Lawsuit Still Creating Delays for Tri-County Project

A lawsuit by a single anti-wind activist is still slowing development of Gamesa's Tri-County project across Stephenson, Ogle and Winnebago Counties, though the suit is scheduled for a hearing on April 29th. According to a story in the Freeport Journal-Standard:

[P]lanning efforts continue for the wind farm, which would stretch across Stephenson, Ogle, and Winnebago counties on property southeast of German Valley. The proposed farm may include between 12 to 16 turbines in Stephenson County, and the entire facility would likely have close to 100 turbines.

“There’s activity going on with the project, but they haven’t applied for zoning in Stephenson County,” said Terry Groves, director of planning and zoning for Stephenson County. “They might be doing some engineering work, but (the lawsuit) is delaying things.”

Because the farm would straddle three counties, the wind farm company, Gamesa USA, would have to obtain permits from each county. Gamesa is the parent company of the Minnesota-based Navitas Energy.

The lawsuit in question was filed in Rockford federal court by Patricia Muscarello, who owns property near the proposed farm site. Among other things, the lawsuit seeks an injunction against the project. The suit was filed on Jan. 21, 2010.

John Rearden, an attorney for Patricia Muscarello, said there are two motions to dismiss that have been filed in this case, but they have not yet been ruled on. The motions were filed by Gamesa USA, Winnebago County, and the other defendants in the suit.

Patricia Muscarello is an absentee landowner who lives in Arizona, and her lawsuit has been credited with hampering economic development in the economically-depressed area.

Lawsuit Still Stopping Gamesa Project in Winnebago Co

Construction of a project in Winnebago, Ogle and Stephenson Counties remains on hold due to a lawsuit an Arizona woman filed against Gamesa, a legal challenge that continues to prevent job-creation and economic development in an area that has seen unemployment approach 20 percent in the current recession.

According to an article in the Rockford Register-Star:

That lawsuit was filed in Winnebago County by Patricia Muscarello, an Arizona resident who owns Watts Farm, Hilton Farm and Ross Farm, which collectively comprise more than 400 acres near German Valley. Muscarello’s property is near an area where Navitas Energy Corp. would erect more than 100 wind turbines as part of a farm of more than 400 turbines that would span three counties.

Muscarello’s complaint alleges that Winnebago County employed a faulty process to establish its wind farm ordinance, that erecting turbines infringes on her property rights and that wind turbines are a public nuisance.[...]

Muscarello made similar arguments in 2006 when she was a plaintiff opposing a separate wind farm in Ogle County. A federal appeals court ruled against Muscarello in August on that lawsuit, but the litigation is still tied up in court at the state level.

After the appeals court ruling in the Ogle County case, Muscarello’s attorney amended her Winnebago County complaint. Her complaint now includes allegations that Winnebago County officials never notified her of a key public hearing, that turbines are noisy and that turbine blades could come loose and land on her property.

But despite the physical impossibility of a turbine blade flying onto adjacent property, the suit moves forward to the detriment of landowners, workers and local taxing bodies:

[Farmer and Seward Township trustee Richard] Beuth said local taxing bodies, and by extension, taxpayers, stand to lose the most if the project doesn’t move forward. Each turbine, he said, would be assessed at roughly $20,000

Lawsuit Against Tri-County Project Still Preventing Economic Growth in NW Illinois

Gamesa's proposed Tri-County wind farm in Stephenson, Winnebago and Ogle Counties remains in court, thanks to a lawsuit from a single absentee landowner, though local officials are hopeful the project will be able to move forward soon.

The project would bring jobs, landowner payments and property tax revenue to the area, which has been hit hard by the economic crisis, but Patricia Muscarello's lawsuit is stopping that economic development, possibly in order to secure a financial settlement. According to a story in the Freeport Journal-Standard:

Attorneys say a lawsuit was filed in Rockford federal court against the three-county wind farm by Patricia Muscarello, who owns property in the proposed farm site. Among other things, the lawsuit seeks an injunction against the project, said John Rearden, an attorney for Patricia Muscarello. The suit was filed on Jan. 21.

“The lawsuit that we filed does seek to halt construction,” Rearden said. “There are a number of different counts, (including) a count for an injunction.”

Rearden declined to comment on the specific grounds for the most recent lawsuit, which is proceeding through federal court. Officials with Gamesa USA were unavailable for comment.

