January 31, 2007
Illinois
Illinois
Denise Preller is sensitive to motion sickness.
She told the McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday that for her, the proposed 100-turbine wind farm will make her ill.
“I’m disturbed that I’ll get motion sickness in my own back yard,” she said.
Her husband, Bill Preller, doesn’t relish the thought of sitting in his recliner in his family room and looking out his bay window only to see a wind turbine instead of a sunset.
While the couple’s Hudson property will not have a turbine on it, Denise Preller said there will be one within 1,500 feet and eight in the section where they live. And she thinks a similar project in eastern McLean County looks like “a bad science fiction movie.”
The Prellers were the only people who testified during Tuesday’s four-hour hearing on Invenergy Wind LLC’s request for a special-use permit for the wind farm between Interstates 39 and 74 in McLean and Woodford counties. Testimony will continue at 6 p.m. today at the Government Center, 115 E. Washington St., Bloomington.
Denise Preller also voiced concerns that the light on top of the turbines will disrupt her view of the night and daytime skyline, and that a tornado could come through the wind farm area and “bring debris toward me.”
She also questioned a survey done by a company hired by Chicago-based Invenergy to look at the possible effect the turbines could have on television reception.
Denise Preller said the report stated everyone in the area has access to cable television – but no one does. The report also said only 5 percent have satellite television when, in a survey she did, the number is closer to 75 percent.
She also questioned a study by Peter Poletti, an appraiser hired by Invenergy to look at the effects of wind turbines on property values. Denise Preller said Poletti compared the proposed White Oak Wind Energy Center area, which encompasses more than 400 homes, to one near Paw Paw that has only 67 turbines and 30 homes.
Bill Preller concentrated on the possible effects of the wind farm on crop-dusting efforts to fight soybean rust.
Bill Preller argued it is highly likely the area will be hit with soybean rust – a disease that if left untreated can destroy crops.
While he admitted crops can be treated by ground spreaders, it’s impractical if the ground is wet, he said.
He also noted crop dusters using airplanes can cover more area quickly. But, Bill Preller said, if wind turbines are in the area, they need to be in an orderly grid so the planes can safely maneuver and turn.
That’s not the case with the proposal by Invenergy, he said.
In another matter, attorney Melissa McGrath said board member David Kinsella was overheard making a negative comment about Denise Preller following Monday’s hearing. She asked that Kinsella be removed, but request was denied.
By Mary Ann Ford
mford@pantagraph.com
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/01/31/wind-farm-concerns-include-questionable-reports/