The job we (Mike) was hired for was getting footage for a few informational videos for the company, First Wind, that is building the wind farm in Milford. Mike was hired to be the Camera Assistant and monitor the audio.  I, as trailing along spouse, declared myself in charge of making sure stands holding equipment didn’t fall over on interview subjects, checking shots and giving unsolicited opinions, explaining some of our technology to people who asked, and general color commentary.

As it is a wind farm, there was a lot of wind, and as they build a lot at night (when the wind is down) it was often dark, so a lot of curious people asked about whether or not our microphone would be able to hear what they were saying, and whether or not we could actually see anything in the dark. We all got to show people some of the cool technologies/tools we use.

The wind farm was fascinating. The site seemed so obvious a place for one. (For the story of how Milford became the home of a wind farm, check out this story.) Wind power, in fact, seems so obvious.

I know that there are concerns about the visual impact of the turbines and the environmental impact. Our producer/cameraman had worked on videos about quite a few wind farms, and he said that even in places like Maui, where the wind farm is across the bay from a beach, people rarely noticed it. In someplace like Milford where that valley is wide, open, and quite empty, it makes perfect sense, and a lot of the people in Milford thought that it would add a lot of visual interest to the town. The environmental aspect was a huge concern, but the crews there are careful. Amazingly careful. They only drive 15mph on site after dark, because there is an owl that they need to be careful not to hit. I expected a sense of frustration or sarcasm regarding some of the measures they take to protect the area, but they were serious and sincere about it. They didn’t seem to see it as an inconvenience, just part of the job.

When the construction is finished the land will become grazing land again, and the cattle will be able to walk right up to the towers, with no danger to them. Large turbines like that don’t hurt birds, as they can simply fly around them. There is a little danger to bats, because behind the rotors there is an area of low pressure which can injure bats’ lungs. They are working on fixing this problem right now.

Here is a sunset shot I got of the turbines: