Windmills and Pilots

Magic Valley Energy is seeking authorization to use BLM managed public lands in southern Idaho to construct, operate and maintain the Lava Ridge Wind project, which would consist of up to 400 wind turbines and associated infrastructure. David Sparks, Idaho AG Today. And that all sounds great, but a pilot that flies for Red Baron AG Service Douglas Grant has some major concerns. The new project. Speaker2: Caused a lot of safety concerns for me because as I fly in the field, I'm looking for any obstacles that are down at the level that I'm spraying at, and I check those obstacles out before I enter the field. So that's where my concentration is, is when I'm in the field. But these current windmills that they're proposing are outside of the field that are spraying in, but they're so tall that as I pull up out of the field to start my turn, what used to be free, safe airspace where I could make my turn and concentrate on the obstacles that I'm going to be encountering as I come back around to get into the field. Now I'm coming eye to eye with windmills that are at the elevation that I normally turn at. And so I have a whole new set of obstacles now that I'm going to have to be aware of and concentrate on avoid while I'm trying to do my job. Anytime you have an obstacle that distracts you or changes your concentration or removes your concentration on the obstacles that are down in the field, down in the danger zone, that itself causes a safety concern. So if you're worrying about a windmill that you're trying to fly around or you're trying to drop back into the field, you might be worried about the windmill and forget all about the power lines just on the other side of the road. So it just creates a whole new level of hazard and a safety concern for me as I'm going about trying to do my job. He's right. Speaker1: Pros and cons to everything.