Commissioners aren’t ‘interested in facts’
Kokomo Tribune | September 26, 2013 | kokomotribune.com
Industrial wind turbines, slated to be foisted upon us, will adversely affect every taxpayer in Howard County. Damage won’t be limited to just those nearly 3,000 residents who will live beneath them. Total income to the county from the turbines over an 11-year period will only add up to $4 million. For a county whose yearly budget is $39 million to $42 million, this sum is paltry.
E.ON will destroy drainage and roads in eastern Howard County. This area is a swamp. Much is considered flood plain. It’s taken millions of dollars over decades to lay drainage tile, and we still flood easily. Drainage tiles will be crushed. The 60-foot diameter turbine bases, multiplied by 100 turbines, equals 6,000 feet of pavement on former farm fields, creating new drainage problems. The 12-foot-deep bases will also act as underground dams, disrupting underground water flow.
Roads were once terrible. The millions to build decent roads were spread over decades. Our county budget will suddenly be stressed to restore infrastructure! With little income from turbines, where will money come from to restore our infrastructure destroyed by them? Will taxes go up? Will Howard County go bankrupt? All of Howard County will pay this bill.
Anyone traveling here will be endangered. Safety issues for those around turbines are staggering. Yet the commissioners want to construct them right by roads everyone uses. If there is an accident, LifeLine helicopters cannot access this area, putting many at risk!
Slurry put on roads contains silica. Silica dust stirred up by driving the roads can cause silicosis, a fatal lung disease, putting all citizens at risk.
Once turbines are constructed, no new homes or businesses can be built. The county is locked into the setbacks for future expansion. People’s property values go down, decreasing property taxes and further depleting county income. The six jobs created aren’t local hires.
Turbines attract no one and drive people away. Yet our commissioners told us they aren’t interested in facts.
Turbines aren’t green! Much mining is required to acquire metals to construct them. Smelting metals takes coal. Making one 500-foot turbine is like manufacturing 100 automobiles. To make the millions of yards of concrete, rock has to be heated to at least 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit using fossil fuel. The turbines, up 300 feet, each contain 200 gallons of oil that can leak or catch fire.
Turbines don’t save fossil fuel, they waste it while creating inefficient, costly energy, if the wind blows.
Gays, abortionists and illegals have rights. However, the citizens of Howard County have no rights! A German wind company dictates to our county, forcing us to live with these Chinese-made turbines. Our citizens are ignored, not allowed to say no.
Months of research was done by citizens to prove the folly of this enterprise, yet our commissioners are sentencing all of Howard County to a planned disaster. Is it right that three men have the power to foist such a catastrophe upon us all?
Leelia Cornell
Greentown
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/09/26/commissioners-arent-interested-in-facts/