To the editor:
This is a letter to Martha Vineyard inhabitants, both the annual and seasonal types.
The Chilmark zoning board of appeals recently approved the request for two wind turbines to be built on the Island. As a neighbor of the Grey Barn Farm, I feel compelled to express my concerns to the Island and its lucky inhabitants. My family has owned property in Chilmark since 1886 and deliberately left a soft carbon footprint.
Years ago, when all fast food restaurant applicants were turned down (except Dairy Queen) and the four-way stop deemed better than a stop light at intersections, this was clearly to preserve Martha’s Vineyard’s quaintness.
A 150-foot wind turbine is not quaint. Nor will it provide enough power to sustain a farm. It will kill birds and disturb wildlife, keep neighbors awake, and probably contribute an unhealthy environment to all. The production in China of the material to produce the magnets for the turbines has left “an environmental catastrophe.”
Holland no longer builds these turbines because of their lack of effectiveness over the life of the turbine. So the idea has crossed the ocean in search of new customers.
Once built, the gigantic 15-story structures will resemble the oil derricks in Texas and the ocean-hiding skyscrapers in Miami. The serene footing of Martha’s Vineyard will be lost forever.
My grandmother, Mildred Purdom, would say, be careful what you wish for. There must be another way for the Island to seek a green image without losing its identity.
Jeannine SampleChilmark andAlexandria, VA