When hundreds of people sit in a steamy hall for more than three hours, you know the subject matter is compelling. Or at least you know the crowd feels strongly about the subject.
So it was on Sept. 17 in Brimfield’s American Legion hall, where more than 250 gathered for a presentation on the negative aspects of wind turbines.
The event was organized by Dan Heinz of Kickapoo, who has spearheaded a grassroots group called No To Peoria County Windmills.
Heinz became involved after learning about two wind farms proposed for Peoria County, one of which borders his family farm southwest of Laura. Heinz said his parents still live on the farm and he had at one point hoped to build a home there.
“I’m not going to do that if these things happen,” he said.
Rather than just sit back and complain, Heinz and his group have attracted enough financial backing to advertise, create a website, print signs and hire legal representation. About 200 of those signs were snapped up last week. Another 200 will arrive Friday. Those interested in a sign can contact the group via Facebook.
Signs are one thing, but a good lawyer matters more. The group’s attorney, Richard Porter of Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP, of Rockford, was the main speaker last week. Porter had two clear messages.
• Wind turbines are not the “green” sources of energy that wind-energy businesses want you to believe.
“These are not windmills,” Porter said. “This is like a coal plant or a nuclear plant. It is literally industry use that is going to be in an agricultural-urban area.”
• The Peoria County Board can stop the proposed Four Creeks Wind Farm and the proposed Goldrush Apple Wind Farm.
“This is not a done deal,” Porter said several times. “These can be denied.”
Specifically, Porter said the county board can vote against special-use permits wind developers need.
To prove his first point, Porter brought a cadre of experts who testified about what they see as negative impacts of wind turbines on property values, sleep cycles, health and quality of living.
“A lot of people were thankful we brought the experts so they could hear the testimonies,” Heinz said. “We still find there are a ton of people in the area that don’t know about the project.”
The picture painted last Tuesday was not the same often portrayed by folks touting “green energy.”
Then again, to some landowners, the “green energy” element in all of this is the money they are paid for leasing land to the wind companies. And certainly, landowners have a right to make money on their property.
Where that right becomes a little less unalienable is when the money- making involves a 700-foot-tall wind turbine that towers over everything else in an otherwise quiet, rural area.
Porter drew plenty of nods from the crowd when he said people who live between Brimfield and Princeville – the part of Peoria County most impacted by the proposed wind farms – probably live there because they enjoy the peace and quiet.
“The overwhelming response is that nobody is in favor of them,” Heinz said.
That brings me to the evening’s most compelling speaker, Ted Hartke, who along with his wife and two children briefly lived in close proximity to several wind turbines south of Champaign.
Before the turbines went up, Hartke said he was in favor of the wind development. He grew up on a hog farm. He knows about making money in ways that don’t always please neighbors. He even took his family to an existing wind farm, where they stood, watched and listened. The impact seemed minimal, he recalls.
“See kids, it’s no big deal,” Hartke told his family.
Only it was.
“As soon as they turned the turbines on, we were having sleep problems,” Hartke said. “It’s just an unsettling thing. It wakes you up from a deep sleep.”
Eventually, the Hartkes moved their beds out of bedrooms and into the living room, where they slept for three months. Hartke’s daughter even put on headphones to help her sleep.
“My kids shouldn’t have to wear headphones to bed,” Hartke said. That was one of several times in his talk he became emotional.
Finally, the Hartkes moved into a trailer before finding another home. It took three years to sell their house in the wind farm – to a woman who was being paid for leases on three wind turbines, Hartke said.
Hartke’s emotional testimony was a good balance to the dry science. But Heinz said science will matter more with the county board.
“This is more than just feelings, there’s actual science to this and health reasons why houses are being abandoned” near wind farms, Heinz said.
Heinz has already spoken with 16 of 18 board members, two of whom were in attendance on Sept. 17. Members of the grassroots group have started attending meetings of the county board and the Zoning Board of Appeals and plan to continue.
“They are going to gather information and try to make the best educated decision they can,” Heinz said of the boards. “We can’t say no. They most certainly can.
“If the majority of people in a community aren’t in favor of it, that should be a big indicator of how they vote.”
That doesn’t mean the wind turbines won’t be approved. But Heinz is up for the struggle.
“You’ve got a lot of people who say they don’t want (wind turbines), but are you willing to step up and fight?” he asked. “Now’s the time. Once they get passed, it’s too late.”
Contact Jeff Lampe at (309) 231-6040 or via email at jeff@wklypost.com
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