The dangerous wind power plant is surrounded by fencing, warning signs, and locked gates. Deadly high voltage electric lines run under foot and over head. Windmills can be seen lining the hills in the distance.
GATE #1
17350 PATTERSON PASS RD (OpenStreetMap approximate location)
DANGER
WINDPLANT GENERATING
ELECTRICITY
AUTHORIZED ENTRY ONLY
WARNING
HIGH VOLTAGE
UNDERGROUND CABLES
THROUGHOUT THIS FACILITY
CALL BEFORE DIGGING
(925) 245-5555
NO TRESPASSING
Nearly everywhere
we looked, the hills are alive, with the sounds of windmills.
Actually, roughly half of the windmills we saw were not spinning!
Enxco (on the sign) is the same company that initially operated
TVA's facility.
Brush fires are a problem in the area. Fire breaks, to keep fires from spreading towards (or from?) the turbines are scraped into the earth.
Patterson Pass Windfarm
14680 Patterson Pass Road
enXco
Admittance By Written Authorization Only
For Information: Call (925) 455-3821
Larger turbines with cylindrical towers. More extensive
fire break cuts are seen.
Numerous windmills cover the golden hills
Many were not operating, and many were in such decrepit
states of disrepair that they obviously were no longer capable of
operating.
Clearly, the natural shape of the hills has been
sacrificed for terraced foundations for the decrepit windmills. No
one who sees this can claim they are better for the land, or much
different in appearance, than oil derricks, which would be fewer
and farther apart, and produce more energy.
Related Links:
Altamont Landowners Against Rural Mismanagement (archive, 2001)
