What happened at the wind farm? (catastrophic failure and an eyewitness report)

[Liberty Belle]

DU members: Please read the two stories below (article on a wind farm catastrophic failure and potential safety threats to area residents, and an editorial by a biologist on dangers posed to birds), both published at www.EastCountyMagazine.org in San Diego,

Then take our poll (bottom link) on whether there is enough oversight of wind farms to assure public safety and safety of wildlife. I was an Environmental Studies major, huge supporter of alternative energy sources in general, but what I’ve seen at local wind farms and learned in research has given me some very serious pause for concerns.

When the Campo wind farm was built, some people objected because of concerns about fire dangers, noting that there have been wind turbine fires in other areas. Now even skeptics are rethinking their views, after a catastrophic failure of the entire facility recently. Had there not been snow, this incident could well have triggered another major wildfire in the same area that has already suffered two of the most devastating fires in California history. Wind farms also are indisputably killing birds, the only question is how many. With new wind farms proposed all over America, please educate yourselves on this issue. While at our site, you may also want to google “wind farms” to find a three-part series we’ve previously run that went into great depth on the advantages as well as disadvantages of wind power, including interviews with area residents near existing wind farms (before this latest incident).

1. WHAT HAPPENED AT THE WIND FARM?

All 25 turbines damaged; witness saw explosive blue light before Campo-area wind farm went dark

“I saw a huge flash of blue out on the side of the hill where the windmills were. It started in the middle and spread out in all directions. It lit up the whole hillside the white-out of a snowstorm."--Ken Daubach, ex-firefighter, who witnessed the power go down

By Miriam Raftery

February 10, 2010 (Campo) – Battered by a winter storm on December 7, 25 wind turbines at the Kumeyaay Wind project on the Campo Indian Reservation shut down---and haven’t come back on line two months later.

At a January 28 public scoping meeting, Boulevard Planning Group Chair Donna Tisdale asked the California Public Utilities Commission and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to conduct a formal public health and safety investigation.


“All 75 blades from all 25 turbines were removed and only some of the FAA required lights are working,” Tisdale wrote. “There is speculation that the high winds flowing across the composite blades created an electrostatic discharge that then arced between turbines damaging the blades and the electrical system.”
http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/2734


2. EDITORIAL: THE WIND INDUSTRY AND THE INCIDENTAL TAKE PERMIT

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service should investigate bird deaths at wind farms
By Jim Wiegand, Wildlife Biologist
February 12, 2010 (San Diego)--Every day at wind farms across America threatened or endangered species are killed from collisions with blades of the prop wind turbine. This is considered legal because the offending wind farms either hold the "incidental take permit" or were not required to have one because they did not fully disclose environmental impacts of their activities. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services requires the procurement of an incidental take permit for any individual or private industry if threatened and endangered species will be killed in a project. This killing is referred to as "take" -- and the perrmit holder has immunity from prosecution.


Currently the USFWS is not protecting America's rare and endangered species, nor is the agency enforcing the law. The number one cause of death for golden eagles in our state is the prop wind turbine. There are dozens of California condors and whooping cranes that have disappeared in recent years. Many(including myself) believe they are dying at winds farms and are not being reported as required by the USFWS. View a video of a fatal encounter between a vulture and a wind turbine…
http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/2740


3. POLL:
Is there enough oversight of wind farms to protect public safety and/or wildlife?
http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/2748