August 31, 2012
Illinois, Letters

Boone County Journal letter to the editor

Boone County Journal via Boone County Watchdog | 31 August 2012

What is the definition of renewable power? Is it the construction of wind turbines?

Mainstream Renewable Energy, based in Ireland, intends to build 100 wind turbines in northern Boone County. Many landowners have been approached to lease their land.

And many have signed contracts. These contracts are to be kept very secret. A landowner may not disclose any information even if he wanted to. Therefore, the location of possible turbines is not known. A developer can sell the lease to a third party without the knowledge of the landowner. A lease could possibly control your land for 50 years. Heirs would have to abide, as the contract goes with the land.

These are just a few of the restrictions that a landowner will agree to for payment of the lease.

There are many questions and concerns given by surrounding property owners at county meetings, where the developer is present, but no answers are given.

These turbines are not like the wind mills of years ago.

The wind does not power them. They must have electricity to operate.

Of the many goals a wind developer will say is, they want to reduce the use of fossil fuels. But nothing is said about the amount of various fuels needed to operate a single turbine transformer at the base of each turbine, depending on the size, can contain up to 500 gallons of oil; hundreds of gallons of hydraulic and lubricating oil; antifreeze (glycol) which is from gas and oil reserves; greases and cleaning fluids.

A substation with one or two transformers may require 12,000 gallons, possibly more, of mineral oil which is a byproduct of crude oil.

The manufacturers of large turbines do not include electricity consumption in the specifications they produce.

Oil leaks do happen. On January 26, 2012 in Warsaw, N.Y., 45 tons of soil had to be removed due to a transformer leak of 400 gallons of oil at the base of a wind turbine.

Doris Nelson

Caledonia, Illinois

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/31/boone-county-journal-letter-to-the-editor/