Turnitin Experiment

This is already graded and turned in.  Now I want to see if anyone steals my work that I posted here for all to see if they only put in the correct key words.  For any who stumble on this, it isn't the final copy, but I did receive a 100%.  Feel free to use any part of it, but beware, it will be flagged.  Use caution and change a few words here and there if you are desperate enough to recycle an old paper.

Project Study Area:  Offshore Windfarms in Lake Erie--

Recent research by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows that the Great Lakes region has a potential more than 250 gigawatts (OWWG, 2009, p. 1) in offshore wind power. Cleveland, Ohio has chosen to go forward with a small offshore wind farm to study the feasibility of wind power generation in Lake Erie. This area is unique in the respect that it is shallower than the other Great Lakes which will make it easier to install and maintain wind turbines. Since the Project Study Area (PSA) for offshore wind farms are placed in the Waters of the United States, the site chosen for this project falls under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). An environmental impact statement (EIS) was filed and approved before the PSA could move forward. However, stakeholder concerns with this plan were potential real estate impact, infrastructure support for prospective growth, and impacts on bird and bat populations.


Since the Project Study Area (PSA) is the first of its kind in the Great Lakes region, there are not many examples to compare the real estate impacts with. However, it is still important to address this issue since homeowners have questioned this aspect of the planned project. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) conducted a study in 2009 funded by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to address concerns of communities in regards to wind project impact on property values. The U.S. DOE (Hoen et al., 2009) studied sales of single-family homes located within ten miles (p. iii) of wind farms in nine different states (p. iii). This study showed that compared to similar homes outside the visual range of wind farms that the "impacts...are either too small and/or too infrequent" (p. iii) to determine any observable impact on the resale or property values of these homes. In fact, the results of the study found that an announcement like the Lake Erie's PSA would not have an adverse effect on property values (Hoen, et al., 2009, p. 76). Since this study was conducted with on-land turbines, the only adverse finding suggested that property values within a one-mile radius (Hoen, et al., 2009, p. 74) were affected. However, the PSA wind turbines are located three miles offshore where no homes are located.

Another aspect of this project, if plans proceed to develop beyond the PSA, is the cumulative impact on infrastructure and secondary development from an employment in-migration. As Marriott (1997) suggests housing, roads, and public transportation (pp. 96-97) come into play when projecting employment impacts. If the PSA succeeds and more wind farms are built offshore, it will have a direct and secondary employment impact in the region, because part of the appeal of offshore wind farms in Lake Erie is rebuilding NE Ohio's manufacturing base. If the PSA is successful, future wind farms would use local suppliers to provide components to build and supply parts for ongoing maintenance. However, bringing more jobs to the area will bring an influx of workers that need a place to live. If the projected secondary employment is large, team members must consult local officials to address the possible need for homes in a variety of price ranges (Marriot, 1997, p. 96).

While housing and manufacturing businesses in the immediate area is studied, another aspect to consider is increased commutes from surrounding suburbs. There will be a new demand placed on local roads and public transportation that may require changes and updates to the existing infrastructure. This may have adverse effects on local funds that some stakeholders would like to spend elsewhere. However, with the current economic slump the Cleveland area is experiencing, these types of economic impact may seem positive.

Finally, as with most wind farms there is always controversy surrounding the impacts on bird populations. If stakeholders are concerned enough about environmental impacts, a project may never be realized no matter how positive the economic impact may be. First, there are one billion bird deaths in the U.S. each year, but only 0.01% (Erin, 2009, p. 2) is from wind turbine collision. However, it is still a concern for many stakeholders and needs to be addressed. For the PSA, Guarnaccia and Kerlinger (2009) were chosen to present an informational brochure for the public. Their study showed that in the PSA there are a large number of birds that use Lake Erie during migrations. However, many of these species use inshore migration routes where they feed and rest in marsh areas (Guarnaccia & Kerlinger, 2009, p. 2) not in the PSA. While some species do migrate over Lake Erie, these birds fly at altitudes above the wind turbine heights. This information is supported by five years (Guarnaccia & Kerlinger, 2009, p. 23) of archived NEXRAD data. Also, to support their study, Guarnaccia and Kerlinger (2009) consulted the Audubon Ohio. Their information states that the Cleveland Lakefront Important Bird Area (IBA) only extends one mile into Lake Erie (Guarnaccia & Kerlinger, 2009, p. 24) short of the PSA. The only significant finding were gulls that forage for food around wind turbine bases.