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Colorado orders Abound Solar to clean up hazardous waste at four sites
February 26, 2013 by Mark Jaffe in The Denver Post

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says Abound Solar is responsible for thousands of "unsellable" solar panels containing cadmium in warehouses. Barrels of toxic liquid also were found.

Also filed under [ USA| Delaware]

Clarksburg residents ask officials for water analysis
February 15, 2013 by Tammy Daniels in iBerkshires

East Road residents living below Hoosac Wind Power have asked the Selectmen for help in gaining more information about liquid tested at the site. Lawrence Lorusso of 600 East Road found what he called a "suspicious fluid" below No. 10 turbine, about mile behind his home, on Christmas Day.

Also filed under [ Massachusetts]

DEP tests seep near Hoosac Wind Farm turbine, finds ground water and no oil
February 12, 2013 by Phil Demers in North Adams Transcript

The concerns of a nearby resident led to four sampling tests being taken recently from a seepage near one of the Hoosac Wind Farm's turbines. The consensus says a four-foot long, one-inch deep pool of a suspicious-looking liquid is benign -- made up of groundwater, sediment and organic materials.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| Massachusetts]

Burst of construction in December delivers record year for US wind
January 18, 2013 in Bloomberg New Energy Finance

The figures were compiled by research company Bloomberg New Energy Finance, based on the world's leading database of transactions and projects in clean energy. The previous record had been set in 2009, with 10GW installed. The 2012 capacity addition represented more than a 102% increase over 2011′s number, when the industry installed 6.5GW.

Also filed under [ USA]

Grid realities cancel out some of wind power's carbon savings
May 30, 2012 by Louise Lerner in Argonne National Lab

Wind energy lowers carbon emissions, but adding turbines to the current grid system does not eliminate emissions proportionally, according to a report by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| USA| Illinois]

Vestas not so green after all
March 10, 2012 by Peter Grady in Greeley Gazette

A Vestas employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Gazette that he needs to shower every day prior to coming home to avoid harm to his children from the resins that get on his skin. The company has been cited by OSHA for violations related to chemicals used at the facility that have caused injury to employees. The Greeley Report said an inside report indicates the plant produces approximately 40 blades per week with each blade generating 1 ton of waste.

Also filed under [ Colorado]

China shut JinkoSolar's plant after pollution protest
September 19, 2011 by Regina Tao in iChinaStock.com

According to the investigation by the environmental protection bureau, the fluoride in the water taken from a river near JinkoSolar's plant was 10 times higher than the recommended limit. Residue from the plant that rushed into the river in heavy rains.

Also filed under [ Asia]

JinkoSolar 'sorry' for pollution as plant is shut after violent protests
September 19, 2011 by Andrew Lee in Recharge News

Local environmental authorities ordered the PV cell plant to be closed while investigations take place. It has failed a number of environmental waste tests since April when high levels of flouride were found in the river, according to local reports.

Also filed under [ Asia]

MPCA fines Suzlon wind rotor firm $490,000
August 5, 2011 by Steve Alexander in Star Tribune

While capturing wind energy with Suzlon's giant wind turbine blades didn't pollute, the manufacturer of the equipment did, according to a consent agreement between Suzlon and the MPCA that was filed in Pipestone County District Court. The agreement detailed violations involving air quality, hazardous waste, solid waste and the handling of storm water runoff.

Also filed under [ Safety| Minnesota]

Opinions differ on wind power's pollution reduction
February 2, 2011 by John Dillon in Vermont Public Radio

Supporters and opponents of commercial-scale wind energy projects on Vermont's ridgelines use a lot of statistics and facts to argue their very different sides of the debate. So it's difficult to sort out how much carbon pollution might be cut if there were big wind turbines in the mountains. As part of a series on the future of wind energy in Vermont, VPR's John Dillon explains the complexities.

