Residents concerned about implications for proposed turbines

High winds and ice Tuesday are partially to blame for knocking an approximately 20-foot section from the top of a 160-foot Monroe Township meteorological tower, raising concerns among area residents about what could happen to a wind turbine in the event of a more serious ice storm.

“Wind Truth Alliance questions why a wind company would erect a structure that cannot withstand Ohio weather,” Linda Hughes of the organization wrote in a prepared statement. “If wind turbines are to be built in Logan County, what will protect residents from the impact of the recent ice storm and more severe ice storms, such as the one in 2005?”

Ken Gray, project manager for Babcock and Brown’s local project, reported that a meteorological tower installed by wind developers to collect wind speed and other data on the County Road 47 property of Doug and Vickie Boots did sustain damage in Tuesday’s ice storm. The tower was removed at the company’s advice within 18 hours of the failure.

While ice and wind did most likely factor into the failure, Mr. Gray said the problem is primarily related to the anchors used to support the meteorological tower, referred to as a met tower. He said freezing and thawing of the ground was likely what caused the anchor to come loose and stress from the weather conditions resulted in the problem.

“This was a lesson learned. The anchors are probably not correct for this soil type,” he said. “It was probably a combination of stresses, but the anchor in the ground was the weak link in the chain. We addressed it immediately and there is no hazard anymore.”

No one was injured and no other property sustained damage, Mr. Gray said.

But Mrs. Hughes said that residents need to know that they will be protected if larger wind turbines are built.

“The anemometer tower that fell is a stationary monopole anchored by guide wires but it could not withstand the weight of ice from a recent storm,” she wrote. “A wind turbine is a moving 400- to 500-foot tall structure with 165-foot blades. The sheer weight of ice from frequent Ohio ice storms on huge industrial moving turbines affirms the safety issue in regard to the structural integrity of these machines.”

But Mr. Gray said more rigorous engineering goes into the installation of the multimillion dollar wind turbines and a collapse of a wind turbine caused by ice loading has never been documented.

“This met tower no way reflects the structural integrity of a wind turbine,” he said. “Ice can form on the blade, but the way they are designed, sensors sense that and it will slow down or shut down the blades if it senses they are off balance.”

As temperatures rise, ice will inevitably fall from the blades as it fell noisily from power lines and tree branches in Logan County throughout the day Thursday.

“Ice does fall; that’s why we have setbacks,” Mr. Gray said. “If there is ice, you don’t hang out under it. That is a common procedure.”

Michelle Mazey in the office of the utilities director for the city of Bowling Green, where four wind turbines are located, said the area experienced some icy conditions, but not as severe as the conditions in and around Logan County. There were no issues regarding the wind turbines, and they appeared to be operational throughout the Tuesday storm, she said.

The Wind Truth Alliance Group also called on the company to publicly release an engineering analysis of this week’s incident.