October 26, 2013
Alabama

Lawsuit filed to stop local wind energy project

by Carson Clark | WHNT News 19 | October 25, 2013 | whnt.com

A lawsuit has been filed in Cherokee County to stop a wind energy project. The proposed wind turbines would be built on the lower end of Lookout Mountain near the Cherokee-DeKalb-Etowah county lines.

Six to eight wind turbines would be built just outside of the Cherokee Rock Village park, popular with campers across North Alabama.

“It is not environmentally friendly,” said Ginny Shaver, one of the litigants in the case. “To install these turbines will require clearing of the entire top of the mountain ridge. And to blast and drill into the rock.”

Shaver has a home at the bottom of the mountain. She says she has no desire to look up and see a once pristine landscape covered in wind turbines several hundred feet tall covering the ridge.

“This is our little piece of heaven in Alabama and our retreat,” she said.

The lawsuit is filed against Pioneer Green Energy based in Texas. A spokesperson for the company told our news partners at Al.com they disagree with the lawsuit.

They plan to build the wind turbines, including several dozen in Etowah County, and sell the energy to TVA. A lawsuit has also been filed in Etowah County.

“It’s all about the money. It’s all about the tax credits. The subsidies. Selling these production tax credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange,” said Shaver.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/10/26/lawsuit-filed-to-stop-local-wind-energy-project/