As we all know, building something is the easy part. It’s the maintenance and then the removal that is the real problem.

As a nation, for many years we have loved our automobiles. The looks of a bright shiny new car can set one’s heart fluttering. But when that same car has reached the end of it’s life and it no longer runs and is severely rusted, then what? Our solution has been to create sprawling junk yards full of these hulks. Even the best kept are certainly an eyesore. Recycle them, you say. We try and a certain number are indeed exposed to this solution, but only a few. Disposal of the unit after it has served it’s purpose is a paramount problem.

With this in mind, let’s look at the wind turbines in this same light as they reach the end of their life. Some will certainly be recycled, but this will be a very expensive solution without the heavy government subsidies available during construction.

Roads that were damaged and hopefully repaired, will be subject to the same heavy traffic on the way out that they were when the towers were brought in. Heavy equipment will be needed to topple these monsters and prepare them for salvage. This is the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is that they will be left in place to deteriorate and ultimately topple on their own. Imagine if you will, an expanse of once productive farm land dotted with these broken down, rusted monsters – farm land where it is no longer safe to cultivate crops because of the hazards posed by these deteriorating wind turbines. Should even one blade fall to earth, think of the damage this one hundred and forty foot missile would cause.

Make the company who built them remove them, you say. The fact is that most of these towers will be sold to other companies within the first few years, and knowing our legal systems as I do, ghost companies may be the ultimate owners and simply go bankrupt and disappear after they have exhausted all the federal and state subsidies. If this is true, who then will be ultimately responsible and perhaps liable as well? The answer: the farmer. There should be no doubt that even the biggest farmer would be brought to his financial knees by having to remove these towers.

Once again our farmers are at risk. We as a community must see this project for what is truly is- an evil plot designed to enrich some while destroying own farming heritage. Keep Hamlin, Hamlin!