Zond Systems

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Thursday rejected a plan to build the county's first power-generating wind farm in the hills northeast of Gorman, despite a 68% reduction in the size of the project since it was proposed three years ago. The board, siding with surrounding landowners and environmental groups, concluded that the wind farm would be a blight on the scenic slopes, promote erosion and threaten birds with its whirring blades.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Thursday rejected a plan to build the county's first power-generating wind farm in the hills northeast of Gorman, despite a 68% reduction in the size of the project since it was proposed three years ago. The board, siding with surrounding landowners and environmental groups, concluded that the wind farm would be a blight on the scenic slopes, promote erosion and threaten birds with its whirring blades.

A proposed windmill farm in Gorman would lie outside traditional flight patterns of the endangered California condor and would not threaten the giant birds if scientists reintroduce them into the region, an environmental impact report on the project said. The report, released Monday, also maintained that the 350-turbine wind farm, the first such enterprise proposed in Los Angeles County, would not erode soils or harm the environment. But opponents, including residents and environmentalists, said Tuesday that they had not seen the report and they still believed the towering windmills would prove fatal to birds and destroy the rustic character of the region.

Los Angeles County planners on Wednesday rejected a proposal to build the county's first power-generating wind farm in the hills northeast of Gorman. The five-member Regional Planning Commission said the project would destroy the rustic beauty of the area, promote erosion and harm wildlife, after one protester warned that the spinning blades of giant turbines would slice up passing birds "like they went through a Cuisinart."

Los Angeles County planners on Wednesday rejected a proposal to build the county's first power-generating wind farm in the hills northeast of Gorman. The five-member Regional Planning Commission said the project would destroy the rustic beauty of the area, promote erosion and harm wildlife, after one protester warned that the spinning blades of giant turbines would slice up passing birds "like they went through a Cuisinart."

A plan to harvest energy by building Los Angeles County's first wind farm on 270 acres of hilly ranchland near Gorman has drawn strong opposition from residents and environmentalists who claim it will bring visual blight to the now scenic, pristine area. Opponents say the proposed 458 windmills, many as tall as 150 feet, will lower property values, destroy a wildflower area that attracts sightseers in the spring and endanger birds that might fly into the whirling turbines.

A plan to harvest energy by building Los Angeles County's first wind farm on 270 acres of hilly ranch land near Gorman has drawn strong opposition from residents and environmentalists who claim it will bring visual blight to the scenic, pristine area. Opponents say the proposed 458 windmills, many as tall as 150 feet, will lower property values, destroy a wildflower area that attracts sightseers in the spring and endanger birds that might fly into the whirling turbines.

Investors Allege Fraud in Windmill Deal: Eighty-four people who invested in a windmill construction project sued Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., alleging that the brokerage house misled them into purchasing secured limited partnerships in the venture, which has yielded almost no returns. The federal court suit also charges that Zond Systems Inc., which built the windmills in San Gorgonio Pass and Tehachapi, offered the investments in a massive fraud scheme beginning in 1984.

James Flanigan's column, "Clean Air Act Will Fuel New Technologies" (Oct. 31), about the benefits of the federal clean air legislation is off base on at least one point. Commercial generation of electricity by wind and solar power will not have to wait until the next decade as Flanigan predicts. It has been growing steadily in California during the past decade. In 1989, wind energy produced 1% of the state's (the world's eighth-largest economy) total energy demand for that year, enough to power a city the size of San Francisco.

A proposed windmill farm in Gorman would lie outside traditional flight patterns of the endangered California condor and would not threaten the giant birds if scientists reintroduce them into the region, an environmental impact report on the project said. The report, released Monday, also maintained that the 350-turbine wind farm, the first such enterprise proposed in Los Angeles County, would not erode soils or harm the environment. But opponents, including residents and environmentalists, said Tuesday that they had not seen the report and they still believed the towering windmills would prove fatal to birds and destroy the rustic character of the region.

A plan to harvest energy by building Los Angeles County's first wind farm on 270 acres of hilly ranchland near Gorman has drawn strong opposition from residents and environmentalists who claim it will bring visual blight to the now scenic, pristine area. Opponents say the proposed 458 windmills, many as tall as 150 feet, will lower property values, destroy a wildflower area that attracts sightseers in the spring and endanger birds that might fly into the whirling turbines.

Bruce Barnbaum's column ("A New Endangered Species Blooms in Gorman: Beauty Itself," Op-Ed Page, March 15) opposing the proposed Gorman wind farm seemed to be a sincere and thoughtful discussion of the problem from one environmentalist's point of view. However, as a fellow environmentalist representing the wind energy industry, I must take issue with Barnbaum on a few points. First, his description of a wind farm as "concrete pads with . . . tall towers and noisy propellers" is "loaded" with words aimed at producing a negative reaction.

Los Angeles County planning officials are recommending that a proposal to erect power-generating windmills near Gorman be rejected unless the developer can move the project's giant towers--some as high as 150 feet--away from a scenic ridgeline. A report prepared by the Department of Regional Planning staff also recommends that the project be denied unless Tehachapi-based Zond Systems can prove that the windmills' spinning blades would not endanger rare birds.