November 17, 2013
New York
New York
Wind turbine breaks in Wyoming County
By Brittni Smallwood | Sunday, November 17, 2013 | www.wivb.com
By Brittni Smallwood | Sunday, November 17, 2013 | www.wivb.com
Hunters in Orangeville heard a loud boom when blade from a wind turbine at the Orangeville Wind Farm in Wyoming County broke off around 7 a.m. Sunday.
“It sounded like a cannon going off. A loud cannon. I mean, I could hear it a half a mile away and it was loud,” said Gary Paone from Cheektowaga.
The blade weighs approximately 20,000 lbs and is approximately 160 feet long. No one was injured when it dropped to the ground.
Tim Weigel from the Town of Boston said “We were hunting and at about five [minutes] after 7 I heard a crack and I thought that was some pretty loud thunder and then another crack. I said it’s too loud for thunder. Now I see what it is.”
The site manager at the facility said the incident took place while the turbines were being tested. The broken turbine is one of 58 at the wind farm that were installed last month.
“They just put them up I thought they were new they should last a couple of years” said Weigel.
The turbines were installed by Invenergy, an independent wind power generation company. A spokeswoman for them, Alissa Kinsky, said that all of the turbine operations have been suspended as a precaution. They are currently working with General Electric, the turbine manufacturer, to determine what caused the incident to happen.
Hunters News 4 spoke with said they won’t let one broken blade stop them from hunting. “I guess you just kind of have to watch where you’re going,” said Steve Paone from Cheektowaga.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/17/wind-turbine-breaks-in-wyoming-county/