Gone with the wind

June 15, this paper published a letter to the editor from Katherine Meyers. I am taking this opportunity to correct some misconceptions in her letter. The first is that Ms. Meyers wrote that "no one … in Seneca County has a guarantee there couldn't be a hog or cattle barn" or another noxious thing "built near them." I have a guarantee, as do others living where I do. The second is that Ms. Meyers repeatedly refers to windmills. That picture brings to my mind graceful old structures in Holland, with fields of tulips in the foreground. They are not the issue; the issue is wind turbines, which are rotary motors powered by wind, water or steam. These already are being planned in all four directions of Seneca County. Each of them is 591 feet high, about twice the height of St. Joseph Church's spire. As I understand it, the setback from property lines is approximately 700 feet. The diameter of the blades' path is 445 feet. Think about that! If a rescue helicopter is necessary, will it have a place to land? I do not know. Do you? Figures such as these will cause the death of eagles. Remember when so many of us were joyful that they made a comeback and chose to nest near the Sandusky River? Other large birds and bats (which eat about their weight in insects every night) will be in jeopardy. And, where will these dead creatures be thrown? I do not know. Do you? Further, do you know a proposal exists to put several of these wind turbines into Lake Erie near Cleveland? If that occurs, it will be another insult to the injury already being done to our precious resource by algae and invasive species! What is fueling this wind turbine controversy? I do not know, unless it is greed. A nondisclosure agreement was signed by those who have already agreed to wind "farms." Why the secrecy? After listing these negative effects, I am bound to propose a positive alternative: solar power. It, too, is clean. It also is a money-maker. Certainly, it is worth consideration. Ms. Meyers, you seem to believe these monstrous wind turbines will make a "beautiful, unique countryside." To me the countryside is made more beautifuI by fabulous firs, stately sycamores and the magnificent maple that sits across from my home. Penny Turner, Tiffin