Former County Judge E. Richard Williams said he does not agree with Scout Clean Energy’s claim that the company does not need any type of regulatory oversight from any entity in Arkansas for 46 wind turbines, up to 698 feet tall, proposed for the $300-million Nimbus Wind Facility in rural Carroll County. The intended site for the facility is near County Roads 905 and 920.
“Arkansas Fire Protection Code 2021 requires permit applications and oversight for any buildings or other structures that are three or more stories high,” Williams, who lives on CR 905, said. “The AFPC 2021 applies to all counties in the state and requires permit applications, construction documents, testing and inspections for any structure in the state that is three or more stories tall.
“Assessments are required by an Arkansas licensed architect. County Judge David Writer and most members of the Quorum Court have said they are opposed to land use regulations and have voted against any resolutions to provide protection of our water and property rights from the Nimbus project proposed by Scout Clean Energy, a foreign-owned entity. But AFPC 2021 clearly states that oversight and testing is required.”
Williams said the issue is not regarding planning and zoning, but public health, safety, and welfare for property owners.
AFPC 2021 (A) 107.1 states: “General. Submittal documents consisting of construction documents, statement of special inspections, geotechnical report and other data shall be submitted in two or more sets, or in a digital format where allowed by the building official with each permit application. The construction documents shall be prepared by a registered design professional where required statutes of the jurisdiction where the project is to be constructed. Where special conditions exist, a building official is authorized to require additional construction documents to be prepared by a registered design professional. A registered design professional, an architect or engineer legally registered under the laws of this state regulating the practice of architecture or engineering, shall be required and shall affix his or her official seal to said drawings, specifications and accompanying data for the following: … 2. Buildings and structures 3 or more stories in height. 3. Buildings and structures 5,000 square feet or more in area.”
Volume 2, AFPC 201, (A) 105.1 states owners shall first make applications to the building official and obtain the required permit. “If there is no building official appointed, the owner, authorized agent or contractor shall make an application to the State Fire Marshal.”
ABC-Section 107, construction documents, states: Submittal documents consisting of construction documents, statement of special inspections, geotechnical report and other data shall be submitted in two or more sets, or in a digital format where allowed by the building official with each permit application.
But State Fire Marshal George Free, in an email to Carroll County Judge David Writer April 15, states that there are exceptions to the 2021 AFPC, Volume II.
“The building official is authorized to waive the submission of construction documents and other data not required to be prepared by a registered design professional if it found that the nature of the work applied for is such that review of construction documents is not necessary to obtain compliance with this code. The wind mills (turbines) are no different than large electrical power lines, which do not require construction documents. Wind turbines are new to Arkansas and there are no International Code Council adopted codes to regulate them.”
Williams reads the codes differently and believes Scout will need permit applications for each site. He said the AFPC code states all sites to require:
- Submittable for site plan/drainage review by PE [professional engineer], Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan requirements for drainage containments for all construction activities.
- Geotechnical borings/reports at all sites for foundation design, structure review/approval. Submittal for all sites for Geotech reports for review/approval, foundation approval by professional engineer for review/approval. All foundation details, materials specs, reinforcements/details/drawings for review/approval.
Williams insists that the code requires reviews and ongoing inspection after every time it rains one quarter inch or more at every site during construction.
“It is required by AFPC 2021 for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the citizens that the county is responsible for reviewing, permitting and inspections of all wind tower sites,” Williams said. “Scout has stated it has no permitting requirements from the state or county. Judge Writer has agreed. He stated that Carroll County has no zoning and land use plan, and there is nothing he can do. But I have recently learned that there is oversight and permitting required under AFPC 2021.”
Nimbus opponent Caroline Rogers, who lives near several proposed turbine sites, said the general consensus is that since turbine fires caused by lightning can’t be put out due to the turbine height, and it is best to just let the fire burn out, as burning debris will fall to the ground and can be extinguished. She said it has been documented that the wind can spread lightweight burnt fiberglass debris for a mile or more.
“Richard and I interviewed a premium hay producer in New York where this very scenario happened,” Rogers said. “Lightning struck a turbine on an absentee landowner’s property. The fire department monitored the fire and let it burn out. It was a windy New York day in April 2023 and fiberglass particles blew over one mile away to this farm, whose owners did not want or lease their property to wind turbines. The owner said fiberglass particles were in her trees, pond and premium hay that is her income. The hay, of course, could not be sold or fed to her own cows. She had to start buying $15,000 worth of hay a month. The wind company did not sufficiently clean up nor compensate her for her ongoing revenue loss.”
Rogers said this is a case where “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A fire suppression system would be the answer for all the wind turbines. This is an option that Scout can easily purchase on their 46 turbines and would go a long way to show openness, transparency and concern for the health, safety and welfare of Carroll County citizens and firefighters.”
Free wrote in the email that he has researched and has found where it would be beneficial (not required) to have fire suppression installed in each turbine. “I would strongly recommend the fire suppression system,” he responded. “National Fire Protection 850 is the standard for fire suppression in wind turbines. This standard has not been adopted by the State of Arkansas.”