Bureau Co., IL. (ECWd) –
Tribe-Backed Wind Farm Hits Snag Over GSA Enviro Review
Law360, Chicago (May 08, 2015, 2:12 PM ET) — A proposed Illinois wind farm backed by a California tribe ran into a potential roadblock on Wednesday when a federal judge ruled that its pivotal contract with the U.S. General Services Administration wasn’t exempt from a federal review of environmental impacts.
Siding with property owners who sued claiming the 123-turbine Walnut Ridge Wind Farm is a blight on the area in northwestern Illinois, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm rejected the GSA’s argument that its contract to purchase power from the project qualified for an exclusion from the National Environmental Policy Act.The finding marks another setback for the long-delayed project owned by MG2 Tribal Energy LLC, a joint venture between Minnesota-based Geronimo Wind Energy LLC and the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians. The two-page order came immediately after oral arguments and gave only an outline of Judge Mihm’s ruling, which he…
3 Responses
Walnut Ridge Wind Farm hits snag in Federal Court – http://t.co/DiST7rzaHN via @ECWDogs
Hold on! The US General Service Administration is certainly required to get competitive bids from providers of renewable energy, right? I would think it is a safe bet to assume they messed up and did one of those ILLEGAL NO-BID CONTRACTS. Is the US GSA subject to FOIA? How about asking them for a copy of the “request for proposal” or “notice to bidders” or a copy of the bid documents for wind power, solar power, or whatever government subsidized creation they dreamed up. If the US GSA has a power purchase agreement with a wind energy company which fails to meet the federal requirement of having an environmental impact study, then the contract should be voided for failing to operate in a “legal” manner. Should taxpayers be forced to pay more in taxes so the US GSA can pay Berkshire Hathaway to produce taxpayer subsidized wind energy? (Berkshire Hathaway recently purchased this project from Geronimo Energy who purchased it from Mainstream Renewables.)
Walnut Ridge Wind Farm hits snag in Federal Court – http://t.co/P4XcIcMiiB