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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 30 OctOber 2019

Military wants more rules for turbines near nuclear missiles

By JAMES MacPHERSON added to wind towers that opers already work with the process is already robust." forward," he said.
Associated Press is compatible with night vi- Defense Department to Vinson said "one-size-fits-all" Vinson said 35% of the na-
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The sion goggles worn by the mitigate any potential risks state rules would be overly tion's wind farms operate
military wants North Dakota helicopter pilots who pa- from wind farms. restrictive and could halt within 50 miles (80 kilome-
and four other states with trol the 8,500-square-mile "We in the wind industry projects. ters) of a military facility,
nuclear missile arsenals to (22,000-square-kilometer) would prefer not to see "There may be ways to miti- without harming national
consider introducing new missile field in northern state legislation," Vinson gate concerns that would security or altering military
rules aimed at preventing North Dakota. said. "The federal review allow a project to move missions.q

This May 6, 2013 file photo shows a wind turbine farm owned by
PacifiCorp near Glenrock, Wyo.
Associated Press

conflicts between wind tur- The commission, which ap-
bines and helicopters that proves siting permits for
provide security at launch wind farms, has not acted
facilities. on the requests. The As-
Department of Defense sociated Press sought to
and Air Force officials out- attend Tuesday's meeting
lined their concerns in a let- between the military and
ter before meeting Tuesday state lawmakers but was
with North Dakota lawmak- barred after military offi-
ers and regulatory officials. cials protested.
"Wind turbine development The military said it's also "an
near launch facilities and issue of concern" in Mon-
missile alert facilities com- tana, Wyoming, Colorado
promise the use of military and Nebraska.
helicopters to provide over- Mark Mahoney, the region-
head security in sensitive lo- al environmental coordina-
cations," the letter said. tor for the Defense Depart-
The Defense Department ment, told the AP after the
last month asked the North meeting that the military
Dakota Public Service would ask other states to
Commission to consider also consider the changes
new rules, including in- proposed in North Dakota.
creasing the distance ten- "We want consistency," he
fold to more than 2 miles said.
(3.2 kilometers) between Tom Vinson, vice president
a wind turbine and missile of regulatory affairs for the
launch facility. The military American Wind Energy As-
also wants special lighting sociation, said wind devel-