Also filed under [ Vermont]

In China, the true cost of Britain's clean, green wind power experiment: Pollution on a disastrous scale
January 30, 2011 by Simon Parry and Ed Douglas in Daily Mail

The reality is that, as Britain flaunts its environmental credentials by speckling its coastlines and unspoiled moors and mountains with thousands of wind turbines, it is contributing to a vast man-made lake of poison in northern China. This is the deadly and sinister side of the massively profitable rare-earths industry that the ‘green' companies profiting from the demand for wind turbines would prefer you knew nothing about.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| Erosion| Asia| UK]

Rare Earths leave toxic trail to Toyota Prius, Vestas turbine
January 6, 2011 by Stuart Biggs in Business Week

Rare earth metals are key to global efforts to switch to cleaner energy -- from batteries in hybrid cars to magnets in wind turbines. Mining and processing the metals causes environmental damage that China, the biggest producer, is no longer willing to bear.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape]

Turbine work may threaten tap water; Construction could stir up sediment, toxins
April 3, 2010 by Sharon Hill in The Windsor Star

The construction of offshore wind turbines south of Kingsville could threaten the safety of drinking water for 60,000 people, says Union Water System advisory board manager John Kehoe. Kehoe said the construction could cause weeks of turbidity in the water. If the plant can't filter the muddy water and be sure it is getting out pathogens such as E. coli, it could be shut down, Kehoe said.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| Canada]

Wind giveth, but power plants may be taking away
March 22, 2010 by Cathy Proctor in Denver Business Journal

The report says that the greatly increased use of wind energy in the past few years may have raised pollution levels from coal and natural gas-fueled power plants owned by Xcel Energy Inc. That's because the frequent change in output asked of power plants, in response to the availability of wind and solar power, adds to pollution, the report says.

Also filed under [ USA| Colorado]

The mud from the Makara wind turbines; and the pollution of Porirua Harbour
March 25, 2009 in Wellington Scoop

Photographs taken at Meridian's West Wind project above the Makara coastline show how sediment has been overflowing from the construction site. The photos were taken by marine environmentalist Jim Mikoz, who wrote an article in the NZ Fishing Coast to Coast magazine with the headline: The dirt behind wind turbines.. your fishing is at serious risk. In response to the article, Meridian wrote a letter to the editor stating that there would be no mud runoff into the sea from its construction site.

Also filed under [ Erosion| Australia / New Zealand]

Environmental groups critical of Plum Creek and Maine regulators
February 10, 2009 by Susan Sharon in Maine Public Broadcasting Network

This time the focus is Kibby Mountain in western Maine where Transcanada is in the process of developing a wind power project, and where related logging operations by Plum Creek and a sub-contractor have been linked to serious land use violations. Pictures taken at the site by an independent engineering firm and provided to the Land Use Regulation Commission in late October show a logging road so damaged by rain, logging activity and erosion that it created a mudslide described as nearly 900 feet long.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| Erosion| Maine]

Gamesa to install equipment at plant
February 4, 2009 by Christian Menno in Bucks County Courier Times

Despite the impending layoff of 184 blade production employees, Gamesa Inc. will install new equipment at its Falls plant as it moves forward with other areas of production. ...The DEP discovered several violations at the plant and Gamesa was forced to pay $639,161 in state penalties. A compliance consent order was issued to ensure the installation of the oxidizer.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| Pennsylvania]

Wind farm developer drops oil-spill appeal
January 30, 2009 by Jennifer Pritchett in Whig Standard

The company building the wind plant on Wolfe Island has withdrawn an appeal it had launched to avoid being held responsible for a diesel spill that occurred last fall. Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. had appealed to the Environmental Review Tribunal, an independent provincial agency, after failing to comply with a director's order the Ministry of the Environment issued as a result of the spill. The firm launched the appeal in an effort to have its name removed from the order.

Also filed under [ Impact on Wildlife| New York| Canada]

DEP holds hearing on wind park plans
January 14, 2009 by Josh Mrozinski in Wyoming County Press Examiner

With two pipes beneath a road clogged in Noxen, Supervisor Carl Shook is concerned about runoff from a proposed wind farm in Wyoming County. "There is going to be a lot of water running off the mountain," Shook said. Shook was one of about 30 people last Wednesday who attended a public hearing ...The state Department of Environmental Protection held the hearing to receive public comment as it reviews an application from BP for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| Erosion| Pennsylvania]

Wind farm road controversy: Slag concerns Ag and Markets
November 21, 2008 by Matt Surtel in The Daily News

Although the DEC has cleared the use of slag on wind farm access roads, the state Department of Agriculture and Markets has concerns. In a Sept. 8 letter to Invenergy regarding the High Sheldon Wind Farm, Agriculture Specialist Michael J. Saviola said ...the Department does not support the use of any adulterated industrial byproduct material (such as steel slag) as road base on, or adjacent to, structural lands used for the production of food and/or forage crops," Saviola wrote.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| New York]