The proposed Scout Clean Energy Nimbus Wind Project south of Green Forest has been compared to the proposed SWEPCO high-voltage transmission lines that would have crossed scenic and environmentally significant areas of Carroll County. After a long campaign involving hundreds of citizens, SWEPCO withdrew its application for the transmission lines nine years ago.
Steve Crow, a retiree who lives in Holiday Island, said the environmental damage for the Nimbus project that is not needed for Carroll County or Arkansas could be worse than what was proposed by SWEPCO. Crow said in addition to sites for the 43 turbines more than 500 feet tall, new transmission lines would be needed.
“Not too long ago, people were all up in arms about the SWEPCO transmission lines,” Crow said. “If people thought SWEPCO was bad, this should shake them to their core. The vast number of acres of Ozark forests that would have to be cleared to make way for this project is astounding. And then there would be considerable road work required to allow big trucks to transport these massive turbines and other components.”
Crow and other opponents have objected to the lack of public input and government oversight for the project. Others say that since 50 local landowners have signed leases, it has hardly been a secret.
Crow lives close to Table Rock Lake and has been delighted with “the magnificent rebound of animal species like the bald eagles. It is amazing to see how many bald eagles nest and live here. A decade ago, you rarely saw them. We know the negative impacts wind turbines have on eagles, falcons, hawks and other predatory birds. We have seen it already in other areas of the country.”
Nimbus would be the first major wind facility built in Arkansas. Crow said wind is an inefficient way to produce electricity in the Ozarks and wouldn’t be economical without federal tax subsidies.
“If it was efficient, the utilities would do it themselves and realize a profit,” Crow said. “It is a waste of resources. This is not in my backyard, but it is in a part of the country I care about, the Ozarks. The government wants to regulate everything else, but it seems like if landowners get enough money, it doesn’t matter what impact it has on their neighbors. I am a big proponent of landowner rights. I have a Libertarian streak in me. Property rights should be protected as long as developments are not a detriment to community health and safety. This project would be horrible and noisy, harming people, wildlife and the environment.”
Crow said the proposed project is not that far from the Buffalo National River, which is a wildlife refuge and a big draw for tourism. He said he doesn’t think Carroll County is a suitable place for a development on this scale, and asks what would people in the Great Smoky Mountains say about big clearcuts for a wind facility?
Crow has visited wind farms in Wyoming, the panhandle of Texas, and New Mexico. He said those areas with strong winds and flat prairie lands have far better wind making them more efficient and suitable for large-scale wind generation.
Scout has said energy from Nimbus would be transmitted along a new, four-mile transmission line to connect with the Dry Creek Substation operated by the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. Crow points to a statement from Buddy Hasten, president and CEO of AECC, in its Arkansas Living magazine regarding the supply chain with transformers.
“He made the point that three years ago they could put in an order for transformers and have them delivered in six to eight weeks,” Crow said. “Now it is taking three years to get new transformers. Every time you install a wind farm or an electric vehicle charging station, you have to upgrade to larger transformers. They don’t have enough transformers now for residential uses. Hasten also writes that he is a very opposed to intermittent sources of power like wind generation.”
Caroline Rogers, who lives on CR 905, said proponents of wind energy see wind farms as the savior from the pollution from nuclear, natural gas and coal-fired power plants.
“They only see wind as a solution to pollution and as a replacement for high electricity bills,” Rogers, who said she believes there would be three wind turbines visible from her property, said. “Nothing else matters to them, not the noise, red lights, shadow flickering, deforestation, health issues and bird deaths. We all know wind power is a paper-pushing, chaos-creating, people-dividing Ponzi scheme. Wind power as a solution to clean energy just creates a whole new set of problems.”
She questions how many wind facilities would be needed to shut down even one nuclear power plant. And she argues that while solar energy has its problems, it may be the lesser of two evils.