Wind farm opponents plan appeal
A group of rural Taylor County landowners plan to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court a recent ruling that people cannot sue solely because they dislike how wind turbines sound or look.
The 11th Court of Appeals, which serves 28 counties in West Central Texas, ruled Thursday that a lower court was correct in deciding that state law “does not provide a nuisance action for aesthetic impact.”
Dale Rankin, one of the landowners who claimed FPL Energy created a nuisance by erecting ugly and noisy wind turbines at the company’s Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, said the group’s attorneys have decided an appeal is in order. Rankin said that in his group’s opinion, the appeals court erred.
“Politics and the judicial world are not supposed to mix, and they obviously do,” Rankin said, adding that there’s “too much political pressure” on the appeals court to maintain the status quo and not get in the way of the wind turbine industry.
“I do not believe we will have that kind of action by the state Supreme Court,” he said. “I believe the Supreme Court will rule based on the law. … If they rule in our favor, it’s going to open the door for a lot of other groups like ours. This is the first case — only case I know of — that’s gone this far. But we believe it’s that important.”
During the 2006 trial, the opposing sides argued over issues such as the levels of noise that constitute interference with a neighbor’s use and enjoyment of property, whether FPL’s wind turbines at times created noise rivaling a B-1 bomber’s, and the amount and cause of any property devaluation near the wind farm.
The wind farm covers about 60,000 acres and stretches from Taylor County into Nolan County. The wind industry has been a major economic boon for the Big Country, with wind farms sprouting throughout the area.
By Doug Myers
25 August 2008
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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