According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Department, an ambulance was requested at a construction site near Lakota around 2:20 p.m. Wednesday. When law enforcement and medical personnel arrived, 51-year-old Lee Gruver of Daisetta, Texas was found dead at the scene.

Safety Injury Iowa

Harold Youngblut filed an appeal Thursday challenging District Court Judge Kellyann Lekar’s April 29 ruling in favor of Washburn Wind Energy’s 35-turbine wind farm. The notice filed by Youngblut’s attorney, John Holmes, claims the district court erred when it failed to allow Youngblut and others to testify the turbine locations are currently used for agricultural purposes as defined in the county zoning ordinance.

Legal Iowa

The survey found that about 72 percent of respondents were favorable to wind projects, yet about 66 percent of rural residents said they were unlikely to want to host a wind farm on their property. Primary concerns included the visual impact, noise associated with turbines and shadow flicker — when rotating blades cast intermittent shadows — or ice throw.

General Iowa

The Iowa Judicial Building.

Legal Iowa

WATERLOO — A local farmer has lost his legal challenge against a planned wind energy project in southern Black Hawk County.

Legal Iowa

The mutually agreed upon resolution means TPI has committed to abating many of the alleged safety violations in its plant. ...TPI still faces litigation in Iowa's civil court system. Six former employees have sued the company for gross negligence, breach of contract and fraud, accusing the company of instituting a "systematic practice of hiring healthy employees and then terminating them from employment after their employees sustained a chemical injury."

Safety Iowa

The fire destroyed the nacelle, which houses the main components of the turbine, as well as parts of the blades and tower. Strong winds also carried some debris out into nearby fields.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

This is a power plant on fire! It’s a big deal and not a rare occurrence as the industry has claimed. The white stationary objects on the ground are the fire trucks.

Safety Structural Failure Iowa

MidAmerican has received billions of dollars in federal tax credits to build its wind farms. With those incentives being phased out, MidAmerican and other utilities are now challenging the special perks that solar receives. The federal tax credits covering solar installation costs will decline in the coming years, ending for residential in 2022 and sticking at 10% for commercial projects.  

Impact on People Iowa

Utilities in several states are attempting to run a con game on their respective states’ utility commissions and ratepayers. How? By claiming that their plans for prematurely shuttering existing, reliable, relatively inexpensive coal power plants and replacing them with expensive, intermittent renewable power sources will save ratepayers money “in the long run.” Meanwhile, they ask for an immediate increase in electric rates to pay for the transition.

Impact on Economy USA Indiana Iowa

Information that will be shelved by the mainstream Democrat liberal media is that in rural Iowa where the wind sweeps across the prairie three massive 450-foot high wind turbines are being torn down because their constant noise disrupted the townspeople.

General Iowa North Carolina

Washburn Wind Energy, based in DeSoto, had been required to begin construction within one year under a controversial special permit the Board of Adjustment approved April 24. The company asked for the extension noting a lawsuit filed by neighboring farmer Harold Youngblut, that challenges the legality of the special permit, was still being litigated in Black Hawk County District Court.

General Iowa

“(Potential buyers) are unwilling to enter into an agreement … until the legal proceedings are resolved,” Law said. “In addition, it is unreasonable and unwise for Washburn to commence construction of the project unless or until it has a purchase agreement in place and the legal proceedings have been completed.”

Legal Iowa

This month, two brand new wind farms from Alliant Energy's Iowa energy company will start generating low cost, renewable energy. It's great news as the state continues to see a boom in wind turbine production and placement by energy companies. But Alliant also wants to recoup the cost of those new turbines so, you guessed it. Your electric rates are about to go up.

Impact on Economy Iowa

We are told that wind turbines are “green,” yet during construction they compact our soil so deeply the damage has been reported to have lasted well over a decade so far. The heavy machinery installing the turbines breaks our drainage tile causing erosion. Wind turbines kill so many of our birds and bats that MidAmerican has applied for a permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to kill them. Wind turbines now cover over 1 million of Iowa’s acres, more than three entire counties in total area.

Impact on People Iowa

In Fayette County, Catherine Miller knows firsthand that, while wind turbines are touted by many as a source of local revenue and clean energy, they aren’t loved by all Iowans.

Impact on Landscape Impact on People Iowa

Dallas County, Iowa adopted this land-use regulation that includes rules governing the siting of industrial wind turbines. Section 45.39 details the requirements. The full ordinance can be accessed at the links on this page. The portion of the ordinance pertaining to setback distances and noise limits is provided below. 

Zoning/Planning Ordinances Iowa

Swanson said rural Iowa families shouldn't have to suffer wind turbines — which compact soil during construction and hurt crop yields — to satisfy urban residents' need to feel good about the environment. ..."What we care about is our homes, our health, our land, our wildlife and our economy," which are jeopardized by wind projects, said Swanson, a board member of the Coalition for Rural Property Rights, along with Youngblut.

Legal Iowa

Mitchell County Sheriff Greg Beaver said the fatal accident occurred about 1 p.m. Saturday while the worker was loading heavy equipment at Turtle Creek Wind Farm, which is under construction near St. Ansgar. 

Safety Injury Iowa

A three-judge panel of the Iowa Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal filed by attorneys for Mason Wind, Dante Wind 6, Galileo Wind 1 and Venus Wind 4, which are under a Fayette County District Court order to remove three turbines by Dec. 9.

Legal Iowa