Chevron and its contractor plan to use energetic felling techniques, including controlled explosives, to remove wind turbines from a parcel outside Casper this week, the Natrona County Fire District says.
Neighbors might notice a brief loud noise, temporary vibration around the project site, as well as cranes, trucks, work crews, and other traffic influx, says a Monday statement by the district.
The explosions were to start “72 hours from this notice,” the statement adds – which would put the blasts sometime Thursday morning.
Natrona County Fire Chief Howard Oden elaborated in a Tuesday phone interview, saying no one plans to blow up an entire wind tower.
But the contractor is slated to blow up a significant enough portion of the base to fell the tower, said Oden.
“(These involve) shape charges – designed to basically explode in a certain direction,” he said. “It shouldn’t have any impact on, like the people out there other than the noise.”
An Exploding Axe
Oden described the planned blasts like an exploding axe.
“(When cutting a tree) you do a face cut and the back cut,” he said. " Explosives are the same way, whether it’s trees or towers. It literally is not even taking out the whole bottom, but most of the bottom so then it just tips over.”
He said he understands the contractor plans to finish the explosion part in one day.
Oden said the fire district's chief concern is of any fires or safety hazards. The project description indicates "that's not going to be an issue," he said.
Monte McKillip, who works with Chevron’s community affairs group, said the explosives won’t be stored on site and the charge shouldn’t be big enough to take out wells or other groundwater structures.
McKillip also urged the public to avoid gawking.
“I don’t want a hundred people up there looking at it, and certainly no trespassers on site,” said McKillip. “Safety is of the utmost importance, and we don’t need 100 gawkers, or 300 gawkers.”
No one who’s unauthorized is allowed on Chevron property during the operation, he added.
The contractor, Destructable, referred Cowboy State Daily to Chevron for comment. Chevron Power and Energy Management Co. spokesperson Christine Dobbyn did not immediately furnish comment, though she has been in touch with Cowboy State Daily.
The story will be updated if she comments.
The Demolition
The long-anticipated demolition ends years of inactivity at an 11-turbine wind farm.
Dobbyn told Cowboy State Daily in a past interview the contractor believes “that it may be able to direct many turbine components toward reuse opportunities by other parties, including the potential use as spare parts for other wind energy facilities.”
“Metal materials are expected to be managed through established salvage and recycling channels,” she said. “Components not suitable for reuse may be directed to appropriately permitted disposal or recycling facilities, consistent with applicable requirements.”
Chevron's focus remains on the decommissioning and had not made decisions regarding the future of the property. The company will continue to work with “applicable regulatory agencies regarding future planning,” Dobbyn said.
She said Chevron Environmental Management Company will continue to manage environmental remediation at the former Texaco Refinery site.
Dobbyn said efforts to remove the 240-foot high, 450,000-pound turbines are anticipated to last possibly through the end of the year, subject to weather conditions, and contractor coordination.
Natrona County Commissioner Dave North told Cowboy State Daily in a past interview that the turbines have never been fully operational because they have never had a purchase agreement with Pacific Corp./Rocky Mountain Power. The project has provided “absolutely nothing” to the county, state, and electric consumers across the West, he said.
Chevron turned on the turbines every year just long enough to maintain its permit, North said.
The company initially sent a decommissioning plan to the County Commission last June.
After physical decommissioning in 2026, the plan calls for site reclamation in 2027, monitoring as well as agriculture impact mitigation and erosion control in 2029, and completion of the project by the end of 2029.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
