By Chris Adams
A proposed wind farm in Val Verde County has stirred up concerns among residents, environmentalists and elected officials due to its proximity to Laughlin Air Force Base and the Devils River.
The Blue Hills Wind Farm is a project being developed by GH America (GHA), a subsidiary of Chinese company Guanghui Energy Company, owned by billionaire and former Chinese Peoples Liberation Army general Sun Guangxin.
Many are worried a project of this magnitude near a major military installation and the U.S.-Mexican border poses a threat to national security.
“With the extent of GH’s properties in county, many ranches are increasingly uneasy with the warnings posited by national security experts,” said Julie Lewey, executive director of the Devils River Conservancy, in a phone interview with the 830 Times.
Val Verde County is uneasy about the potential adverse impact on Laughlin Air Force Base — the county’s largest employer.
“You’ve got environmentalists, you got ranchers, you have everybody that sort of would be at odds with each other on different sides of the aisle, we’re all on one side now,” said Val Verde County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. on the online news site Reform Austin. “And then you’ve got the wind farm on the other side.”
The impediment of low-level flight patterns is also a concern if towering wind turbines are ultimately placed on the GHA owned land. Reportedly, pilot flight-patterns crisscross over the area.
The Air Force did not answer questions sent by the 830 Times regarding its position on GHA purchasing land for a wind farm project so close to a base, instead referring this news publication to the Department of the Treasury.
The Blue Hills turbines would be the tallest in the nation measuring 700 feet. The Tower of the Americas is 750 feet. The turbines in a Rocksprings wind farm range between 450-500 feet.
“We stay opposed to any nationality industrializing this landscape because it’s so precious,” Lewey said, adding that the Devils River Conservancy is actively advocating against the wind farm and calling on government to take action. “We’re urging state and federal authorities to fully investigate the owners and their proxies.”
In a press release issued by the Devils River Conservancy, Carter Smith, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) executive director, said, “Proposals to further intensively develop the area surrounding the Devil’s River run counter to many of the values that ranchers and conservationists, biologists and outdoor enthusiasts alike have labored long and hard to protect.”
A method critics cite as a means to restrict GHA’s wind farm plans is through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS prohibits the acquisition of land by a foreign national or entity. The interagency committee reviews specific real estate transactions and their potential impact on national security, according to the Department of the Treasury.
Yet, GHA is moving forward with the project. The Chinese company said it respects and complies with the U.S. rule of law and its parameters in respect to foreign investment and the processes used to review investment transactions.
“As for the underlying accusations that the Chinese are here to spy, that is not the case,” wrote Stephen Lindsey, the vice president of government and regulatory affairs at GHA, in the email to the 830 Times. “That claim is low hanging fruit that is being used by those who do not want wind development in the County…GHA is in Texas to seek a positive return on their business investments. Nothing more, nothing less.”
