Safety Questioned: Wind And Solar Power
An investigative report in the L.A. Times exposes California’s solar and wind power economy, and for good reason. Key quotes include:
> Accidents involving wind turbines alone have tripled in the last decade
> Technicians have fallen hundreds of feet; others have been crushed by wayward parts or trapped in twisting machinery
> Electrical explosions last year left a worker in Illinois with third-degree burns and two others in San Diego County with similar injuries
> Workers could asphyxiate inside turbine enclosures or inhale harmful gases and vapors when buffing and resurfacing blades, the Department of Labor cautions
> Wind turbine accidents involving injuries and equipment damage have surged over the last decade, peaking in 2008 with 128 incidents worldwide
> The complicated wiring under solar panels has left some firefighters so bewildered that they have allowed residential rooftops to burn
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