April 2, 2013
Connecticut

Supreme Court next stop for Colebrook wind farm fight

April 1, 2013 | www.rep-am.com

COLEBROOK – A local citizens group that opposes two wind turbine projects in town has taken its fight to the Supreme Court.

Nicholas J. Harding, a Hartford lawyer representing the group, Fairwindct, along with plaintiffs Michael and Stella Somers and Susan Wagner, said he filed a 60-page statement March 22.

The action follows a dismissal of their case by a New Britain Superior Court judge in October, and appeals subsequently filed in Appellate Court.

A Superior Court ruled in favor of the Connecticut Siting Council’s approval of the turbine projects. West Hartford-based BNE Energy Inc. plans to build six 1.6-megawatt turbines [Dash] three on Flagg Hill Road and three on Rock Hall Road. Construction has not yet begun.

If they are built, they will become the first commercial wind farms in the state.

The Siting Council has sole jurisdiction over renewable energy projects that propose to generate more than 1 megawatt of power.

Fairwindct, Wagner and the Somers have said they are concerned the turbines will harm health, wildlife and property values. Harding has claimed the council lacked the jurisdiction to rule on the wind projects. He has argued the council should not have had the authority to rule until the state put regulations over wind turbine projects in place.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers has approved a permit for the turbines on Flagg Hill Road but not on Rock Hall Road because of the potential harm they could do to the historic preservation of Rock Hall, a luxury inn just off Route 44.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/04/02/supreme-court-next-stop-for-colebrook-wind-farm-fight/