April 15, 2014
Pennsylvania

Cause of Mill Run turbine collapse still being investigated

By Karl Polacek | Monday, April 14, 2014 | triblive.com

The wreckage of the wind turbine in Mill Run that fell on the evening of Jan. 15 has now been removed.

And one of the other turbines that had not been operating since that day has been restarted.

According to Steve Stengal, spokesperson for Nextera, the corporation’s team is continuing to evaluate the conditions that caused the collapse of a wind turbine at Mill Run on Jan. 15.

“In addition to our ongoing analysis, as a precaution, we have removed from service a few turbines that exhibited any similar conditions to the turbine that failed,” said Stengal via email.

It was on the evening of Jan. 15 when Wayne and Ruth Steyer, who live along Clay Run Road, had unusual experiences. Wayne, 75, was watching television about 9 p.m. when the power flickered. His wife, Ruth, 73, heard a loud rumble. She thought it was thunder, even though there was no indication of a storm.

The Steyer’s daughter-in-law, Trudy, 45, who, with her husband, Ronald, live next door, said she also heard the rumble and felt her house shake.

“I thought it was thunder snow,” she said. “We get that a lot of that up here in the winter.”

Trudy and her daughter, Laura, said they ran out onto the porch and looked up the hill toward the ridge line.

“What’s that lump,” Trudy said she asked? “And where is that windmill (wind turbine that used to stand at that location?)”

Ruth Steyer said crews had finally removed the wreckage of the wind turbine that fell on what was once the Steyer’s property. All that is left is a line of dirt that marks the place where the tower fell.

“We’ve never heard a word from them (Nextera,)” said Ruth, when asked if the company contacted them.

No additional information was available from the company.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/04/15/cause-of-mill-run-turbine-collapse-still-being-investigated/