Iberdrola Acts to Comply with Bureau Co Ordinance, Avoids Fines
Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 10:08AM 
When Iberdrola discovered its Providence Heights project included turbines accidentally sited closer to neighboring property lines than allowed under Bureau County's wind ordinance, the company voluntarily took action to right the mistake, avoiding a citation this week from the County Board.
Because the company acted to comply with the ordinance, the Board voted Tuesday not to fine the company for the violation, says an article in the LaSalle News Tribune:
Board member Dan Rabe suggested that another mitigating factor might be that Iberdrola began addressing the violations on its own. By purchasing the land where it had exceeded the setbacks, the wind farm developer remedied each of the violations between 2008 and 2010, [Board Member Joe] Bassetti said.
"They didn't wait for us to tell them to clean up their act," said Rabe. "When they found themselves in violation, they started to clean up the problem, like by buying the other land."[...]
Bassetti made a motion Tuesday for the state's attorney to start the process to issue fines against wind farm developer Iberdrola Renewables for three wind turbines and one meteorological tower in the Providence Heights wind farm that were built too close to adjoining properties.
Bassetti said he wants the county to issue the fines to send a message to future wind farm developers that they need to follow the zoning ordinances and that they can't walk all over the board.
Board member Mike Maynard said he agreed, but it's now several years after the fact in each of the instances Bassetti cited.
The three wind turbines and met tower in question were constructed in December 2007, Bassetti said.[...]
Eleven board members voted to impose the fines. Fifteen voted no, defeating the motion.