Wind farms and stinky farms
The Advertiser-Tribune | Jan 15, 2019 | www.advertiser-tribune.com
On the west side of Seneca County there is a huge landfill, run by a company called Sunny Farms, only as it turns out, it has become “stinky farms.” This started as a local landfill that has now changed hands several times. It now takes out-of-county and out-of-state waste, including building materials which when decomposing, produces out-gassing that smells like rotten eggs. What does this do to the quality of life, health and property values to nearby residents? Did the landfill owners tell people in the vicinity what effects this would produce, before they took on this project? The answer would be, of course not.
Are the out-of-state people pushing for wind farms, or are they only telling them about a way to make more money from their land? Only by attending area meetings, getting information from research gathered from places already having gone through this experience, and reading scientific information have we come to the conclusion that wind farms are not the right answer for rural Seneca and surrounding counties. In fact, they may not be the solution to the energy question at all. Remember the “flavor of the week” when it was all about nuclear power plants for energy?
The subjects seem somewhat unrelated, but in the cases mentioned above, big corporations are trying to “dump” on areas far away from where they are headquartered. Let’s learn a lesson from “stinky farms” and not create another problem with “windy farms” without a lot more research.
One opinion we read lately suggests that you should be able to do with your land what you want. We agree whole-heartily with this concept, except when what you do on your land has an adverse effect on the rest of us. We would imagine, that is why there are agencies, zoning laws and EPA regulations that tell us we have to do certain things and are not allowed to do others on our land, because it might have negative results on the lives of others or our world environment in general.
Let’s learn from the problems that have resulted from the landfill site. Let’s use a lot more discretion now and in the future about what we allow to happen that could or would harm the health and welfare of others. Let’s look into solar power and goethermal energy, if we are looking for renewable energy sources. Let’s not be sold a bill of goods. We need to be sure we are always vigilant and get all the facts before we jump in to a “quick fix!” If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.
Caring grandparents,
Fred and Kay Zirger,
Tiffin
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/01/15/wind-farms-and-stinky-farms/