WYOMING — After three and a half years, the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has released a Final Rule Notice allowing the repurposing of inert decommissioned wind turbine blades and towers in Wyoming as backfill for the coal industry.
According to a press release, the wind energy industry has been growing in Wyoming and nationwide; the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee in conjunction with Wyoming’s legislature recognized the need for answers in the handling and use of massive turbine blades and towers when they reached their end of life.
Kyle Wendtland, director of Fossil Fuel Development at Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA), who was involved with development of the legislation, rules and federal program amendment to Wyoming’s Coal Regulations, confirms in the press release that blades and towers will serve as backfill in endwalls and final pit voids, meaning material used to fill the cavities left behind after coal is mined.
According to multiple scientific studies, some of which can be found here and here, backfill is considered a “green mining technology” and used for a variety of reasons that include reducing environmental impact by minimizing surface collapse, stabilizing the surrounding rock mass and reducing the risk of groundwater contamination.
“Rather than sit on the sideline, Wyoming, once again, is leading the nation in efforts to find solutions to challenging issues related to providing for energy needs by creating a bridge that benefits both the coal and alternative energy industries,” Wendtland writes.
According to Suzanne Engels, SHWD administrator at the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, landfilling the retired blades and towers is unsustainable because of land limitations needed for communities’ waste. Engels also notes that stockpiling, which has been becoming increasingly common with turbines, is both an eyesore and problematic for the environment.
The proposed amendments were received by OSMRE in June 2021 and published in the Federal Register Notice on Aug. 4, 2021, for comment. The final approval of the required Program Amendment was published this week, Jan. 13, by OSMRE, and can be found here.
