According to a report in the Huron Daily Tribune in the US state of Michigan, law enforcement officials are looking for the individual who opened fire on a 34,500 volt transformer attached to a turbine at the Michigan Wind 1 wind farm last week.
The article quotes Huron County Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson, who said police arrived on the scene to wind a gate leading to the turbine open, and surmises that the act was “intentional sabotage.”
A news report on the local WNEM-TV in Huron, Michigan provided additional details, saying the incident caused at least $50,000 in damage and caused the automatic shut down one or more turbines at the 38-turbine facility.
The manager of the facility, Brian Scott Baker told reporters the shooter evidently knew what he was doing when he shot the transformer, targeting the portion of the system would cause the most disruption if it was taken offline.
This incident proved to be far from isolated. In another case, shots were fired at an Adams Township, Pennsylvania wind turbine in the US where two maintenance employees were working.
The dangerous vandalism came on the heels of shots being fired at two unmanned wind turbines near Portage, Pennsylvania.
Adams Township police Chief Kirk Moss said authorities believe the shooter was using a high-powered rifle like those used to hunt deer.
Federal law enforcement officials later joined the investigation because an attack on a wind turbine is considered a potential terrorist attack on a power plant.
While no one put a dollar figure to the Pennsylvania incidents, Daniel Lagiovane, a spokesman for the facility said that because of the unique nature of wind power technology, what may seem to be minor damage can be extremely expensive to repair.
Unfortunately, the rash of gun incidents on wind farms has not been confined to the US. Last July, five people in Dobrogea (Romania) were shot with rubber bullets on the premises of a €1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) facility built and owned by Continental Wind Partners and CEZ.
According to the Romania Insider web site, the shooting followed a conflict between the residents of the Cogealac locality, where the wind farm is being built, and the body guards protecting the project.
Cogealac Mayor Cati Hristu, an opponent of the wind farm, was planning to fine the facility operators for unspecified reasons last July when a team was his office was blocked from entering the site. A fight ensued during which the guards reportedly opened fire.
(The conflict has since been sent to the courts, temporarily preventing the mayor from issuing the fine.)
Prior to the lawyers getting involved, Continental Wind Partners has issued a statement accusing Hristu of failing to issue permits to consolidate the roads in the region, as had previously been agreed.
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