 |
COLUMBUS — Opponents of a planned wind farm in Champaign County have lost a legal challenge.
A 5-2 decision by the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday upholds a 2013 power siting board decision allowing Champaign Wind LLC’s Buckeye Wind II project to proceed. The plan included up to 56 wind turbines on 13,500 acres of private land.
Champaign Wind is a project of EverPower, which is also developing the Scioto Ridge Wind Farm in northern Logan and southern Hardin counties.
The nonprofit organization Union Neighbors United, other residents, the county, townships and other local government entities appealed the Champaign County project to the Supreme Court. They argued the approval process was flawed and the project didn’t comply with required property setbacks, noise and environmental standards.
The court’s majority found opponents failed to demonstrate the board’s action was unreasonable or unlawful.
Justices Sharon Kennedy and Paul Pfeifer dissented. They said board calculations on setbacks and noise were “against the manifest weight of the evidence.”
Phase I of the Buckeye Wind project consists of 52 turbines in while phase II is the remaining 56 turbines. Overall, the project is rated to generate up to 260 megawatts of power or roughly enough to power 50,000 homes per year.
EverPower has an 11:30 a.m. Tuesday meeting with the Logan County Commissioners to discuss the Scioto Ridge project.