BCJ: Letter to Editor on Wind Farms

The following is taken from page 2, of the August 31, 2012 Boone County Journal, which is available free of cost at merchants across the county and on line at:  http://boonecountyjournal.com/news/2012/Boone-County-News-08-31-12.pdf#page=3

Editor,
What is the definition of renewable power? Is it the
construction of wind turbines?
Mainstream Renewable Energy, based in Ireland, intends
to build 100 wind turbines in northern Boone County. Many
landowners have been approached to lease their land .
And many have signed contracts. These contracts are
to be kept very secret. A landowner may not disclose any
information even if he wanted to. Therefore, the location of
possible turbines is not known. A developer can sell the lease
to a third party without the knowledge of the landowner. A
lease could possibly control your land for 50 years. Heirs
would have to abide, as the contract goes with the land.
These are just a few of the restrictions that a landowner will
agree to for payment of the lease.
There are many questions and concerns given by
surrounding property owners at county meetings, where the
developer is present, but no answers are given.
These turbines are not like the wind mills of years ago.
The wind does not power them. They must have electricity
to operate.
Of the many goals a wind developer will say is, they
want to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
But nothing is said about the amount of various fuels
needed to operate a single turbine transformer at the base
of each turbine, depending on the size, can contain up to
500 gallons of oil; hundreds of gallons of hydraulic and
lubricating oil; antifreeze (glycol) which is from gas and oil
reserves; greases and cleaning fluids.
A substation with one or two transformers may require
12,000 gallons , possibly more, of mineral oil which is a
byproduct of crude oil.
The manufacturers of large turbines do not include
electricity consumption in the specifications they produce.
Oil leaks do happen. On January 26, 2012 in Warsaw,
N.Y., 45 tons of soil had to be removed due to a transformer
leak of 400 gallons of oil at the base of a wind turbine.
Doris Nelson
Caledonia, Illinois