PULASKI — Opponents of a proposal for offshore wind power projects raised a rallying cry at a meeting Wednesday night at the H. Douglas Barclay Courthouse.

About 80 people from Oswego, Jefferson and Wayne counties attended the meeting organized by the Joint Commission for the Preservation of Lake Ontario Communities, a coalition blessed by the boards of legislators in Jefferson and Oswego counties.

The members of the public gave economics, wildlife and viewshed as reasons to oppose the New York Power Authority’s inclusion of eastern Lake Ontario as a possible site for turbines.

“I can’t believe we’re even sitting here tonight and discussing this thing,” said James L. Jerome, president of North Rainbow Shores Association, Sandy Creek. “This is destroying and prostituting our whole environment.”

NYPA asked developers in December to submit proposals to build up to 500 megawatts of wind power, possibly spread out over several potential sites, including 10 sites in Lake Ontario and 13 sites in Lake Erie. Those sites were chosen in part because they have average wind speeds of at least 16.8 mph, have water depths of less than 150 feet and lie 2.3 miles or farther offshore.

One site spreads from Galloo Island north to Grenadier Island and another stretches from Galloo Island south along the eastern shore in Oswego County. Proposals are due June 1.

Sailors and boaters alike were concerned that the safety zone needed around turbines would make it impractical to navigate around or through them.

“I can’t see how I can possibly sail on this lake with that mess out there,” said Alexander M. James, Henderson Harbor, a member of the committee leading the joint commission. “This is going to be a no-go zone.”

Businessmen who rely on fishing don’t see navigation as the only problem.

“Who’s going to come here?” asked George C. O’Brien, a fishing guide in Pulaski. “Who’s going to come to Boaters’ Beach and lay down and look at the sun when it’s blocked by hundreds and hundreds of blades?”

Oswego County Legislator Barbara Brown, Pennellville, said she served two terms on the state’s fish and wildlife board and she thinks turbines will destroy the fish population.

“About half the shoreline is habitat for fish to reproduce naturally,” she said. “You have to protect your fish.”

H. Douglas Barclay, a former state senator who lives and runs a business in the town of Richland, said the project would devastate the local investment in developing recreation and tourism.

“You can’t trust state government and you can’t trust the Power Authority,” he said. “They want to build an empire and they’ve been doing a pretty good job at it and they’ve been doing it at our expense.”

Richard M. Kessel, president and chief executive officer of NYPA, will visit the Jefferson County Legislature during its meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the county’s Historic Courthouse, 195 Arsenal St. He also will attend the Oswego County Legislature’s meeting at 2 p.m. March 11 on the fourth floor of the county office building, 46 E. Bridge St., Oswego.

Representatives of state Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, and Assemblyman William A. Barclay, R-Pulaski, also attended. Mr. Barclay has been outspoken against the project. L. Michael Mortimer, Mr. Aubertine’s community liaison, told the crowd that Mr. Aubertine would follow the lead of the two counties’ legislatures.

“This is a decision that should get made in rooms like this, not in the back rooms in Albany,” he said.