Supreme Court rules in case of stockpiled wind turbine blades

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court says one of two executives for a Texas company can be held liable for USED wind turbine blades that were stockpiled the state and not recycled. The Iowa D-N-R is seeking civil penalties and an injunction against Global Fiberglass Solutions after some 13-hundred old blades had been stored in Newton (868 blades), Ellsworth (400 blades) and Atlantic (22 blades) with no action.

Company C-E-O Donald Lilly and director Ronald Albrecht said they live in Washington State and are not personally involved and couldn’t be held liable. The Supreme Court says Lilly personally signed documents from the D-N-R saying the company would take care of the blades. It says the state hasn’t shown that Albrecht signed any contracts that would make him liable, and dismissed him from the D-N-R action.

MidAmerican Energy and General Electric eventually disposed of the decommissioned blades that G-F-S failed to recycle.