Published: September 05, 2009 08:48 pm      

Developers make progress atop East River Mountain

BLUEFIELD, Va. — The developers of a proposed large-scale wind turbine farm for Tazewell County have been quietly making progress high atop East River Mountain.

A meteorological tower to study wind speed and direction has been erected on the mountain. A number of geo-technical studies, along with wildlife and avian studies, also are continuing at the Tazewell County site, Ryan Frazier, a senior communications specialist with Dominion Energy, said.

“So far the geo-technical studies have been limited to the access roads,” Frazier said. “We’ve got a Met tower up. There is one of those on the western end of the site. It is doing various wind studies.”

Dominion and BP Wind Energy North America have proposed the development of as many as 60, 400-foot tall windmills along East River Mountain near Bluefield, Va.

“The other thing we are doing is we are continuing to work with land owners and local officials, and also the Tazewell County citizenry,” Frazier said. “We also continue to monitor what the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission are doing.”

The supervisors are still mulling over a proposed mountain construction ordinance. If approved as currently proposed, the ordinance would seek to protect certain mountain ridgelines — including East River Mountain — by limiting construction of tall buildings and structures that may obstruct views of their crests or endanger the persons or property of residents below the ridgeline.

The supervisors aren’t expected to schedule a second public hearing on the revised ordinance until their October meeting.

Frazier said there is no time frame for the development or completion of the wind turbine project in Tazewell County.

“There has never been a time frame,” Frazier said. “What we’ve said is usually from the development stage it takes three to five years. But we don’t have a specific time frame at this point.”

– Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com