The Supreme Court of Ohio approved the permit for construction of a 71-turbine wind farm that spans across portions of Huron and Erie counties.
File photo/The Lima News
The Supreme Court of Ohio approved on July 27 the permit for construction of a 71-turbine wind farm that spans across portions of Huron and Erie counties, according to a news release.
In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court ruled the Ohio Power Siting Board appropriately issued a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need to Firelands Wind to construct windmills for the Emerson Creek Wind Farm.
A group of 19 neighbors and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory had appealed the board’s decision to grant a permit to the Emerson Creek project, raising issues ranging from turbine noise to the project’s impact on migrating birds, the release said.
Writing for the Court, Justice R. Patrick DeWine explained that the Court’s standard of review for board orders is laid out by the General Assembly in a statute. R.C. 4903.13 states that the Court may reverse, modify, or vacate a board order only when, based on the record, the board’s order is “unlawful or unreasonable.”
This means that the Court cannot reweigh the evidence and, generally, cannot second-guess the board’s factual determinations, according to the release.
After going through each objection to the board’s order and the corresponding parts of the record, the Court stated, “We conclude that the residents and Black Swamp have not established that the board’s order was unlawful or unreasonable.”
Residents concerned about impact of wind facility
The General Assembly has authorized the construction of commercial wind farms in Ohio but has made their construction conditional on approval by the Ohio Power Siting Board, according to the release.
In 2019, Firelands Wind proposed to construct the Emerson Creek Wind Farm that would generate about 298 megawatts of electricity, the release said.
The wind farm covers 32,000 acres of leased land, of which 84.5 acres will have wind turbines and other facilities.
Huron County, Richmond and Norwich townships, and the city of Willard supported the project, the release said.
But 19 owners of property neighboring the wind farm and the Black Swamp observatory objected.
In June 2021, the board approved the plan with modifications so that it would consist of 71 turbines.
Firelands initially proposed to build up to 87 turbines.
The board added 44 stipulations that Firelands must meet, including some during the construction and others after the wind farm begins operations.
The wind farm opponents raised several objections, including the potential for the wind farm to disrupt water supplies, create excessive noise, and cause “shadow flicker” in the homes of residents near the turbines. They also claimed that it posed a threat to various bird species.
The board staff investigated the objections and recommended that the board approve the permit, subject to 44 conditions.
The board followed the recommendation, approving Firelands’ permit.
The opponents appealed to the Supreme Court.
