Scout Clean Energy held the second of two public information sessions Monday night at the Berryville Community Center. Residents ranged from adamantly opposed to curious but undecided about the proposed $300-million project, to those who support the installation. Forty-three wind turbines—some as high as 650 feet—are proposed south of Green Forest near County Roads 905 and 920.
James Mitchell, a retired architect from Eureka Springs, said he feels it is critical to do anything possible to create sustainable green energy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate disruptions.
“Electricity will never be cheaper than it is today,” Mitchell said. “Costs are just going to go up and up, and we need to develop new sources of power.”
Rand Embrey said he retired to Berryville from Dallas, Texas, in order to get away from large industrial developments.
“I moved to the Ozarks for natural beauty,” Embrey said. “I don’t want to see those eyesores in our beautiful mountains. I am all for alternative energy in places more appropriate, like the plains. There are miles of wind turbines in West Texas that are not near any homes.”
Embrey’s concerns include significant noise pollution, danger to wildlife and endangerment of water supplies. He said the huge project would benefit a few large landowners, some who don’t even live in the area, at the expense of neighbors who receive no financial benefit. He likened the turbines to smoking cigarettes, saying smokers are not fair to non-smokers who breathe secondhand smoke.
Asked about when the project would break ground, Mark Wengierski, vice president of east region development, Scout Clean Energy, said that would happen after the project has a customer. He said a lot of companies, like Amazon and Google, are interested in purchasing green power to offset their carbon footprint.
When asked if Nimbus would sell to companies like Entergy or Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp., Wengierski said that could be. Scout has maintained that it doesn’t need permits from the Arkansas Public Service Commission to build the facility unless it sells to in-state utilities. Some opponents have expressed concern about a lack of government oversight if it doesn’t need APSC permitting.
Wengierski said all the wind leases are voluntary. But one woman who recently signed a land contract financed by the previous owner said she was unaware of a Scout easement on the property. Other property owners have stated they were aware of wind easements, but not the length of them (some are for 30 years), nor the impact it might have on them.
Wengierski said in real estate, leases run concurrently with the land. He said the leases should have been disclosed by the seller, and that buyers have a responsibility to check public records to determine if there are leases that impact their property prior to purchase.
He also pointed out that 9,500 acres have been leased for the project representing dozens of property owners who want to see this project happen.
Wind turbines are nothing new. Wengierski said in the history of the U.S., they were used to help settle the West by using windmills to pump water and provide lights.
“These turbines are just a bigger, newer, more efficient air motor,” he said.
Initially Scout Clean Energy wrote in an email to the Independent that the towers would be more than 200 feet tall. A public radio report indicated they would be more than 500 feet tall. Recent documents from a Freedom of Information Act request indicated 14 of the wind turbines would be 650 feet tall. The Seattle Space Needle is 605 feet tall.
Wengierski said the company is trying its best to provide factually accurate information. The company has had meteorological towers up for years testing wind speeds. That information will be used to determine the height, blade lengths and different size motors for turbines that would work best in Carroll County.
Another person who attended the open house was Zack Eagleson, who left Carroll County after graduating high school and earned a degree in wind energy in Oklahoma. He worked six years in wind turbine operations.
“I was the guy who kept them spinning,” Eagleson said. “I did the maintenance. I think there are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation about wind turbines, but I do understand certain concerns.”
Mike Edwards, who lives on CR 905, said he was approached twice by Scout to sign easements. He said that the company wanted him to sign the easements before telling him the conditions. Edwards said the first time, Scout offered him $500 for the easement; the second time, he was offered $1,000 a month. Edwards said he felt Scout was unethical.
“And no one is going to tell me what I can do with my property,” he said.
Edwards said that, as best as he can determine, there will be large turbines to the north and south of him.
“I’m at the head of the hollow so the amount of noise will be a major issue,” Edwards said. “This property is my daughter’s inheritance, and it will be hers to do with as she pleases. But if one of these towers goes up, property values will go down.”
A couple of people indicated they came to the meeting to learn more about the project. One man who lives near the project said he isn’t necessarily opposed but believes the tower near him would be an eyesore. A young man from Eureka Springs who gave only his first name, Alexander, said he wanted to see how the company presented itself.
“They did a good job,” he said. “They were very personable. There were a couple of answers I didn’t quite appreciate. They were uninformative. I asked if they would make geotechnical information about the turbine sites available and they said, ‘No. Only the landowner gets that information.’”
Caroline Rogers, who believes she would have three large turbines surrounding her home on CR 905, attended the meeting wearing a sign with a long list of concerns about the proposal. She has been part of organizing an opposition group meeting regularly.
Rogers had a notebook at the meeting with 25 questions primarily about environmental issues. “Every question I asked them, the Scout consultant said, ‘I just don’t have that information with me,”’ Rogers said.
Rogers can be reached at stopwindfarmsar@gmail.com or by calling (870) 350-1516.