UPDATE: The Vermilion County Board Wind & Solar Committee has unanimously approved this proposal. It will come before the full Vermilion County Board at a future date.
In a continuation of a public hearing that began August 11th, Musketeer Wind Energy, LLC continued testimony before the County Board Wind & Solar Committee Tuesday morning (Sept 9th) in the Vermilion County Board meeting room. Much of the initial hour focused on the future, and the decommissioning of the proposed northern Vermilion County project 30 years down the road, should it be approved and initiated.
Musketeer Wind Energy called environmental engineer Michael Butler as a witness. Main points he made included that the decommissioning plan would be updated every five years. This would include the updating of costs to decommission the project, and where the materials would go; such as to landfills, or maybe even be used for recycling. One possible future recycling use mentioned was the grinding of the wind blades so they could be used as a base for concrete. While some members of the public questioned what specific landfills would be used, Butler stated that it cannot be predicted what landfills will be in existence, nor what they will be accepting, 30 years down the road. But it was also mentioned that he expects area landfills to be available, and that remains of the project would not have to be shipped across the country.
1st and 3rd Pictures: Residents Becky Miller and Mike Stark ask questions related to the future decommissioning of the proposed northern Vermilion Co wind energy project. 2nd Picture: Environmental Engineer Michael Butler prepares to answer questions.
The future of the farmland was also brought up. Butler stated that while the wind turbine towers would be taken down when 30 years are up, the foundation of the towers would remain in the ground; but would be 60 inches, five feet, below the soil surface; allowing for farming to continue. In addition, the issue came up of if Musketeer would happen to go out of business before the 30 years is up, who would handle the decommissioning of the project. Butler stated that that is covered by the “every five years update” of the decommissioning plan, and making sure that a security bond is in existence, for the county to be able to handle the decommissioning, if necessary.
Tuesday morning’s hearing began with project manager Greg Vasilion testifying about any possible danger to nearby residences from the planned lithium phosphate battery storage facility portion of the project. Vasilion said he had communicated with the Rankin Fire Protection District, and stated that the nearest residence to the battery storage would be about 3,000 feet, or 2.3 of a mile, away; and that no evacuation would be necessary in the event of a storage facility fire.
Vasilion had stated during the August 11th portion of the hearing that the project would produce about $100 million dollars in revenue over the projected 30 years, with about $45 million of that going to the Hoopeston School District. The project would be bounded by the Vermilion County boarders to the north and west, and by Hoopeston on the east.
