City leaders and police in Sweetwater, Texas had enough of the giant wind farm dump around their city and filed criminal charges against four individuals.
Sweetwater City Manager Bryan Sheridan said at the press conference that they want to send a clear message to anyone seeking to take advantage of the community.
“Earlier this week, four individuals were indicted on criminal charges related to these wind blades. I hope this sends a distinct and clear message that individuals who think they’re going to dump in our community are going to be held accountable and there will be consequences,” Sheridan said.
Thousands of the old fiberglass wind turbine blades were left in heaps throughout Nolan County and Sweetwater Police Chief Cory Stroman accused four out-of-state individuals as being responsible for the mess.
“This has been a long, extensive investigation. There are still parts of it that are ongoing, and we’re still gathering information as we continue to gather evidence to successfully prosecute this case with the district attorney’s office. But it is the result of a very long road that led us here,” said Chief Stroman, reported KTAB/KRBC TV News.
Charges accused the four individuals of illegal dumping to theft of property while engaging in organized criminal activity. One of the dump sites is within the city limits of Sweetwater.
The Sweetwater site sits across the street from a cemetery and it angered Sweetwater District Attorney Ricky Thompson.
“My dad is buried over there. Every time I would come to see my dad’s grave, I had to drive by these wind blades. We look forward to prosecuting this case. We look forward to getting these individuals into court and facing these issues back here in Nolan County,” Thompson shared.
Sweetwater leadership said there is a possibility of additional indictments as the investigation continues, and that one of their next steps is to focus on the cleanup of the discarded blades reported the TV stations.