Oct. 22--A survey of 430 Narragansett residents conducted last summer by the state Department of Environmental Management found significant support for installing at least one wind turbine on public land at Black Point. However, each of the four other sites in town being considered received greater support.

Draft results of the survey were released to The Journal by DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan in response to a letter sent this week by six Rhode Island environmental groups expressing concerns about the agency's wind-energy project in Narragansett. The groups raised specific questions about putting up turbines on undeveloped coastal land at Black Point that the state purchased in 1989 using open-space bonds.

Seventy-eight percent of respondents to the DEM survey either strongly support or support erecting turbines at Black Point, while 14 percent oppose or strongly oppose using the site for wind power. Their support for turbines at Camp Cronin, the Port of Galilee, the Scarborough Treatment Plant and the Regional Treatment Plant, ranged from 79 to 82 percent while opposition to those sites ranged from 9 to 10 percent.

The survey was mailed to 778 residences in July, two months after the DEM issued a request for proposals from developers to install three to six turbines at locations in Narragansett owned by the state or the town.

Narragansett was selected for the project because the state RIWINDS report in 2007 determined that it was one of two areas in Rhode Island where wind speeds could support the construction of land-based wind turbines.

Energy produced by the proposed turbines would be used at DEM facilities at the Port of Galilee, which use about $100,000 worth of electricity annually, and at state camping grounds and beaches in Narragansett. Or the power could be sold in the state electrical grid to generate funds for the DEM.

The six environmental advocacy organizations, which include Save The Bay, the Conservation Law Foundation and the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, wrote to Governor Carcieri on Tuesday, questioning the wind power proposal.

The groups -- all supporters of green energy -- have two main concerns. The first relates to what they believe is the lack of a clearly defined policy or process for erecting wind turbines on public land. The DEM issued a "Terrestrial Wind Turbine Siting Report" last January, but the environmentalists say it inadequately addresses larger policy questions.

The second major issue specifically concerns Black Point. The environmental groups question whether it is appropriate to pursue energy development on land that taxpayers voted to protect using open-space funding.

Sullivan, who said no final decisions on the project have been made, believes the agency is justified in considering Black Point, because the winds are strong and steady there. If a turbine at the site is connected to the power grid, electricity could be sold to raise money for future land-preservation efforts, said Sullivan.

The DEM survey asked questions that addressed general attitudes on green energy, views on wind turbines and opinions on putting turbines up in Narragansett. It included photosimulations of turbines at each of the five sites under consideration. The DEM received more than the 378 responses it says it needed for a statistical sample. Narragansett has a population of more than 16,000.

More than three-quarters of the respondents -- 78 percent -- thought that "wind turbines would have a positive impact on residents."

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