To the Editor:

I read with great interest “Families Torn over Wind Development” and “Personal Attacks over Wind Issues” on the front page of the Aug. 30 - Sept. 5 issue of North Country This Week. Mr. Lindsey’s interviews were right on target and without an opinion regarding either side of the issue. That is good newspaper reporting, which has been the required standard of the business since the invention of the printing press.

That being said, I feel I must comment, in short order, my overall opinion on what was said and reported in the interviews.

The folks in favor of the wind turbines are (and have been) stating the same opinions which Avangrid and Iberdola researched, by using well-paid experts. But considering the fact that Iberdola, a Spanish corporation, is a multibillion dollar company, they can afford the best that money can pay for.

Plus it stands to profit in a number of ways, if the project is approved.

The locals who have signed leases with Avangrid also stand to benefit for the use of their property, while the majority of other property tax paying owners stand to gain nothing , and could see a devaluation of their primary asset, their home.

On the other side of the coin, the folks of the Concerned Citizens for Rural Preservation, a group of taxpayers and residents of both Parishville and Hopkinton, have spent countless hours doing study and research on their own, only relying on expert opinion when they do not feel qualified to express an opinion on a given subject.

These residents do not rely on any company or corporate donations, to get facts that will inform all persons who will be living with wind turbines, should the project be approved.

Their quest is not for personal or corporate profit, but is for preserving a way of life we all have enjoyed since our forefathers first settled these two towns in St. Lawrence County.

Again, kudos to Matt Lindsey and your newspaper for publishing facts without opinion.

J. Neil Devine

Parishville