EverPower Wind Holdings’ Buckeye wind project in Ohio has won a couple of legal cases in a long-running battle with opponents.
The Ohio Supreme Court this week unanimously rejected an appeal brought by Champaign County and three townships and upheld the site permit.
A US district appeals court recently denied another challenge. The Conservation Law Center claimed the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) wrongly approved a permit that would allow the project to kill a certain number of the endangered Indiana bat.
The court concluded that FWS failed to comply with National Environmental Procedures Act (NEPA) obligations, however, the court deferred to the agency’s interpretation of the Endangered Species Act and upheld the permit.
A separate appeal pending before the state Supreme Court continues to delay construction.
The two-phase 200MW Buckeye project in Champaign County has been under development since 2006. Regulators previously extended the deadline to start construction to May 2018.
EverPower is owned by European private equity outfit Terra Firma Capital Partners.
Image: EverPower
Ohio court backs Buckeye
Appeal rejected and site permit upheld for EverPower's 200MW wind farm
By EBS