The dark side of green energy is being revealed near Sweetwater, Texas, where authorities allege more than 3,000 giant wind turbine blades have been illegally dumped. In early February, the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed a civil lawsuit against those allegedly responsible. [some emphasis, links added]
Four unnamed individuals have been indicted on criminal charges for their role in the dumping probe.
On February 19, the City of Sweetwater Police Department, the Nolan County District Attorney’s Office, and other city officials held a press conference at the site of an alleged illegal dumping ground that contains massive mounds of discarded wind turbine blades.
The blades have accumulated over several years with no visible efforts at cleanup by those responsible for the dumping, according to authorities.
According to a report by KTXS news, a criminal probe of the blade dumping just outside the city has resulted in the return of criminal indictments against four unnamed individuals.
At the press conference, Sweetwater City Manager Bryan Sheridan told attendees the criminal indictments were the work of the Sweetwater Police Department working in concert with Nolan County and state partners.
Cory Stroman, Sweetwater’s Police Chief, referred to the investigation and indictment of the four unnamed individuals as “a unique case” and part of an effort that is ongoing. The case is being prosecuted in Texas’s 32nd Judicial District.
On Tuesday, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham commented on the issue of wind-turbine blade dumping in a social media post on X, saying, “Thousands of wind turbine blades were dumped near Sweetwater — and Texans are still waiting for those responsible to clean up their mess. This is exactly what happens when outside companies treat rural Texas like a landfill.”
“We must hold polluters accountable and protect our land, water, and communities,” the General Land Office commissioner added. “Texas is NOT a dumping ground.”
As the criminal case against the four unnamed defendants in Sweetwater moves through the court system, the entities allegedly responsible for the massive dumping of wind turbine blades also face civil proceedings by the State of Texas.
A lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General’s Office seeks significant civil penalties for the alleged ongoing violations and seeks injunctive relief requiring complete removal and lawful disposal of the discarded wind turbine blades at two sites near Sweetwater, Texas.
Global Fiberglass Solutions of Texas LLC, VO Dynasty LLC, Donald Lilly, Global Fiberglass Solutions, INC. and GFSI-MHE Manufacturing of Texas LLC are named as defendants in the case filed in Travis County’s 201st District Court.
According to Attorney General Ken Paxton, Global Fiberglass Solutions of Texas was allegedly hired by numerous companies to dismantle the massive blades, which can exceed 200 feet in length, and transport the remnants for later recycling.
Paxton alleges the company failed to properly dispose of the blades and instead created the two illegal stockpiles of more than 3,000 wind turbine blades and parts that litter the two sites near Sweetwater.
According to Paxton, the practice of dumping blades violates Texas’s solid waste disposal laws and administrative orders.
At the time of filing, Paxton commented on the lawsuit, saying, “Illegal disposal of wind turbines hurts our land and will never be permitted under my watch. Just because the radical left calls something a ‘green industry’ does not give any company a free pass to harm the Texas countryside, break our laws, and leave Texans to deal with the negative impacts.”
Top: Four indicted in Sweetwater wind turbine blade dumping probe; cleanup not yet started. Image via City of Sweetwater.
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