DEP to hold second public meeting on proposed Canton Mountain Wind project

July 22, 2013

Contact: Jessamine Logan, (207) 287-5842, jessamine.logan@maine.gov

-The meeting is the second of two DEP is hosting to inform the public and invite comment on an 8-turbine wind farm being proposed in Oxford County before the agency issues its final decision-

CANTON ? The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will host a public meeting on Wednesday, July 24 to receive comments and answer questions from the public on its draft analysis regarding an 8-turbine wind farm proposed in Oxford County.

The meeting on Canton Mountain Wind LLC?s project will be held from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Canton Fire Station on Route 108, Canton, Maine. Several DEP representatives will attend, including Commissioner Patricia Aho, project manager Erle Townsend, and other staff, along with contractors involved with the agency?s review of the project?s Site Law and Natural Resources Protection Act permit applications.

While this is the second public meeting on the project, it is the third time the DEP has held two public meetings on a wind energy application as part of an internal review process established by Commissioner Aho in 2011, which requires two public meetings be held on all proposed grid scale wind power projects in Maine.

Developed to ensure adequate opportunity for public comment and a transparent, inclusive review of often controversial wind power projects, the new process also requires the presence of the DEP?s Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner at the second meeting to hear the public?s comments on DEP?s draft analysis. The draft analysis for the Canton Mountain Wind project is available at http://www.maine.gov/dep/land/sitelaw/selected-developments/index.html

DEP will take the comments voiced at the second public meeting into consideration as its review moves forward before a final decision is issued.

Canton Mountain Wind LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Patriot Renewables, LLC. The proposed project includes a 24-megawatt wind power generation facility on Canton Mountain, along with an operations and maintenance building, access road and crane paths, and a 4.8-mile electrical collector line.

For more information about the proposed Canton Mountain Wind project and DEP?s review, please contact DEP project manager Erle Townsend at erle.townsend@maine.gov or go to http://www.maine.gov/dep/ftp/WindPowerProjectFiles/CantonMountainWind/ to view the application and related documents.

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