Where Do We Go From Here?

At Brightside, we’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past 10 days trying to figure out the answer to this question.

Here’s what we’ve come up with so far:

We believe it was no accident that Highland New Wind waited until late on Friday afternoon October 9 (before a Monday holiday and a long-anticipated hearing scheduled for Tuesday, October 13) to provide documents to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR).

After so many years of asking for cooperation from the developer and being utterly dissed, DHR was bound to be overwhelmed with gratitude at receiving anything. Not that we imagine this wind developer left such an outcome to chance. Surely their discussion with DHR on October 6 involved defining what actions they might take that would be interpreted by the Department as “cooperative” and compel them to request postponement of the hearing, if not its dismissal.

Make no mistake, the developer’s delayed display of this “cooperation” was expressly intended to disrupt public protest.

Why? Because, assuming they’ve got the financing to pull this thing off, public protest is the only remaining hitch in their gitalong.

By their actions, the developer has made it known that they are very closely monitoring the grassroots movement demanding that all of the evidence regarding the impact of their proposed wind turbines on Camp Allegheny Battlefield be presented in a public forum. The company appears well-aware of the number of citizens from Virginia, West Virginia and the national historic preservation community who were prepared to present this evidence or bear witness to it at the October 13 hearing.

If they have nothing to fear from The Peoples’ evidence, why are they going to such great lengths to avoid its presentation?

It just begs credulity, doesn’t it?

A company that plays by the rules welcomes you to look at their playbook. A company that wants to be a good community citizen tells the truth.

Not so this wind developer.

Even their latest “visual impact study”, hot off the press October 9, insists that Camp Allegheny is two miles from the closest turbine. This “fact” is easily disproved by any citizen with a site plan, a topo map, a compass and a ruler. If you have a GPS—even better.

No wonder they don’t want people showing up at a hearing with site plans, topo maps and GPS readings. If you were trying to hide certain facts, and you knew other people were in possession of those facts, you’d make sure they never got to present them publicly, wouldn’t you?

All of which begs the much bigger question:

Is this a rational way of siting an electric utility?

We don’t think so.

If we are to move ahead into an era of true “energy independence” it won’t be because of companies like this one—it will be in spite of them.

In spite of all their efforts to suppress us, we will continue to demand that The Peoples’ concerns have a place at the table.

We will insist that no new energy development occurs unless the quantifiable benefits to the local community outweigh the costs. We will be participants in that cost-benefit analysis. We will insist on transparency. We will be provided with the accurate information necessary for sound decisionmaking.

We have a long way to go.

For this reason, above all others, we believe it is vitally important to establish a better precedent in this case. We, all of us together, can establish this better way, but only if we continue to speak up and speak out.

Who is the most important person to contact?

West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin.

Talking points:

Highland New Wind’s site plan overlaid on the USGS topo indicates that possibly two of their proposed turbines are located in West Virginia. As a result, Governor Manchin has revived the WV Boundary Commission to look into it. However, while the Boundary Commission has not yet met, nor been given a timetable for completion of their investigation, Highland New Wind proceeds with construction.

ASK

Governor Manchin to seek a court order to suspend construction on Tamarack Ridge until a judge makes a ruling defining the WV state line.

The permit issued to Highland New Wind by the Highland County Board of Supervisors requires a 1,600-foot setback from property lines. According to Highland New Wind’s site plan, they are not considering the state line (wherever it may be) to be a property line. One of the proposed turbines is situated exactly on top of what they designate as the state line.

ASK

Governor Manchin to seek a court order to suspend construction on Tamarack Ridge until a judge determines whether a “property line” includes a “state line.” Until such time, Highland New Wind’s site plan cannot be considered to be in compliance with the permit issued by Highland County.

Governor Joe Manchin, III
1900 Kanawha Blvd, East
Charleston, WV 25305
Governor@WVGov.org
1-888-438-2731

Please cc to:
Joel H. Peck
Office of the Clerk-SCC
P.O. Box 2118
Richmond, VA 23218

Who else should be contacted?

Representative Nick Rahall
Chairman, Natural Resources Committee

Talking points:

Congressman Rahall wrote a letter to the Virginia State Corporation Commission on August 27, 2009, wherein he expressed his grave concerns about the impact of Highland New Wind on Camp Allegheny Battlefield. Since that time, the public hearing regarding the impact of Highland New Wind on Camp Allegheny has been postponed twice.

ASK

Congressman Rahall to make it clear to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Virginia Attorney General’s Office that this hearing must go forward, as it will be the first and only time West Virginia’s vested interests (and those of the nation) in regards to Camp Allegheny (a National Register site located on US Forest Service land), will be presented in a public forum.

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has expressed concern that the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) for Highland New Wind shows construction in Pocahontas County, WV. Survey plats in the US Forest Service office in Elkins, WV indicate that drainage from the construction site will flow to the Little River in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia.

ASK

Congressman Rahall to request documentation from the WV Department of Environmental Protection and the Supervisor of the Monongahela National Forest indicating that all appropriate state and federal regulations pertaining to the Clean Water Act are being fully complied with by Highland New Wind.

Representative Nick Rahall, II
2307 Rayburn House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-4803
Phone: (202) 225-3452

Please cc to:
Joel H. Peck
Office of the Clerk-SCC
P.O. Box 2118
Richmond, VA 23218

Public protest really does make a difference. We’ve proven it.

Remember: This whole discussion would have been at an end October 6 if the Virginia Department of Historic Resources hadn’t heard from so many of us.

Apparently, public servants really need reminding that their job is to serve the public interest. When we taxpayers are funding them to protect water or natural habitats or historic resources, it seems clear enough that’s their job, period.

Nevertheless, it remains our job, even after paying their salaries, to insist that they do theirs.

Greasing the wheels for developers of any stripe should be nowhere whatsoever on their radar.

Regulations exist to protect us from ourselves, not to inspire the worst within us.