Invenergy's Wind Turbine Blade Problems CONTINUE in Pilot Township -

VERMILION CO. (ECWd) -

Yes, this the FIFTH blade which we have become aware of in Invenergy's Vermilion County, Illinois project.

Remember when Invenergy's spokesperson said that "All defective blades were replaced this winter." on May 7th, 2014 over in Nebraska?  THEN, on May 8th (the very next day), another blade failure occurred in that wind complex.  See article here:

It looks like we have back-to-back turbine blade replacements here, too.

Invenergy's Vermilion County GE 1.6 mW wind turbines continue to have a recurring problem, and this time it affects Turbine #64.  To re-hash the previous blade replacement, read the Oct 18th article here:

Invenergy's Turbine #64 is located just northwest of a little town called "Collison."  It has been reported to us that this turbine is part of a huge fleet of problematic GE 1.6 mW turbines which have blade failures throughout the United States.  The fate of Turbine #64, which has been shut down, is that the blade damage is beyond repair and must be replaced.  Some turbine blades in Vermilion County have had catastrophic failures, where the blades completely broke and crashed to the ground.  When these blades crash to the ground, neighbors describe the event as "an earthquake" or "semi truck traffic accident."

At this rate, the county board may need to designate an "Invenergy wind turbine damaged blade disposal area."  Of course, we could be joking about that, but the safety of the nearby residents is not a joke.

The general public is not adequately protected because their homes are as close as 1222' from these dangerous machines which are known to fling debris up to 1500'.  Safety manuals instruct turbine workers to RUN AND STAY A MINIMUM distance of 500 meters (1,640 feet) UPWIND from a wind turbine.  This begs a question.....How close should a wind turbine be situated near a home which is downwind from it?  Adams County, Illinois, has a wind turbine ordinance which sets 2640 feet as the distance from a non-participating home.  In Iroquois County (north of Vermilion County), residents there report sleep deprivation issues within a home approximately 1 mile away from an industrial wind turbine.