(Host) The stop-work order continues for a big wind power project being built on northern Vermont’s Lowell Mountain, but some work remains under way.
State environmental regulators last week issued the order due to excessive sediment running off the project site with storm water.
Dorothy Schnure, spokeswoman for project developer Green Mountain Power, says construction of a road that is being built to carry equipment up the mountain has stopped. But work continues on parts of the project devoted to handling storm water.
(Schnure) "The systems we had in place weren’t adequate to handle the very heavy rains, so what we’re doing is we need to re-focus and complete all the storm water systems so that what is in place can handle any amount of rain that comes down. So, all the work we’re doing is planned work. It’s just that we need to complete this planned work before we resume the road building."
(Host) Annette Smith of Vermonters for a Clean Environment says problems on the site confirm what critics of the project feared – that it will be impossible to build the wind power project without damaging the environment.
Schnure says contractors are working hard to minimize that damage.