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Editor’s note:  Last year, we posted an article on the German wind energy company, InfraVest, intimidating local residents — with hired thugs.  (See J. Michael Cole in the Taipei Times, “Wind power firm hires thugs to protect site,” June 10, 2013.)

Here’s an update, from a source who asks not to be named.  Click here to read more about this unsavory outfit.  (The source of the latter article is here.  We used Google Translate to render the Chinese text into English — with uneven results.)

What InfraVest has stated are lies, in keeping with their shoddy CSR business practices and use of violence against local residents.

(1) When InfraVest submitted a single Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) application for Yuanli, Tongsiao and Jhunan townships, InfraVest created the illusion of a much larger area for the wind farms, and hence was able to exceed the 10 percent land usage limit. By doing so, it also avoided having to address the three townships’ specific and unique environmental requirements. After receiving conditional EIA approval, InfraVest submitted a Difference of Environmental Impact (DEI) evaluation and requested that five wind turbine sites be shifted to Yuanli, bringing the total there to 14, which is well above the 10 percent limit.

(2) Local residents were not adequately informed or provided a proper public consultation session prior to construction, and InfraVest manipulated data and paperwork to obtain approval from the EPA without proper public consultation.

(3) In total, there are to be 14 wind turbines (≥120 m) installed along 3 km of coastline, with the closest a mere 134m from human settlement. A number of these have already been built in an area reserved for bird conservation.

You can contact autoamateur@gmail.com for more details. You can also check out independent media Coolloud’s detailed reporting for photos and a views of where the wind turbines are placed and their setbacks.  (Click here for an imperfect Google translation of Coolloud’s report — Editor.)