"NIMBY", or the "not in my back yard" syndrome seems to be the most prevalent argument from opponents to wind power based upon reports by the Ohio Department of Health, and many other sources. The vast majority of citizens are in support of wind power operations, so long as large wind turbines are not located in a place where shadows, glare, or noise are apparent from any concerned individual's residence.
Micrositing a wind farm at a specific location appears to be the greatest task in wind power planning.
At first, I wanted to place my proposed wind farm far enough offshore into one of the Great Lakes to negate the NIMBY problem; however, I began to wonder about engineering concerns. If a wind turbine, or associated submerged power lines, required maintenance during the cold winter months of the Great Lakes then ice flows and ice accumulation could present problems that could render the project useless.
Therefore, I moved my search back to land. After some consideration, I decided to borrow a page from Bowling Green's playbook, and I sought out a landfill to collocate my proposed wind farm site with.
After searching in several states, I found a compatible site at the BFI Ottawa County Landfill, which is located at the base of a peninsula that sticks out into Lake Erie, approximately four miles northwest of the city of Port Clinton, Ohio and 20 miles southeast of Toledo, Ohio.
The site is sparsely populated, and bordered to the North by Camp Perry, an Ohio National Guard training installation.
This site appears to fall well within a Fair Wind Power Class, 6.4-7.0 meters/second at 50 meters as indicated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Wind Power Resource Map.
Ornithology seems to be a concern because of bird populations associated with landfills; however, no specific concerns have been noted at the Bowling Green wind farm.
The local residential population may be as suited as any to deal with wind power noise as Camp Perry is noted as the world's largest outdoor firing range, and there is a Class I railroad line located on the south side of the landfill.
By locating the wind farm on the north side of the landfill, shadow flicker nuisance would be mitigated as the long shadows cast after sunrise and before sunset would fall on virtually uninhabited property.
There is no shipping impact for this land based site, and the visual impact may actually be perceived as positive because turbines at this location would at least complement the landfill and military installation.
Nearby, in Toledo, there is an alternate location at an oil refinery and tank farm; however, wind measurements may not be as favorable, and turbines may be visible from the majority of the city.
