June 24, 2019
Ohio

Residents share views about wind turbines in Huron County

Stacey Hartley | Norwalk Reflector | June 24, 2019 | norwalkreflector.com

GREENWICH – In the wake of the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision to not impose more strict wind turbine regulations, local residents chimed in.

Voted on Thursday, the decision allows wind farm facilities to use different turbine types without having to undergo additional setback requirements. (A recent article on wind turbine “setbacks” was published in the Reflector.)

“We don’t want ‘em,” said a resident near the edge of Greenwich, who asked not to be identified.

“What I’m hearing (is that) they’re (wind farms) going to make them here, then send the power up and away (to places outside Greenwich).”

“No one here is going to benefit from ‘em.”

Less than a mile away, at Oma’s Belgian Waffles and Café, citizens shared a mix of opinions.

At the front counter, a person who wished to be identify only as France, voiced confusion at some of her neighbor’s hard-lined opposition.

“Most people here just don’t want to see it from their yards,” the 22-year-old woman said, referring to Greenwich citizens who are against the decision.

“And other people have said that they’re going to be loud, but I’ve been around (wind turbines) before and I don’t think they’re bad and they’re not even really loud anyways,” she added.

“Compared to how loud some cars are that come through here – or how loud they’ve got their music up … really what’s the difference?,” a nearby individual interjected.

“I just think people don’t like change,” France added finally.

Maria Upton, one of the restaurant’s owners, has a brother who lives in Belgium. He regularly uses alternate energy sources.

“My brother has (a few) solar panels on top of his house. He doesn’t rely on electricity much,” Upton said.

“I mean there are tons of them (wind and solar farms) in Europe,” said her husband Ron.

One of the more middle-of-the-road opinions came from a retired teacher having lunch.

The retiree, who wished to not have her name published, admitted she was unaware of the recent developments.

Despite being unaware of the bill’s specifics, she said she’d heard of neighboring concerns that sounds emitted from the wind turbines might affect animals.

“Honestly I haven’t read much about it and I don’t like to give my opinion (about) things without first researching it myself.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/06/24/residents-share-views-about-wind-turbines-in-huron-county/