Monks gain support in fight over wind project

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http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=652698&category=REGION&newsdate=1/5/2008

Monks gain support in fight over wind project

Historic preservationists say Mohawk Valley turbines would disrupt serenity of monastic life

By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, January 5, 2008

JORDANVILLE -- The sky above this rolling Mohawk Valley farmland is a battleground between golden onion-shaped domes of the nation's largest Russian Orthodox monastery and sweeping wind turbine towers intended to harvest clean power.

On Friday, a statewide historic preservation group sided with Holy Trinity Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, where monks fear a proposed wind farm a mile away will disturb contemplative religious life.

"The monastery is of extraordinary historic, religious and cultural significance, but it is currently threatened," said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of New York State. The group named the monastery as one of its seven historic sites statewide in need of protection.

If built, the Jordanville Wind Project, located about 85 miles west of Albany, could have as many as 49 wind turbines on private land that would generate enough power for up to 60,000 homes.

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