Highlanders threaten lawsuit over wind project, again

MONTEREY — Highland citizens, bolstered by the recent wind energy project injunction in West Virginia, sent county officials their third, and perhaps final, warning.

In a letter sent today (Wednesday, Dec. 30), attorney James Jennings Jr. told the Highland board it must require Highland New Wind Development LLC to obtain a federal incidental take permit to avoid legal action.

The Dec. 8 decision by a U.S. District Court judge in the case against Beech Ridge Energy, he said, “not only confirms Highland citizens’ position by clearly stating that a wind turbine project located near HNWD’s proposed project cannot proceed unless and until the developer obtains an incidental take permit under the Endangered Species Act, it also points out the pitfalls those who ignore this requirement face.”

Beech Ridge was told by the judge it must get the permit in order to finish construction on its 119-turbine project in Greenbrier County, W.Va., because the facility was likely to cause harm to the endangered Indiana bat.

“HNWD’s project impacts the Indiana bat in an identical manner,” Jennings said, “and it will impact three other protected species, thereby increasing the need for action. We state once again that Highland County, under the rulings of the State Corporation Commission, its own conditional use permit issued to HNWD, and the applicable laws, must require HNWD to obtain an ITP or face the consequences faced by the defendants in Beech Ridge Energy.”

Jennings said his clients believe the Beech Ridge case “answers fully any questions that may have existed whether Highland County has to enforce the ESA.”

Further, he told the board, “We point out that all Highland County has to do is require HNWD to obtain an ITP. This is not a draconian step or a burden on the county. Failure to act most certainly can lead to an enforcement action as was done in Beech Ridge.”

Jennings explained the Beech Ridge case, and said much of the same circumstances exist in Highland, calling the facts of the case “remarkably similar” to those Highland faces with HNWD.

“Our clients expect that the county will heed the clear and unequivocal message of Beech Ridge Energy LLC, and enforce the terms of its conditional use permit prohibiting HNWD from proceeding until they have applied for an incidental take permit.

“If they do not, then our clients will follow the example set by the plaintiffs in (the Beech Ridge case) and seek an injunction under the ESA in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia … Unlike the case in Beech Ridge, however, the county will be a defendant in any citizen suit that is filed because it … may be liable.”

Watch for details in next week’s Recorder.<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><!--[endif]-->

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