Concerned Burt County citizen
Washington County Enterprise and Pilot Tribune | February 24, 2020 | www.enterprisepub.com
Washington County Enterprise and Pilot Tribune | February 24, 2020 | www.enterprisepub.com
Only a month ago, I was oblivious like many others in Burt County, regarding the plans to build massive wind turbines in our beautiful county. A New York based company, Con Edison, has been working particular people in the area to conduct feasibility studies. They hope to be operational by 2023. Let me say that again, ‘operational by 2023’.
These wind turbines are not anything like the windmills of the past. They are incomparable. Wind turbines are massive pieces of metal and fiberglass that require tons of dirt work and concrete. We’ve heard that their heights could range from 500-650 feet tall. The former AT&T tower is only 329 feet. Can you imagine? The turbines themselves only have to have a ground clearance of 25 feet per current regulations. This makes them almost as wide as they are tall. They will forever change the landscape of our beautiful county.
Most of the people who are against the wind turbines are not against agriculture. We know that when we live in Nebraska we can expect to have livestock live around or near us. We did not however, expect to have this happen. Wind turbines are industrially based. They do not improve the land that farmers take such care to work.
And if you think that the electricity produced by the wind turbines will help you with your utility bills, think again. The company installing them will be selling it out of the county and potentially even out of state. If anything, it could cause an increase in utilities due to needing to upgrade infrastructure.
In all the reading I’ve done since finding out about this project, I’ve come across nothing but story after story regarding how the wind turbine projects do nothing for the county, but cause division against friends, families, and neighbors. This story is playing out in hundreds of counties across the US. I’d hate to see that happen to our county. I hope that those considering letting Con Edison erect these wind turbines consider their neighbors and how it will affect them, regardless of the minimum setbacks the regs will allow.
Concerned Burt County Citizen,
Erin Raabe
Lyons, Nebraska
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/02/25/concerned-burt-county-citizen/