May 30, 2008
Illinois

The ‘spin’ on the wind

EUREKA – It was a heated debate – even a spinning wind turbine couldn’t cool down. Thursday night the Woodford County board discussed the possibilities of “green-lighting” a wind farm in El Paso. In fact they discussed for nearly 40 minutes whether to even vote at all.

El Paso’s Mayor says he felt sick to his stomach tonight. He says it’s the first time in his 51 years as a resident that he’s ashamed to live in Woodford County. Many others echoed his thoughts as citizens addressed the board. Several spoke out against the proposed wind farm. Some accused board members of manipulating the agenda and voting on the issue without full knowledge of the project. The proposed wind farm calls for 40-turbines that would generate power to be distributed to up to 17-states.

Wind farm representatives told us that fears of projects like this tend to go away once the farm is actually built. There’s no set timeline for the project, but investors are anxious to break ground soon.

UPDATE: After hearing almost an hour of public comments, we’re told the board debated for another 45 minutes on what to do tonight. Ultimately, they decided to postpone a final decision until July.

WMBD/WYZZ TV

centralillinoisproud.com

29 May 2008


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/05/30/the-spin-on-the-wind-2/