News
Category:
Safety
Note: counts do not include items in sub-categories
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An investigation suggests an explosion and fire inside a Nebraska wind turbine was caused by a "foreign object". ...the "object" blew into the turbine causing the blast.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure|
Nebraska]
A North Dakota based construction company is facing three proposed penalties following a deadly Iowa wind farm accident last October. ..."The employer did not ensure the all terrain fork truck operators were competent and capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards."
IOSHA claims Wanzek "did not instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations.
The VORTAC building is located about eight miles west of Portland. A radio beacon that airplane pilots can use to determine their proximity to Corpus Christi International Airport poses an obstacle to a $300 million wind farm under construction in San Patricio County. ...The federal agency has taken issue with the turbines' collective proximity to and potential impact on the radio navigation signal, housed about eight miles west of Portland, according to a notice of presumed hazard filed by the FAA.
Also filed under [
Texas]
A Norfolk action group has highlighted the lack of industry regulation on wind turbines by producing its own report.
Campaign group 4Villages said there is a growing danger to the public from wind turbine accidents, with an increasing number of incidents worldwide involving giant turbines catching fire, losing propeller parts or shedding lumps of ice.
One of the blades of a Suez Energy North America V-90 wind turbine situated approximately 1,600 feet away, between her house and the Northumberland Strait, was damaged. Pieces were dangling from the blade and other pieces were strewn throughout a field, right up to her back door. ...Sabota reported that blades on two of the three turbines in Suez Renewable Energy North America's Norway wind park sustained some damage.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure|
Canada]
The Coast Guard report, which is not yet released, reportedly considers the 130-turbine project in Nantucket Sound "doable" but some in the audience found the simulated radar scenarios more than a tad confusing as they tried to pick out the boats from the false echoes and turbine blades. ...There are short periods of time when the vessels are subsumed into the turbines," Rugger concluded. "Inside the wind farm there are a lot of secondary reflections, and often times it's hard to pick out the vessels from that."
Also filed under [
USA|
Massachusetts]
In a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthome dated Thursday, the congressman [Rahall D-WV] requests that the federal Minerals Management Service delay issuing its final environmental impact statement "until the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has provided the public 60 days to review and comment on a third-party review of the radar study submitted by the Cape Wind project developers."
FAA wants proposed wind turbines trimmed
December 18, 2008 by Janet Hefler in Martha's Vineyard Times
December 18, 2008 by Janet Hefler in Martha's Vineyard Times
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently classified proposed wind turbine projects at West Tisbury School and the MV Arena (MVA) as presumed hazards to air navigation, given their location in the Martha's Vineyard Airport's flight paths. The FAA's decisions, which included recommendations for reducing the height of the two wind turbines, may literally take the wind out of the ice arena's project.
Also filed under [
Massachusetts]
Man burned while working on wind turbine near Dexter
December 17, 2008 by Tim Ruzek in Post-Bulletin
December 17, 2008 by Tim Ruzek in Post-Bulletin
A 33-year-old man is recovering from a severe electric burn he sustained Tuesday afternoon while working on a wind turbine north of Dexter ...Officials believe the turbine was electrically charged when Chlan was working on it, giving the worker an electrical burn on his left arm, Amazi said.
The wind industry concedes that, as with all tall things (buildings, for example, or trees), ice and snow can build up and, eventually, fall down, creating a hazard to people and structures below.
But the industry denies that "ice-throwing" - another concern surrounding wind power - is a problem. ...But a 2006 publication by G.E. Energy, a maker of large wind turbines, warns that "rotating turbine blades may propel ice fragments some distance from the turbine - up to several hundred meters if conditions are right."
Wind turbine closed after showering homes with blocks of ice
December 4, 2008 by Murray Wardrop in Telegraph.co.uk
December 4, 2008 by Murray Wardrop in Telegraph.co.uk
A wind turbine has been switched off and an investigation launched after its frozen blades showered nearby homes with large chunks of ice.
Residents complained when the 260ft wind generator began hurling shards of ice, some measuring two feet long, after the cold snap over the weekend.
Cause of Bloomfield turbine fire still under investigation
December 3, 2008 by Randy Dockendorf in Yankton Press and Dakotan
December 3, 2008 by Randy Dockendorf in Yankton Press and Dakotan
Three investigative teams will be coordinated to learn the cause of this week's fire atop a 260-foot wind turbine north of Bloomfield, the state fire marshal's office said Thursday.
The fire occurred at one of 27 turbines on the 80-megawatt Elkhorn Ridge wind farm under construction. Once completed, Elkhorn Ridge will become Nebraska's largest wind farm. ...Meanwhile, work has been suspended at the wind farm, Roberts said.
Also filed under [
Nebraska]
The worker is an employee of Vestas, a wind turbine manufacturer. A spokesman with that company said the incident was under investigation and details would be provided when they became available.
Olavarria said the worker was outside the turbine in front of its nose when the explosion and fire occurred. It's not clear what caused the explosion or what burned, but the turbines do have lubricating oil inside, she said.
Residents were left fearing for their safety after shards of melting ice fell on homes and gardens from the blades of a giant wind turbine.
For about four hours people in King's Dyke, Whittlesey, had to take cover as huge lumps - some two feet long - showered them from the 80 metre high tower on Saturday morning.
Resident Peter Randall, whose son's house lies a stone's throw away from the turbine, said: "Somebody is going to get killed. There was huge lumps of ice shooting off and landing everywhere.
An explosion and fire at a wind farm under construction in northeast Nebraska has injured three workers.
One man, who was atop a tower when a turbine exploded, received first- and second-degree burns in the fire Tuesday morning. Two others, who were nearby, were treated for smoke inhalation and released.
Suzlon reacts to blade exclusion
November 29, 2008 by Barb Kromphardt in Bureau County Republican News
November 29, 2008 by Barb Kromphardt in Bureau County Republican News
When the Bureau County Board voted to exclude a certain type of wind turbine from consideration for seven Walnut Ridge sites, the company was understandably concerned. ...On Nov. 17, Suzlon issued a statement regarding the S88. According to the statement, the problem with the S88 near Buda was with the V2 version, which has since been replaced with the V3 version.
A wind farm worker is okay following a crane accident Sunday morning.
A Winnebago County Sheriff's report confirms Billy Cody was trapped in a crane at the construction site located between Forest City and Thompson.
A Sunday morning leak in a paint thinner pipe at the Vestas Blades paint building allowed about 20 to 30 gallons of the flammable material to be spilled. ...The spill is believed to be the first of its kind at the $60 million wind turbine blade manufacturing plant located on an 80-acre site in the Great Western Industrial Park.
Also filed under [
Colorado]
Increased setbacks recommended for Enfield wind law; County's advice could stop wind farm project near Connecticut Hill
November 12, 2008 by Tim Ashmore in Ithaca Journal
November 12, 2008 by Tim Ashmore in Ithaca Journal
The setbacks in the proposed Enfield wind law are not large enough, according to a letter from the Tompkins County Planning Department to Town Supervisor Frank Podufalski, but following that advice could kill the wind farm proposal for a site near Connecticut Hill.
The planning department recommends increased setbacks between property lines and the wind towers ...If the Enfield Town Board does not adopt the recommendations, it will need a supermajority, which means four votes on the five-member board, to pass the proposal into law.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
New York]
One of the largest businesses in town is working toward going green. Decas Cranberry Company in South Carver has proposed installing a test tower to measure the wind on the property in an effort to determine whether a wind turbine would be a viable future energy source for the company.
Also filed under [
Zoning/Planning|
Massachusetts]
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