The
Minnesota Court of Appeals struck down a Goodhue County wind farm setback rule
earlier this week in favor of less stringent state established setback
requirements. Goodhue County commissioners passed a regulation imposing a 2,700
foot setback rule on the project proposed for 5o turbines each 400 feet high,
ostensibly to eliminate shadow flicker and turbine noise from neighboring
properties. The state permit for the project imposed only 1,500 foot setback.
The
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission issued the 1,500 foot setback permit after a
three day hearing which found that the county’s larger setback would have made
the wind farm impossible to build. County Commissioners has imposed the 2,700
foot setback to completely eliminate noise and flicker from neighboring
properties so as to avoid the cost of modeling and measuring any health effects
from noise and flicker. The Court of Appeals determined that there was no
evidence of any health effects from flicker and noise, and that the county’s
rule was unjustified.
AWA
Goodhue Wind, developer of the project, still needs to satisfy environmental
requirements respecting bald eagles and other local wildlife before
construction can commence. Coalition for Sensible Siting, the environmental
group opposing the wind farm in the court case, has not yet decided whether to
appeal the ruling to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
