Gamesa rejected a third time

Wind energy developer Gamesa Energy USA will have to revise plans for a 30-turbine project a third time, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Despite being in the permitting process for nearly two years and encountering vocal opposition, company officials said they will continue to seek a permit for the proposed Shaffer Mountain Wind Farm.

"We believe wholeheartedly in the project," said Dan Noble, Gamesa's head of North American development. "This (permitting) is a process that any development goes through."

"We have to do it thoroughly. This is something that is going to be a benefit to the community," he said.

The DEP rejected the company's stormwater management plan on technical and environmental grounds. Gamesa now must clarify and resubmit the plan within 60 days. The plan will be used by the DEP to decide whether to issue Gamesa a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit. Without the permit, the project will not be able to move forward.

The company was notified of the plan's problems in an eight-page deficiency letter issued by the DEP on March 17.

While the permit is nominally about water management, the DEP uses the process to evaluate environmental impacts on plants, animals and nearby water sources.

In this case, those impacts are being closely scrutinized by a number of state, federal and private interests.

The project area, which extends through parts of Shade and Ogle townships in Somerset County, is sited along the Allegheny Front, which the Pennsylvania Audubon designated an Important Bird Area.

The endangered eastern golden eagle and federally protected bald eagle migrate along the front, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Additionally, Gamesa's own studies have found evidence of the endangered and state-protected Indiana bat, which has garnered the interest of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The site also has at least one state-designated exceptional value waterway, Piney Run, within its footprint. The stream contains wild reproducing brook and brown trout, which is of particular concern to the state Fish and Boat Commission.

The DEP letter asked the company to submit more information on several environmental studies and clarify construction plans designed to minimize the environmental impact.

Opponents of the project say no amount of design will make the project safe for the environment on Shaffer Mountain.

"We wish they would come out and say already that the project is not environmentally feasible," said resident Jack Buchan. "I honestly don't understand why they can't look to reclaimed land for this."

"We'd rather be friends with them rather than their adversaries."

Buchan, along with groups like Sensible Wind Solutions, have promised to seek a court injunction for the project if the DEP issues a permit.

The opponents have issued written concerns on both the federal and state level over forest fragmentation, water quality, wildlife habitat, construction methods and possible health effects.

"We cannot do anything on a legal basis until the permit is issued," he said. "We've got a lot of resources. The project will face the same if not greater resistance."