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Dear Editor;
The uplands industrial scale wind energy project will bring radical change to the future of this area in Wisconsin just as all large-scale generation projects do. The Uplands project will change the lives of everyone in this community yet information concerning this has been swept under the rug and the county has been less than transparent. Just as happens everywhere big energy invades, most people in the county were not at all aware of the changes coming. Even today, many people in the county don't have a clue what is about to hit them. I want to relate an experience I have had with large scale turbine projects in another state. My experience is similar to many others throughout our country.
The first thing people in my county in Iowa noticed was the road closings and damage to the roads. People were nearly run off the roads by trucks speeding 20 miles over the speed limit. Sections of roads were closed and people had trouble getting to work and to school.
At about the same time people started complaining that their water was cloudy or muddy. The energy companies, blasting and drilling deep into the earth for foundations had compromised our precious water.
Then, in the midst of farming season, people were being notified by their aerial applicators that they could no longer fly in the fields in the area. Now the farmers had to go back to the old, slower methods of getting their fields sprayed and cover crops seeded. Air ambulances no longer land at accident sites. And storm systems are diverted leading to a change in climate near and downwind the turbines.
Once the turbines started going up people's viewsheds were destroyed. Someone who had always enjoyed a beautiful sunrise now was looking at turbine blades flinging...an industrial energy complex. Soon after that people became annoyed at the noise and vibrations that were constant. 85% of the turbines were not built by the owners' home but, instead, they were built too close to neighbors and interfered with those neighbors' peace and quiet. There was constant sound and blade flicker even coming into houses and making residents nauseous. The energy company's answer to that was to shut your windows and doors and close your blinds! Hardly a life most wanted to live. People began to have health problems. Quality of life had deteriorated drastically in a matter of 6 months.
People in our county had always been very close and congenial. However, once the wind turbines came in neighbor was pitted against neighbor and children against parents
Is it really worth destroying SW Wisconsin just so the utilities and their investors can get rich? If you are considering hosting a turbine how will that affect your neighbors and your relationships in the community? Is the extra money you will be getting from the turbine more important to you than the community?
Linda Grice
Stitzer, WI