Scout Clean Energy held another open house at the Berryville Community Center on Monday, October 14, to update the public on progress in launching a $400-million Nimbus Wind Farm project. The proposal includes 30 wind turbines, averaging 644-feet-tall, in a rural area south of Green Forest along County Roads 905 and 920.
The meeting was like earlier open houses where opponents of the project appeared to be upset, worried and skeptical, and a few were openly angry. When this reporter approached a group of landowners who have leased to the company for comment, one woman said, “I won’t talk to you. You twist our words.”
Information stations staffed by Scout/Nimbus experts were placed around the room explaining construction, geotechnical surveys, permits and studies. But the Independent was asked to only quote Mark Wengierski, vice president of east development at Scout Clean Energy, and not any other experts.
Scout had said earlier that one of the final pieces of the project needed before construction begins is for Scout to identify a customer for the electricity generated by the wind farm. Wengierski said that a customer will be announced by the end of the year. Scout has said that the electricity generated by the turbines will be sold out of state and, as such, the company is not required to get a permit from the Arkansas Public Service Commission for the project.
Wengierski said the number of turbines was decreased from 43 to 30 because of improved technology—bigger, taller, more efficient machines that are able to harvest wind resources in areas previously not considered ideal for wind generation.
One of the bigger concerns of landowners in the area who have not leased to Scout/Nimbus is regarding impacts on their wells, springs and other water sources in an area that includes a karst subsurface riddled with caves, springs and underground water reservoirs. Wengierski said that each turbine location has been determined to be safe for construction with soil borings being conducted to 60 feet deep.
Connie Kleffman, who lives south of Green Forest near the proposed project, said she is concerned about how she and her family could be impacted if the project disrupts their water supplies. She said her mother runs a cattle ranch, and losing water for the cattle would be a disaster.
“This area is prone to sinkholes,” Kleffman said. “My parents have had sinkholes on their property. If we do lose water, it might be difficult to prove it was caused by the Nimbus project. I fear the blasting will make us suffer. No one knows for sure what will happen. The little guy is being taken advantage of here.”
Kleffman said some of her neighbors living on top of the hill have springs as their only water sources. She has attended Quorum Court meetings where proposed ordinances for setbacks from homes, or a moratorium on wind and solar projects until regulations are in place, were defeated. Justices of the Peace who voted against regulations said they did so to protect private property rights.
“But the private property rights of neighbors of this project are not being considered,” she said. “Many of the leaseholders are absentee landowners. They don’t live here. It is not okay in their backyard, but it is okay in my backyard.”
Kleffman also said that if they did lose their water supplies, it could be especially difficult as the region is now in a severe drought. She said if their water supplies are disrupted, it would be difficult and expensive to sue a multi-national company with deep pockets.
Residents have been concerned that even if there is no impact in the area underneath the turbines, blasting to prepare the site could disrupt wells and springs nearby that are the only local water supplies available to many. Wengierski said that right now they aren’t planning any blasting. But he said if they ran into something like granite, they would consider using some precision blasting. He said since the turbine foundations are only 16-feet deep, there would be minimal disturbances offsite.
Wengierski said that the project wouldn’t be possible without the support of 50 people who have signed voluntary agreements to lease to Scout. When asked if people who signed agreements believing they would have a turbine or turbines on their land are upset about not getting a turbine, he said that landowners who don’t get turbines would still get a community royalty which would keep them paid throughout the project. However, he had no estimate of how much those community royalties would be. The estimate for total lease payments is $14 million over the 30-year expected lifespan of the project.
“We are incredibly excited to build this project for our landowners,” Wengierski said.
In addition, Wengierski said the entire local economy would benefit from the construction phase of the project that would involve the employment of about 200 people who would be stimulating the local economy with spending on housing, food, gas and transportation.
One farmer attending the meeting, who asked not to be identified in this article, said he was unhappy that County Judge David Writer did not come meet with any of the farmers in the area before signing a Road Use Management Agreement (RUMA) that would allow Scout\Nimbus to improve the county roads involved to allow transportation of the concrete and other heavy components for the project.
“It seems like they are ramrodding this project through without talking to the individual farmers in this area who own the land,” he said.
Opponents of the project have filed a lawsuit against Scout/Nimbus and Writer, alleging the RUMA is an illegal taking of private property as landowners in the area own to the middle of the road. Writer insists he had every right to enter into the RUMA.
Wengierski said Scout/Nimbus has completed many elements needed to proceed with the project. He said the Federal Aviation Administration has ruled the project will not be a hazard to aviation. A poster at the event titled “Permitting and Studies” said the following are also complete: Raptor and eagle nest surveys, acoustic and mist-net survey for bats, avian use survey, transportation survey, karst surveys, phase one environmental survey, wetlands field survey, final geotech, cultural field survey and road use agreement. The Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and Habitat Conservation Plan are listed as in progress.