| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Justice Dept. won’t say if it’s investigating county planning chief
Credit: Written by Bill Rautenstrauch, The Observer, www.lagrandeobserver.com 3 December 2010 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
The Oregon Department of Justice refused to say Wednesday if it is investigating claims that Union County Planning Director Hanley Jenkins deleted e-mails related to the proposed Antelope Ridge Wind Farm.
Spokesman Tony Green said the justice department did receive a letter from Charlie Gillis, attorney for the anti-wind farm group Friends of the Grande Ronde Valley, in October asking the department to investigate.
Green added, though, that as a matter of department policy he cannot confirm or deny that the department is taking any action.
Green referred The Observer to Union County District Attorney Tim Thompson. A call left on Thompson’s answering machine Wednesday was not returned by press time today.
The county board of commissioners has consistently declined to answer questions about the matter. Commissioner Mark Davidson has said the board cannot release information on personnel matters.
Davidson has said only that the board takes the allegations seriously and that the matter is under investigation.
In September, Friends of the Grande Ronde Valley head Dennis Wilkinson charged that Jenkins had improperly deleted e-mails related to Horizon Wind Energy’s plan to build the Antelope Ridge Wind Farm in the Craig Mountain area near Union.
Wilkinson said a planning department employee, who has never been named, saw Jenkins delete the e-mails.
Gillis wrote his letter to the justice department Oct. 4, requesting the department investigate whether laws regarding the retention of public records have been broken.
Gillis said the case falls within the department’s jurisdiction because Union County received $1,600 from the state Department of Energy, funding to be used to help the county determine whether the proposed wind farm complies with county zoning and planning requirements.
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=44266 ]
