A resident has raised concerns that a “grotty” wind turbine is "leaching oil" and polluting the surrounding environment.
One of the four electricity-generating structures at Neilston Community Windfarm has been spotted in a sorry state of disrepair with what appears to be lubricant “spewed over the nacelle, tower, and blades," according to Aileen Jackson.
The operator of the turbines confirmed to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) that the structure is leaking grease due to a partial bearing failure, but strongly refuted that any of this has reached the ground.
(Image: Colin Mearns)
Aileen, the owner of nearby Knockglass Farm in Uplawmoor, told the Barrhead News: “We first noticed it probably in the spring, maybe about April, but it’s difficult to tell because obviously it had to get to the point where it was bad enough for us to notice because we’re about a kilometre aware from the Neilston turbines.
“It just seemed to get worse and worse instead of better and we never saw anyone doing any maintenance on it, despite the fact they had done substantial maintenance on the other turbines on site.
“It just got to the point where we thought this needs reported because it could be spraying oil all over the site and it could be getting into water courses.
“They must be aware of what's happened, because I would imagine the software that they have in their turbines would tell them that something is wrong and if they're losing oil then obviously it has to be replaced."
(Image: Colin Mearns)
The issue with the wind turbine follows a terrible and high pitched screeching noise being emitted by another of the structures on site “for weeks and weeks."
This previous problem has now, thankfully, been repaired but only after the blades were removed and two cranes were deployed in the process of fixing it.
“Admittedly, it (the wind turbine with the partial bearing failure) has been turned off a lot, but it keeps coming back on," claimed the 65-year-old.
She added: "It's like a phoenix rising from the dead.
“When you look at the other three that are there, they still look quite pristine and white, but this one's grotty looking.
“It's disgusting and then you can see the oil has run down the blades, so there must have been oil leaching into the land all around it, I would imagine."
(Image: Colin Mearns)
The four-turbine 10-megawatt development was opened by Nicola Sturgeon in 2013 and at that time was owned by Neilston Development Trust (NDT), who had a 28 per cent stake and developers Carbon Free.
In 2017, the project was acquired by TRIG, a listed investment company.
TRIG’s Operations Manager, Renewable Energy Systems (RES), who deliver green energy projects, provide the day-to-day management of the company.
(Image: Colin Mearns)
Aileen said she had reported concerns over the wind turbine's environmental impact to SEPA.
The environment regulator confirmed they had received a report from a member of the public regarding a potential pollution incident at Neilston Community Wind Farm on July 18 and had contacted the site operator to investigate.
“The operator informed SEPA a wind turbine is leaking grease due to a partial bearing failure, which has been contained and has not reached the ground," added a spokesperson for SEPA.
"The operator is planning to carry out maintenance as soon as possible.
“We continue to liaise with the operator to ensure any mitigation measures are correctly deployed.
“We ask anyone who is concerned about potential pollution to contact SEPA as soon as possible via the pollution hotline 0800 80 70 60 or by submitting an online report at sepa.org/report.”
(Image: Colin Mearns)
RES have been contacted for comment.
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