Dear Editor:

The proposed offshore wind farm, in my opinion after much research and two local meetings with LIPA and FPL officials, is a bad idea at best and a catastrophe at its worst. The LIPA projection of electrical power for 44,000 homes (two percent of the island total) is based on peak conditions that being winds of at least 18 m.p.h.. The fact is this project will lesson our oil dependence by less then one percent and the amount of homes powered by the wind will be far less than the 44,000 projected.

Another question is their appeal and the damage the dredging would cause to the offshore and Great South Bay habitats. As for their appeal I know that I can stand by the water in West Islip and clearly see the 200 ft. Jones Beach tower 7 to 8 miles away. These so called windmills, 40 of them, (they’re really giant turbines) will be only three to five miles away and stand 450 foot tall and what about the noise. The fact is this would be the first offshore wind project in the U.S. I, for one, am not crazy about playing guinea pig with our beaches. The reason many of us put up with the high taxes and even higher electric bills to live on Long Island are the beaches. Mess that up and what’s left. The risk reward of this project is not even close to being worth it not to mention the cost and 20 plus year contract with FPL. Alternative energy is important i.e. fuel cells solar energy and land based wind power are just some examples that can and should be explored. .LIPA updating the power plants they are getting from keyspan would have a far more beneficial effect than the wind farm.

In conclusion this project makes so little sense but at the same time it seems to be getting jammed down our throat that you have to stop and ask why From Albany to LIPA something stinks and the stench is going to wind up right off our beaches.

Chris Connors, Amityville