The suit isn't the first time a Muscarello has sued Gamesa either:

Patricia Muscarello is the mother of Charles Muscarello, an attorney who filed a lawsuit against Gamesa’s Lancaster Wind Farm LLC project in 2007. This suit was settled in 2009. He has also filed additional wind farm lawsuits.

Though the details of the 2007 settlement are not available, Patricia Muscarello has indicated she would settle her case for an undisclosed sum of money.

Muscarello's son also sued Gamesa in 2007 about the Lancaster wind project,

Anti-Wind Lawsuits Damaging Illinois Economy

The Rockford Register-Star ran a great article today highlighting how anti-wind lawsuits are robbing Illinois of the economic benefits that wind farms can provide struggling communities in today's difficult economy:

In late 2004, Tim and Michele Keller were contacted by Navitas Energy Corp., which was looking to build 80 wind turbines in the area and wondered whether the Kellers would lease some of their land for a turbine.

The couple jumped at that chance. [...]

But today, going on six years since they were first approached and four years after the Baileyville Wind Farm was supposed to go online, the Kellers stand on an empty field where the turbine was supposed to be. The reason was a lawsuit filed by Patricia Muscarello, an Arizona woman who took Ogle County and Navitas to court over the proposed wind farm in January 2006.

She’s the same woman who filed a lawsuit a few weeks ago to stop the Navitas project in Winnebago County by suing the county and the company using many of the same arguments against the wind farm in the Ogle case that she did in the Winnebago one. [...]

The Kellers were in line to make between $3,500 and $7,000 a year by leasing part of their 40 acres of farmland for the turbine. Not an overwhelming sum, said Tim, but a nice supplement to his job at Eickman’s Processing and Michele’s part-time job at Sojourn House in Freeport.[...]

The Chariman of the Winnebago County Board even noted that Muscarello doesn't even live in the area, yet her lawsuit is damaging the county's economy:

“She lives in Arizona, right? I wonder if she’s been here and seen the 16 percent (unemployment rate) and the jobs that would mean,” [said Board Chair Scott Christiansen].

The piece also hints that Muscarello may be more concerned with financial gain than with genuine environmental protection:

“Their central argument is that wind farms are terrible,” [said Clay Lindsey, an attorney with the firm Williams and McCarthy who representes Navitas]. “But they have said that they’d entertain negotiated (monetary) settlements. You would think that someone who was against wind farms for environmental reasons wouldn’t accept any amount of money.”

Winnebago Co Landowner Suing Navitas, County Officials

A landowner near Navitas' proposed Whispering Prairie project in Winnebago County is suing the developer and several county officials, charging that the county did not follow due process when approving the county's wind zoning ordinance last year. According to an article in the Rock River Times:

An eight-count complaint, filed Jan. 19 in federal district court, names as defendants the Winnebago County Board, County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen (R), the Winnebago County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), ZBA Chairman Jim Webster (R), Winnebago County Planning and Zoning Officer Troy Krup, Minneapolis-based Navitas Energy, Inc., and its parent company, Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica.

Patricia Muscarello, the plaintiff, is an Arizona resident who owns land adjacent to the proposed Navitas wind farm project in Winnebago County, which is planned as one component of a larger wind farm straddling the convergence of Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties.

Muscarello is requesting that damages of at least $500,000 be awarded for “depreciation of use and value” of her property as a result of the wind farm text amendment’s approval as a permitted use, which requires no public hearings prior to the siting of wind turbines throughout the county.

Muscarello’s lawsuit asks the court to find the text amendment “invalid, illegal, unconstitutional and void” on the basis the application, public notice and public hearing were improper under state and federal law. [...]

Count II of the complaint alleges board members and the ZBA “have unreasonably and illegally taken, injured and damaged” Muscarello’s property, and that it was “not for a public purpose, but rather to provide private economic benefits to Navitas, a private entity.”

The complaint asserts the proposed Navitas wind farm project would deprive Muscarello of the “full extent of the kinetic energy of the wind and air” to her property. The lawsuit also states her property would be subject to shadow flicker, reduction of light, noise, the potential for “ice throw” and “blade throws” from the turbines, as well as radar, television, wireless and satellite interference. The complaint also notes higher probability for lightning strikes, electromagnetic radiation and stray voltage as concerns, and that the turbines would prevent crop dusting on her agricultural land.