The Summit Ridge Wind Farm was granted a site certificate by the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC or Council) on August 19, 2011. The applicant now seeks a 4th amendment to the certificate that extends the start construction timeline another two years. A host of objections have been raised about the project. This page includes comments by K. Shawn Smallwood PhD outlining environmental concerns with the project’s wildlife surveys and analysis. The Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Oregon Wild, and others present their own comments. The procedural background information and an excerpt of the comments filed with the Council are provided below. The full documents can be downloaded from the links on this page.
Impact on Wildlife
Legal
Oregon
The WindAction Group (www.windAction.org)
Facts, analysis, exposure to industrial wind energy's real impacts
In this important ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, the court vacated the Secretary of the Interior’s approval of the proposed Steens Mountain wind project which would have sited up to 69 turbines and a 230 kv transmission line in area critical for sage grouse. The order is provided below and can also be accessed by clicking the links on this page.
The Ninth District Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the Oregon Natural Desert Association, and rejected a wind turbine project on Steens Mountain in southeast Oregon. The 104-megawatt project proposed by Columbia Energy Partners would have erected 70 wind turbines and a high-capacity transmission line on Steens Mountain. The approximately 100 MW Echanis project would be sent power to Southern California as part of an agreement with Southern California Edison. The project also included a high-capacity transmission lines that cut across potential sage grouse habitat within the protected Steens Cooperative Project. A summary of the order is provided below. The full decision can be found by clicking the links on this page. Also attached to this page are the legal arguments presented by the government and by the environmental groups from March 2016.
Daniel Brian Williams filed a claim of statutory nuisance, common-law nuisance, and trespass to land agains Invenergy LLC in relation to the operating Willow Creek Energy wind farm consisting of 48 turbines near Willaims property. His original claim can be found here. The final ruling by the court can be accessed by clicking the links on this page. Ultimately, the court denied Willams' claims for nuisance per se, statutory nuisance, and trespass.
This complaint was filed in US District Court in reference to Invenergy's Willow Creek wind energy facility, Invenergy's furst project in the Sttae of Oregon. THe project which consists of 48 turbines with a maximum output of 78 megawatts became operational in December 2008. Noise complaint were ongoing since before the project was fully operational. An excerpt of the complaint is provided below. The full complaint can be accessed by clicking on the link(s) at the bottom of this page.