Special Delivery: BRSA's Wind Turbine Parts Arrive in Newark

Nearly all of the General Electric manufactured components that will be used to construct an industrial wind turbine on the site of the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority (BRSA) in Union Beach have been delivered to a warehouse in Port Newark, New Jersey, said BRSA Executive Director Robert Fischer. 

The parts are manufactured in different locations in the United States.

The three 110-foot long blades were driven along state highways from Texas in three specially-designed truck with a front and back steering wheel, for navigating turns. The heavy nacelle, or generator, along with the nose cone, was sent up from Pensacola on a ten-axle truck. The tower sections were shipped from Iowa. 

And on a truck today -- somewhere in New York or Pennsylvania -- are the base and mid-section, said Fischer.  

The parts are being stored in Newark as the BRSA awaits final approval for a permit to travel along Union Avenue, Florence Avenue and Ninth Street from State Highway Route 36 through the borough of Union Beach.

The BRSA said it has already met several times with utilities along the route, such as the phone, gas and electric companies, to identify and obstacles or problems. 

If the borough's transportatoin permit is granted, the BRSA has just to obtain the county's permit. If all goes as planned, the construction of the GE turbine by the Conti Group of Edison could begin in November, said Fischer.  

But then there is the legal fight in the courts. In early August, a state Superior Court denied a motion by the BRSA to halt construction of the turbine, and litigation is continuing through the court's appeals process. 

The BRSA is behind schedule in its plan to erect a 260-foot tall industrial wind turbine in order to reduce its energy costs. (The height of the turbine, from the ground to the top tip of one of its three blades, is 380 feet.)

"It was supposed to be up by January of this year," said Fischer. "As it gets delayed, we're losing the generation of electricity by the turbine." 

The BRSA says its wind turbine will reduce the cost of sewer service to end users in the towns it services: Union Beach, Holmdel, Keyport, Hazlet, Keansburg, Matawan, Aberdeen and parts of Marlboro.

But the turbine's location has upset local residents who fear its effects on their health and property values. Some of its own member towns have passed resolutions opposing it.