North county wind farm going to court

The permit process for a north county wind farm is headed to court.

Roger Whitten, Oakesdale resident who has long voiced his opposition to First Wind’s proposed 9,000 acre wind farm, was set to file Wednesday an official appeal of the wind farm permit in Whitman County Superior Court.

The company was granted a conditional use permit May 24 by Hearings Examiner Andrew Kottkamp, a Wenatchee land use attorney hired by the county to rule on the permit.

First Wind, a Boston-based company, applied to put as many as 65 wind turbines, each of which could stand as high as 492 feet, on Naff Ridge, Granite Butte and Steam Shovel Hill northwest of Oakesdale.

After hours of testimony at a hearing May 9, Kottkamp decided to grant the permit. He also dismissed challenges by Whitten and 18 other nearby residents who claimed the county’s environment impact statement for the proposed wind farm was insufficient.

Whitten’s court appeal filed this week contended Kottkamp did not adequately consider the negative effects the wind farm would have on his and other properties around the wind farm.

He said allowing the placement of the wind farm is an “inverse condemnation” of his property, lowering his property’s value without compensating him for damages.

“I think everybody acknowledges that surrounding a guy’s house with industrial wind turbines negatively affects his land value,” said Whitten. “Everybody agrees with that except for the government.”

The other appellants in their appeal of the statement of the project’s environmental impacts asked the county require First Wind to compensate them if their property values diminish. Kottkamp denied that request. First Wind’s plans would put eight turbines within 3,500 feet of his home, Whitten contends. He also claims low frequency sound waves emitted by the turbines would harm the health of anyone within that limit.

While studies exist to back Whitten’s claim, others introduced during the May 9 hearing countered the sound produced by the wind itself is greater than sound produced by turbines. Whitten said Tuesday the county has not sufficiently disproved his assertion.

“I do not have to prove a direct causal link between the wind turbine and an adverse health effect,” he said. “All I have to prove is that a potential health threat exists.”

County Planner Alan Thomson pointed out previous rulings by state courts have gone against Whitten’s assertion.

“If Mr. Whitten wins his case, every single turbine in the state of Washington is in jeopardy,” said Thomson. “It’s been litigated again and again, all the way up to the state Supreme Court. If they are placed properly, there is no harm.”

Thomson pointed to a 2008 ruling made by the state Supreme Court. Kittitas County officials had opposed the siting of a Horizon Wind Energy wind farm along U.S. Highway 97, northwest of Ellensburg.

Governor Chris Gregoire approved the wind farm over the objections of those county officials, and the county challenged the Governor’s ruling all the way to the state Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruled the Governor’s office was correct in approving the wind farm and that health would be protected if turbines were placed a measurement of four times their height away from neighboring homes.

Whitman County’s wind farm ordinance includes the four times height setback.

The other appellants said Tuesday they would not appeal Kottkamp’s decision.

Marcia Wagner of Oakesdale, one of the appellants, said they decided the appeal would be too costly. She said they would have had to hire attorneys to properly argue their case.

With the county and First Wind hiring land use attorneys to argue their side of the case, Wagner said it would have been a “David versus Goliath” effort to sway a judge in their favor.

“I think we still have a legitimate case,” said Wagner. “But to pursue it with the legal representation, I mean the costs would have been astronomical.”

Whitman County has retained the services of Seattle land use attorney Susan Drummond to represent the county alongside Prosecutor Denis Tracy.

Drummond’s fees will be reimbursed to the county through an agreement with First Wind.