The Sweetwater Wind Turbine Blade Dumpsites

On Saturday (Feb 7) Robert Bryce published an article about the massive financial losses Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) has incurred by manufacturing vehicles customers don't want (EVs) rather than vehicles people actually do want. By simply reporting facts Bryce has been an ongoing thorn in the side for automakers and others married to the Green Transition.

He ends the "free" segment of his substack post with this paragraph:

Here’s a closer look at the Stellantis announcement, along with two updated spreadsheets showing the losses for each automaker. I also have two short items, including NERC’s warning about electricity shortages and the Texas AG’s long-overdue lawsuit against the owner of two notorious wind turbine blade dumpsites in Sweetwater.

I'm not a paid subscriber (yet) so I had to do my own research about the Sweetwater dumpsites for wind turbine blades.

The wind turbine blade dumpsites in Sweetwater, Texas are located in Nolan County, often refrred to as the "Wind Energy Capital of North America" due to he large wind farms nearby. Large stockpiles of decommissioned wind turbine blades that have been accumulating there since around 2017. These are not traditional landfills but open, unpermitted storage sites where blades have been dumped rather than recycled as originally planned.

A company called Global Fiberglass Solutions (GFS), based out in Washington, began collecting used blades from wind farms across the U.S. The plan was to transport them to Sweetwater, shred or process them into reusable materials (like composites for products such as railroad ties or flooring), and recycle them. However, the recycling operation largely failed to materialize, leading to massive accumulations instead.

There are two main sites in and around Sweetwater. One site is within or near the city limits, notably across from the historic Sweetwater Cemetery on West Alabama Avenue which is often described as a "blade boneyard" or "graveyard." (Maybe a new reality show could be created called Sweetwater City Limits? The other site is south of town, along Highway 70.

The blades are typically cut into sections before being transported.  They purportedly cover about 40 acres of land. (One site is about 30 acres and the other around 10.) The sites have around 3,000 blades and related parts like nacelles. (Nacelles are streamlined, enclosed housings for the machinery found in the wind turbine head.)

Recent reports (as of this year) indicate the sites contain around 487,000 cubic yards of solid waste. The problem is that these are illegal/unpermitted disposal sites because they lack proper waste management permits. The blades, lying exposed, have been more than an eyesore. They are attracting vermin and rattlesnakes, posing safety hazards (e.g., to children before fencing was added), and were being declared a public nuisance by Nolan County as early as 2020.

In response the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has issued orders and penalties (e.g., a 2022 agreed order with fines for unauthorized storage).

This week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Global Fiberglass Solutions and affiliates for violating solid waste disposal laws, seeking penalties, removal of the waste, and other relief. The state alleges the company illegally dumped and abandoned the materials, damaging land and threatening communities.

Considering the size of Texas, 40 acres doesn't seem like much. On the other hand, considering the size of Sweetwater (a little over 10,000 people) that is a lot of eyesore for one's back 40. (Fwiw, Sweetwater is 44 miles west of Abilene on Highway 20, or 194 miles west of Fort Worth.)

This situation highlights broader challenges with wind turbine blade disposal: the composite fiberglass material is difficult and expensive to recycle, leading some to end up in landfills elsewhere or in stockpiles like this. Sweetwater's case has drawn media attention as a prominent example of the "dark side" of wind energy end-of-life issues, in stark contrast to the town's wind-friendly identity.

For visuals of these sites (aerial views showing piles of massive white blade sections in fields), search for images of "Sweetwater Texas wind turbine blades" or similar terms. I borrowed this shot (above) from Texas Monthly without permission. If asked to pull it I shall. If you have an alternative image, send me a note and I will give you credit.

Wind turbine blades are extremely durable, made from fiberglass or carbon-fiber composites, which are hard to separate and not easily recyclable with conventional methods. Recycling blades is currently one of the industry's biggest challenges.

Find Robert Bryce here on Substack.