August 16, 2019
Missouri

Barton County woman holds public meeting, raises concerns over wind farm

Public meeting discusses upcoming wind farm | By Zachary Dodge | KOAM | Aug 15, 2019 | www.koamnewsnow.com

BARTON COUNTY, Mo. – Jennifer Ryan, Barton County Resident: “It wasn’t until I actually saw it with my own eyes, and realized it was gonna effect me personally, that I got concerned and decided to get involved.”

In June, Liberty Utilities-Empire District got approval from the Missouri Public Service Commission to build wind farms in southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas.. including Barton County.

According to Liberty Utilities, the project will bring about 140 wind turbines split between Barton, Dade, Jasper and Lawrence counties, and save customers 300 million dolls over 30 years.

In January, the Barton County commission signed an implementation agreement, that puts the setbacks to 500 feet from a public road and 500 feet from a non-participating property line.

It also says no turbines can be located closer that 110 percent of the total height from an occupied structure.

Ryan: “There’s just so many issues related to wind turbines, but the main issue is that they are putting these way too close.”

Barton County resident Jennifer Ryan held a public meeting in Lamar to share info.. and her opinion.. that she says she gained from talking to county officials and people in other parts of the state who live near them.

But many people at the meeting said they didn’t even know about the project.

Bob Witt, Lamar Resident: “I try and keep informed, and it just amazes me that all of the elected representatives that we have have concurred to let this happen.”

We reached out to Liberty Utilities to get more information on where the turbines will be built, and how tall they will be.

They refereed us to the contractor.

Construction is expected to start on all of the wind farms this fall.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/08/16/barton-county-woman-holds-public-meeting-raises-concerns-over-wind-farm/