Ohio Supreme Court to decide fate of proposed local wind farm

SANDUSKY — The fate of a green energy wind farm that would stretch over portions of southern Erie County and northern Huron County is in the hands of the Ohio Supreme Court, which heard arguments about it last week. The "In the Matter of the Application of Firelands Wind" case concerns an appeal by opponents of the Emerson Creek wind power project, including local landowners and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, an Oak Harbor group which worries about the impact of the project on birds. The Ohio Power Siting Board approved the project, allowing it to go forward, but opponents appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court in January 2022. Last week's oral arguments suggest a decision might finally be drawing near. The wind farm would be spread out across leased land in Groton and Oxford townships in Erie County and Lyme, Norwich, Richmond, Ridgefield and Sherman townships in Huron County. Firelands Wind says it expects to build 52 to 72 wind turbines. During the arguments, an attorney for the opponents, Columbus lawyer Jack A. Van Kley argued that the project poses a unique threat to migrating birds and local bald eagles. "Firelands has chosen to site its wind turbine facility in a uniquely bad location, in a migratory pathway towards one of the most significant bird sanctuaries in the world, in an area full of bald eagles that will be killed by the turbines," he said. Attorneys defending the Power Siting Board's decision argued that rejecting the project would punish a developer that went above and beyond minimal requirements in carrying out bird studies. Werner Margard III, an Ohio assistant attorney general, said Firelands Wind LLC carried out 29 studies over 10 years, consulting with agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Columbus attorney Jonathan Secrest, representing Firelands Wind, said a typical wind power project devotes 200 to 400 hours to ecological surveys. The Emerson Creek project carried out more than 2,300 hours, including four eagle use surveys, eight raptor nest surveys and three raptor migration surveys. The appeal to the Supreme Court contends that local opposition to the project is "overwhelming" and says it there are insufficient setbacks to protect local residents from wind turbine noise and possible accidents. It also contends that the project threatens birds and bats and says the Power Siting Board ignored threats to underground water. In a reply brief, Firelands Wind LLC says that all of those issues were addressed by the Ohio Power Siting Board. Friend of the court briefs supporting the project were filed by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, by local landowners who support the project and by the Ohio Environmental Council. The brief from local landowners supporting the wind farm says, "The project will create jobs, inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy, and increase local tax revenues, which fund the local public schools and other services that local farmers and their families use or will use." The Ohio Environmental Council brief says wind farm opponents have chosen to ally with fossil fuel opponents who want to block green energy projects in Ohio even in the face of the climate change problem. "Public misinformation of renewable energy projects has been weaponized by both fossil fuel companies and their political allies to stall renewable energy development in Ohio," the OEC brief says. When the Ohio Supreme Court rules, the court likely will settle the matter, Van Kley said in an interview with the Register last year. There are no issues of federal law in the case, he said.