News : Wind Turbine Recycling in Benton County?

A screenshot of Destructable at work

On Tuesday, June 10, at 9:15 a.m. the Benton County Supervisors will be asked to approve a land use change in Benton County. The address of the land change from agricultural use is the "southeast one-fourth (SE1/4) of the northeast one-fourth (NE1/4) of Sec 12 T86N, R11, West of the 5th P.M." The street address for the Wind Turbine Blade Recycling and Storage Facility would be 5143 22nd Ave,  Mt Auburn.

The business Destructable Inc. of Amarillo, Texas, is seeking to change the use of agricultural property to a "Wind Turbine Blade Recycling and Storage Facility." A quick search of the company doesn't show their presence in Iowa, so far. 

The company website reads, "At Destructable, we provide comprehensive wind turbine component recycling solutions designed to support the renewable industry's sustainability goals. As turbines reach the end of their operational life, our team ensures their components are responsibly decommissioned, processed, and prepared for reuse or recycling - keeping materials out of landfills and in the circular economy.

​We specialize in the recycling of:

• Blades - processed on-site and transported to vetted offtake partners for use in cement kilns, composite repurposing, or advanced recycling methods.

• Towers & Nacelles - dismantled and sorted for scrap metal recovery or material reuse.

Every project is managed with safety, compliance, and transparency in mind, from initial assessment to final reporting."

While the letter is addressed to those adjacent to the property or within 500 feet of the parcel, as per a county Ordinance, any Benton County resident can attend the meeting and address the supervisors concerning this matter.  

A hearing concerning this approval will be during the weekly Supervisor meeting in the Conference Room, at the Service Center at 811 D Ave. in Vinton (the old west school building).

If you are unable to attend but would like to give input on the topic, you can email the supervisors INVIDUALLY, not all in one email. This would avoid breaking the open meetings law. (In Iowa, emails from residents to a group of supervisors can potentially violate open meeting laws if they involve a majority of the supervisors discussing public business outside of a public meeting. If any replied to "all" accidentally, well, just don't send a group email.) Include your name and address (and phone number if you'd like) so that they know you are indeed a Benton County resident.  

And please, be kind and thoughtful in your remarks. The supervisors are there to serve and can do so better if they know how you feel on certain topics. 

The email addresses are below:

Tracy Seeman - tseeman@bentoncountyia.gov

Ron Tippett - rtippett@bentoncountyia.gov

Bruce Volz - bvolz@bentoncountyia.gov