FAYETTE — Fayette Township will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. on Feb. 19 pertaining to a proposed wind farm energy project. Pattern Energy, LLC representative(s) will be answering questions of the township board and its residents about the proposed Industrial Wind Turbines (IWT) of a project now called Uplands Wind East.

There are concerns from area community residents. More than 230,000 annual visitors travel to nearby Yellowstone Lake State Park and Wildlife Areas, which totals 5,000 acres and has southern Wisconsin’s largest lake (450 acres).

The area has Karst soil with documented and undocumented lead and zinc mines, caves, sinkholes, possible water contamination to private wells, potential contamination of waterways and  trout streams.

There are also environmental concerns by community members for the 170 different bird species that have been documented at Yellowstone Lake State Park that use the lake as a yearly nesting area and a migration stop.

Yellowstone Lake State Park is the only place in the U.S. that is documenting a slight increase in the Little Brown Bat since the devastation of White Nose Syndrome (WNS). The DNR is only recommending “avoidance” areas for IWT placement and allowing the Pattern Energy, LLC to self-report deaths as a result of blade strike. Bats are also susceptible to Barotrauma, causing their lungs to explode before even reaching a turbine blade due to the pressure pulses coming from IWT.