Last night, a second town hall was held for a question-and-answer session with RWE representatives regarding the potential wind farm project. Once again, they spoke about the benefits of this potential project. 68 million dollars would go to Henry County over the course of the contract, with 57 million dollars to be split between WACO, WMU, and Mt. Pleasant school districts. The district with the most infrastructure related to the project would receive the biggest portion of those dollars.
During the forum, a citizen asked if pacemakers are affected by wind turbines. An RWE representative responded that there is no effect on those. A few wondered if oil will drip off the side and contaminate the soil, however, they were told that the new turbines have a drip pan in place which catches every drop. If the turbine were to detect a leak, it would automatically shut down.
Many people don’t want turbines in their back yards, and RWE revealed that they plan to place 1 or 2 turbines per section. A section was defined last night as 640 acres, or 1 square mile.
Regarding the tour that RWE has offered to landowners, this tour would be to a wind farm of 139 turbines standing at 495 ft each.
A constituent asked the Henry County Board of Supervisors a simple question, “what is the purpose of these meetings.” An answer provided by a supervisor seemed to suit the people, saying that these are a public forum and a way for the public to make their voices heard. Another citizen encouraged the supervisors to reach out to other county supervisors with wind turbines in their county for more information.
An observation of the room showed that many concerned citizens have done their own research on wind turbines. One man asked the question “what’s a sunset cost?”