LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Law final blow for wind project 

Credit:  The Post | August 25, 2014 | ~~

A lawyer for Pioneer Green Energy confirmed to The Post last week that the Texas-based company has shuttered plans for a wind turbine farm on Lookout Mountain and is pulling out of Cherokee County for good.

“They have terminated the project,” said Charlie Stewart of the Birmingham law firm Spain & Gillon. “The lawsuit against us in local circuit court has been dismissed and Pioneer Green has terminated its lease with the Cash family.”

Pioneer Green had been working actively for several years to try and construct an eight-turbine wind farm on private property near Cherokee Rock Village in Leesburg.

Another proposed project further along the portion of the mountain known locally as Shinbone Ridge would have added another 45 or so turbines in Etowah County.

That plan has also been terminated.

“The politics in this one hurt us badly,” Stewart said. “The law that was passed put in place restrictions that simply don’t allow wind energy development in Cherokee and Etowah counties.”

Representatives from Pioneer Green declined comment.

State Sen. Phil Williams, R-Gadsden, was instrumental in passing a local bill during the 2 0 14 legislative session in Montgomery that Stewart described as the “final nail in the coffin” for Pioneer Green.

“The statement by Pioneer Green Energy is proof that they did not want accountability,” Williams told The Post. “The local bills passed in the
Legislature were designed to protect our citizens and communities from the harm that would have been caused by such a lack of account ability.”

Stewatt said TVA and EPA restrictions and guidelines already in place would have been more than adequate to ensure that only viable, sustainable projects would receive permission to operate.

“How can coming into Alabama to make a long-term investment in a cutting-edge industry be a bad thing?” Stewart asked. “Alabama has always been a progressive state in other areas of industry, such as automotive and aeronautical.”

Centre attorney Chad Hopper represented a group of local residents who filed a lawsuit to stop construction of the Shinbone Ridge Energy Project. He told The Post he was very pleased with last week’s announcement.

“I feel this outcome is in the best interests of all residents of Cherokee County,” Hopper said. “We are pleased that we were able to resolve this without lengthy litigation.”

Ginny Shaver, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to prevent construction by Pioneer Green, told The Post she is grateful that members from both political parties in the region’s legislative delegation were able to work together to pass the local bills that effectively killed the wind farm.

“It’s a great victory for the residents, the little people, who fought to protect their homes and communities from something we thought would be harmful,” Shaver said. “We fought to protect our community from outsiders and big business, which didn’t have our best interests at heart.”

Stewart said he thinks it is a shame that an energy project representing one of the “least painful” alternative sources of energy-which he believes will be necessary in the near future-has been legally exempted from consideration in northeast Alabama.

“Wind energy is very efficient, and studies showed that the [Shinbone Ridge] project would have been good for Alabama,” Stewart said. “And this was just about the only place in Alabama where studies indicated there was enough wind to produce sustainable energy.”

Leesburg Mayor Ed Mackey, a staunch opponent of the project from the beginning, said he was grateful for the “good news” when he got word of Pioneer Green’s decision to pull out of the state.

“Now we can devote our energies to more worthwhile projects,” said Mackey. “I appreciate the people who finally saw the light.”

Source:  The Post | August 25, 2014 |

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon