Wind project to move forward

The Perquimans County Commission rejected two appeals to cut short the review of the Apex Clean Energy wind power project because Apex didn’t submit a complete application and failed to meet the burden of proving the project was safe.

Attorneys Chad Essick and Keith Johnson made the two motions Wednesday at the start of the fifth night of hearings on the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application.

Before they could vote on the motions, the board had to decide what to do about a request to recuse Commissioner Matt Peeler.

That vote was 3-2 in favor of recusing Peeler. Once that was done, the five remaining members unanimously denied the two requests to cut short the review.

Among other things Essick and Johnson argued that Apex did not submit environmental assessments of the project when it asked for the Conditional Use Permit.

“This is not some legal technical point,” Johnson said.

Apex also didn’t submit background data as to sound levels in the area of Bear Swamp where the project will be. 

Lawyers for Apex argued the environmental assessments aren’t required at this point.

They also argue that background sound data isn’t required under the ordinance. Instead the ordinance requires data on how much sound each wind turbine would make.

While Apex has not settled on just what kind of turbine it will use, the CUP application included calculations based on the worst-case scenario of the five turbine models Apex is looking at. Apex argues that even then, it will still be less than the limit of 55 decibels the county ordinance requires.

Henry Campen, the lead attorney for Apex, argued that the county’s own consultant, Clarion ruled that the CUP application was complete and the planning board agreed.

“The planning board wouldn’t have done that if it was not complete,” Campen said.

Apex lawyers have argued that even with county approval in both Perquimans and Chowan, the project cannot go forward unless it also meets the standards set by the state and federal government.

Katherine Ross, another Apex attorney said regulatory bodies wouldn’t have considered doing an environmental review without the county’s CUP first.

“If we had gone to the Army Corps of Engineers first, they would not have met with us,” she said.

At least two more hearings are scheduled for Oct. 17-18.

Time is becoming a factor now. The seats of three of the six commissioners are up this year. The election is set for Nov. 8. Chair Janice Cole and Peeler aren’t running. Vice Chair Kyle Jones is. Of the three other candidates, at least two of them have been vocal opponents of the Apex plan