Feds abandon plan

Hays/Turner meet with TransAlta

The plan to create a 645mile long, 18-mile-wide swath of land across Oklahoma from the Panhandle to Arkansas came to a screeching halt on Friday, Dec. 12.

The announcement that the Department of Energy had scuttled the controversial project to create the Delta Plains Corridor was made by Oklahoma House Speaker- elect Kyle Hilbert during a town hall meeting at the Creek County Fairgrounds where a thousand dissenters had gathered to protest.

The project, dubbed the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor Designation (NIETCD), would have given the federal government the power to take private property in the name of “eminent domain” to locate high voltage electric transmission lines. Almost as controversial are the wind turbines popping up all over the state, which possibly could have utilized the corridor.

The DOE reportedly killed the project because of massive opposition.

Whether the death of the Delta Plains Corridor will also spell the death knell of the wind turbines isn’t known.

TransAlta, the Calgary, Alberta, Canada -based corporation, did not return a call for comments.

The company announced plans to build 121 wind turbines more than 700 feet tall on property in west McIntosh County, in the area of Lenna, Stidham and Hanna.

Protestors say 121 is only the beginning, that the ultimate plan is to build 900 turbines each standing over 700 feet tall that will be built in areas of McIntosh County as well as Pittsburg County and other sites.

District 13 Rep. Neil Hays, R-Checotah, says he doesn’t know if this will kill the wind farm project in this county, but he hopes it will.

Hays and Rep. Tim TurnerReps. Neil Hays, R-Checotah, and Tim Turner, R-Kinta, met with representatives from TransAlta at their request Monday afternoon, Dec. 16. McIntosh County Commissioner Bobby Ziegler was invited but was unable to attend.

Hays and Turner said they listened to Trans-Alta address issues concerning their wind turbine project in Mc-Intosh County and the company reported they were meeting the current statutory requirements imposed on them by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

The representatives said they also were informed the company was in the very early stages of the project, as they were still completing environmental and economic feasibility studies. The project is more than likely two to three years away from beginning construction.

“During the meeting, we made it clear that there is really no pathway for their project to gain communitywide support,” the representatives said in a joint statement. “We also informed TransAlta of our plans to introduce legislation this session which would change their current feasibility studies and prevent this project from moving forward in our House districts.

“Furthermore, we emphasized the impact of these turbines go far beyond the aesthetics, and as elected representatives we are carrying the voice of our constituents. We are working tirelessly to protect the interests of our communities, and there is no support for wind turbines in McIntosh County. “

The representatives continued, “The turbines pose significant concerns for our community, including potential effects on water resources, infrastructure, public safety, wildlife and tourism.

“Like you, we are residents of this community and are equally affected by this proposed project. We love this place we are fortunate to call home and will continue fighting to preserve it.

“We deeply appreciate each of our constituents for reaching out, staying informed and engaged on this matter. Their involvement is crucial as we navigate this challenge together.”

In an earlier interview with the Indian Journal, Hays said: “I’m not opposed to transmission lines, but (the Delta Plains Corridor) was not going to benefit Oklahoma. It would send power to other states,” he said.

He doesn’t like the federal government coming into the state and taking people’s land through eminent domain.

“I’m opposed to that,” he said. “A lot of the wind farms were going to tie into it. It’s all a Washington DC deal that wasn’t going to benefit Oklahoma.”

He’s a fierce opponent of the wind turbines.

“The state doesn’t have regulations – but for the requirement that the turbines be set back 1 Vi miles from schools, hospitals and airports,” he said.

He plans to push for legislation that will expand the set-back rule to twice the length of the wind turbines.

If the turbines are over 700 feet tall, the set-back should be three or four miles – and for homes as well as schools, hospitals and airports.

The greater set-back distance is needed, he says, because the blades on the taller towers can fly farther than on the shorter towers, many of them 300 feet tall. The greater the distance, the greater potential danger to people.

Hays notes there are a lot of wind turbines in Western Oklahoma, which has a population of 5 per square mile.

“We have five times that in McIntosh County,” he said.

The greater the density, the greater the hazards.

In addition to increasing the setback distance, Hayes wants the state to regulate environmental concerns that it doesn’t seem to have a lot of control over for the time being.

Some supporters of the wind turbines say if they want to lease land to the corporations, it is their business.

Hays supports the rights of owners to do what they want with their private property, but says the dangers of the wind turbines go beyond property lines, just like secondhand smoke affecting those standing next to smokers and chicken manure being dumped in local water sources.

“I have nothing against chicken farms, as long as they don’t dump the manure into our lakes and rivers,” he said.

Hays said TransAlta recently reached out to him and Tim Turner.

“Trying to set up a time to talk to us to alleviate our concerns,” he said. “I don’t think my concerns will be alleviated.”