Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Missouri county slowly moves toward wind farm regulations
Credit: By Brent Martin of Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph | September 24, 2019 | www.missourinet.com ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Buchanan County commissioners in northwest Missouri are working toward enacting regulations for wind energy, which has become a controversial issue for county residents.
No wind farm has located in Buchanan County, but some companies have shown interest.
Presiding Commissioner Lee Sawyer sees a need for regulations.
“Here’s what we’re trying to do. As it stands now, we have absolutely no regulations whatsoever for any type of wind energy,” Sawyer says. “So, what we’re trying to do, and we’ve hired an outside firm who does this all over the country, to help us put together an ordinance and regulations for wind energy.”
The commission is working with Kansas City engineering firm Black and Veatch. Sawyer says a draft proposal is modeled on regulations Black and Veatch helped draft in Michigan.
Sawyer says, at present, there are no rules on the books.
“Frankly, any landowner in Buchanan County does not have any protections regarding what would be considered kind of typical or normal regulations for that type of energy,” according to Sawyer.
He says wind farms have created additional tax revenue for some counties.
“We know, in other counties that it has significantly helped out school districts and significantly helped out fire districts and significantly helped out other situations through additional tax revenue,” Sawyer says. “So, we want to keep that into consideration, too, because, in a sense, it creates an economic development boon in some ways.”
Sawyer says the commissioners also know many oppose wind energy, especially the wind turbines and don’t want them going up in the county.
He says the county will hold public hearings before adopting any final regulations of wind farms.
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
(via Paypal) |
(via Stripe) |
Share: