[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Barack Obama (D-IL) today received assurances from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) that the development of wind farms in Illinois will not be stopped by a DOD report released this week. Yesterday, the Illinois senators announced that they would lift the hold on Mr. Robert Wilkie, the nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, once they received a formal assurance from the Administration that the development of wind farms in Illinois will not be stopped by this report. The hold was lifted today.

“Nearly 5 months after it was promised, the Administration has finally assured us that Illinois wind farms do not interfere with military radar and are safe to operate without the threat of being shut down by the report’s findings,” said Durbin. “Now that we have the answers we have been waiting for, we will lift the hold on Mr.Wilkie. The Illinois wind industry can now confidently move forward in contributing to the development of one of our nation's best sources of clean alternative energy.”

“Wind power is an important part of our efforts to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, so I’m pleased that the DOD has indicated it will permit these projects to move forward, and I will release my hold on Mr. Wilkie’s nomination,” Obama added.

On March 21, 2006, DOD and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a joint interim policy on the proposed windmill locations which states, “The DOD/DHS Long Range Radar Joint Program Office Interim Policy is to contest any establishment of windmill farms within radar line of site of the National Air Defense and Homeland Security Radars.” Shortly thereafter, the Midwest Regional Office of the FAA sent “notice of presumed hazard” letters to wind farm sites that they had determined are in the line of site. The FAA defined “in the line of site” as any windmill within a 60-mile radius of a radar center or radar tower.

On June 2, 2006, Senators Durbin, Obama, Russ Feingold (D-WI), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) wrote letters to officials at DOD and FAA voicing their support for the responsible development of wind power. Shortly after these requests were made to FAA, nearly all Illinois projects were given the go-ahead from FAA to resume construction and operation. However, without the DOD report findings, any wind farm that resumed development did so at the risk of being shut down once the DOD report came out.

On September 7, Durbin and Obama told Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that they would block a Senate vote on the nomination of Mr. Wilkie to be Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs until the DOD issued the long-overdue report. Three weeks letter, the report was released.

In the letter received today, the senators were told that “The FAA has determined that the wind turbine facilities currently operating in Illinois, as well as those facilities under construction reviewed by the FAA, pose no hazard to military radar. The Department of Defense report cannot and will not be used to change the current FAA determination of the projects in Illinois.”

[text of letter below]

September 29, 2006

Dear Senator Durbin:

Thank you for your inquiry as to the findings contained in the recent Department of Defense report entitled the "Effect of Windmill Farms On Military Readiness."

The report concludes that although wind turbines located in radar line of sight of air defense radars can adversely impact the ability of those units to detect and track, by primary radar return, any aircraft or other aerial object, the magnitude of the impact is dependant upon the number and locations of the wind turbines.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the responsibility to promote and maintain the safe and efficient use of U.S. airspace. The FAA has determined that the wind turbine facilities currently operating in Illinois, as well as those facilities under construction reviewed by the FAA, pose no hazard to military radar. The Department of Defense report cannot and will not be used to change the current FAA determination of the projects in Illinois.

Finally, we want to assure you that the report fully complies with the requirements set forth in section 358 of the National Defense Authorization Act for FiscalYear 2006 (P.L. 109-163).

We appreciate your interest.

Department of Defense