebreaker Wind. That’s the name of the project aimed to put wind turbines some eight miles off the coast of Lakewood in Lake Erie.
“[We want] to show here in the Great Lakes what’s been done all over the world,” said Lorry Wagner, President of the Lake Erie Development Corporation. “This is a $20 billion a year industry in Europe.”
The turbines would be paid for by a mix of private, non-profit and public funds. It's only a proposal right now, but not everyone is sold.
“We just thought this was a little crazy,” said David Strang.
Strang represents the group Save Our Beautiful Lake. He's worried about wildlife being killed, health issues from electromagnetic fields and the noise.
“Each one [turbine] has to have an alternating red and white strobe light as well as a foghorn, “Strang told WTAM 1100. “This thing’s going to look like a giant airport.”
The project calls for six initial turbines standing 479 feet tall each but Strang worries that could grow to more than 1400 in the years to come , ruining the look and feel of the lakefront.
But supporters champion the plan as a win both for the environment and new jobs with the construction of the turbines.
Here’s how it would work;
“The power cable runs under the lake bed and then comes ashore at the Cleveland Public Power substation,” said Wagner. “We would connect there and then go into the grid.”
Wagner says the turbines only have a lifespan of about 25 years. Funds have been allocated in the proposal, he says, to replace the turbines when the time comes.
You can give your input on the project. There is a public hearing July 19th in the council chambers at Cleveland City Hall.
Be sure to listen to this series on Thursday morning, June 27, between 5 – 9 p.m. every half hour. Wtam.com/listen
(File Photo by Simon Dawson/Getty Images)
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