Kay County family frustrated by wind turbine leak
KAY COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) — A Kay County family told News 4 a leaking wind turbine near their property has now prompted an investigation.
The turbine in question is owned and operated by Deriva Energy. Stephanie Mayer said she hadn’t noticed any problems with it until last month.
“We had little specks of brown stuff showing up on our windows of our vehicles, out of nowhere,” said Mayer. “When we went to wash it off, like it just smears, it doesn't like to wash off. It just smear, and then we started noticing it on the house, the concrete.”
Mayer said her husband then noticed the turbine on the other side of her property line had a similar brown trail that appeared to be leaking along the blades and the base.
Mayer said she managed to get ahold of Dariva Energy about the complaint, and that the company sent two people to check things out March 28th.
“They assured me that it would be shut down, it would be fixed,” said Mayer. “They didn't really tell me much after that. They just said they would investigate. They would do, they would be in contact.”
Mayer said she also received acknowledgment from one of the two people that the brown specks she’d noticed on her property were likely fluid from the wind turbine.
She said no one came out to actually shut the turbine down after that visit until her family filed a complaint with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (OKDEQ).
“You know, the neighbor next to us has cattle. There's a creek that runs through his property, you know, and the the animals are drinking the water,” said Mayer. “When you're already paying for a house and your land and you expect everything to be good, you don't want the wind turbine ruining what you're trying to build.”
An OKDEQ spokesperson confirmed Wednesday an investigation is underway:
“DEQ has received a complaint about the leaking turbine, and we are now investigating the matter.”
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
News 4 also heard back from a spokesperson on behalf of Deriva Energy, issuing the following statement:
“Once notified of the neighbor’s concern, our team quickly started investigating the issue. The turbine in question will remain inactive while the investigation is still underway.…We are committed to providing any remediation that may be needed.”
Spokesperson on behalf of Deriva Energy