January 28, 2015
Michigan

Lawsuit filed against Upper Peninsula wind farm owners

Lawsuit filed against U.P. wind farm owners | By Blair Caldwell | Posted: 01.27.2015 | www.uppermichiganssource.com

GARDEN – “It’s beautiful, it’s wild, it has it’s own way of doing things and it’s a delightful place to live or was,” said Stuart Craig, Director of the Garden Peninsula Foundation.

They are one of the plaintiffs suing Heritage Sustainable Energy over the Upper Peninsula’s first wind farm in Garden. Also suing are 11 residents of Garden.

“We’ve surveyed the township and the vast majority, 80 some percent, are opposed to the wind towers period,” said Craig.

But CEO at Heritage says differently.

“Unless people who own the land are for it in a very broad sense, you can’t build a wind farm,” said Marty Lagina, CEO of Heritage. “I mean, if they won’t lease I don’t have any right to put a wind farm. The rights stem from the land owners.”

The suit was filed in federal court on January 16th and Heritage just received word of it.

“So we’ve only had that for one day, and I’ve sent that to my attorneys,” said Lagina. “There are lots of allegations in there, and so we don’t have a formal response to that yet.”

Citizens of Garden are suing for the endangered species the turbines affect, the health and safety issues regarding their residents, and for declining property value. Those who live near the windmill say the flicker creates problems, the windmills are loud, and affect their sleep.

“The end goal is to preserve the peninsula and the health and safety of the citizens and the animals,” said Craig. “We’re opposed to killing birds and bats.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/01/28/lawsuit-filed-against-upper-peninsula-wind-farm-owners/