Green Options

New York State’s Public Service Commission investigators are trying to figure out why a wind turbine collapsed last week in upstate Clinton County.

The Albany Times Union reports that Noble Environmental Power, which owns the 65-turbine Altona Wind Park, and turbine maker General Electric Co.  found “wiring anomalies” prevented two turbines from shutting down as they are supposed to during a power outage. One tower collapsed in a fiery heap, starting a small fire on the ground. The other was damaged but remained standing. Debris was scattered as far as a quarter-mile away, the paper reported. WPTZ has video with images of the collapsed turbine.

There were no reported injuries. The incident is believed to be the first collapse of a turbine in New York. The PSC would like G.E. and Noble to share information from their investigation with the agency.

Bats across New York state are dying from a mysterious malady known as “white-nose syndrome.”

Named for the white fungal growth that appears around the noses of infected bats, the condition has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of bats in the Northeastern U.S., mostly in New York but now spreading to other states as well.

The syndrome was first discovered last year in four bat hibernating caves near Albany. It’s now been observed at “virtually every significant bat hibernation site in New York,” according to the Center for Biological Diversity.