July 5, 2019
Nebraska

Locals speak out about wind farm project

By Hope Moural | Crete News | www.sewardindependent.com

A conditional use permit requesting 11 parcels of additional land for what is known as the Milligan One project in Saline County has been stirring controversy.

The project, a proposed wind farm previously owned by Askamit Resource Management, has officially been run by EDF Renewables since January. The current maps are of the construction site including county roads J through S and 100-1600, within county lines.

“To be frank, I am totally against the project,” Gary Veprovsky, who lives south of Dorchester, said. “I don’t want it here.”

Veprovsky, whose land is located just across the road from the construction project, said many factors need to be figured out before anything proceeds, like better communication with Saline County Commissioners about where the project stands and where it hopes to go.

As of right now, construction for the project, which consists of 99 wind turbines, is set to take place later this year.

“(The commissioners) need to look at zoning regulations and noise restrictions,” Chuck McKay said.

McKay, who lives on County Road R and 900 near Western, said the turbines are slated for setbacks of 1,200 feet when surrounding counties such as Fillmore and Lancaster have distance regulations at 2,300 feet. McKay said he does not feel safe with that distance, adding the noise created by the turbines would be a disturbance.

He also said the permit filed with the county in 2016 with Aksamit was improperly filed, and that EDF should have to renew it.

“That’s bogus,” Saline County Commissioner Marvin Kohout said. “We requested information on that and technically did start construction in 2016.”

Last month, EDF issued a permit that is valid through 2021.

For landowners who said they have not been informed that their land is involved in the project, Kohout said only landowners with property adjacent to the 11 new parcels would have been notified.

A member of EDF Renewables, Sandi Briner, reached out to the Wilber Republican and said, “We are thankful for such a supportive and patient group of project advocates and look forward to continuing to engage with the community as we move into the construction phase of the project. Over the coming weeks we will put together a series of community discussions to be sure the neighboring community is well-informed about the construction process, including the timing and location of activities.”

Further action will only be taken by the Saline County Commissioners if concerns are added to the July 9 agenda.

“It’s a dead issue unless they add it back on,” Kohout said.

At the time of publication, EDF had not added the request for extra land on the agenda. No local residents had asked to be on the agenda.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/07/05/locals-speak-out-about-wind-farm-project/