Court Upholds Mason County Wind Permit

By Bob Allen

A judge's decision in Mason County means the way is clear for Consumers Energy to put up 56 wind turbines south of Ludington. It's the first large-scale wind farm along the west Michigan coast.

A group of residents challenged the county's approval of the permit. They argued the turbines pose a threat to property, public health and safety.

Circuit Judge Richard Cooper said the resident's raised valid concerns, but county officials followed the law by weighing the evidence and making a decision.

Mary Reilly is zoning administrator for Mason County: "You know in one way it's a sense of relief. But on the other hand nobody can discount the difficulties the community has gone through to get to this point."

The president of the citizen's group says it has no plans to appeal the decision. Cary Shineldecker, with Citizens Alliance for Responsible Renewable Energy, says the group has data to show the turbines will exceed noise limits and reduce nearby property values.

Despite the loss in court, he says their group did raise a lot of awareness about large wind farms.

"People at the state level, the legislature's representatives are aware, the Governor's aware, the Attorney General's aware, more people are aware now than ever before and that was a huge, huge gain on our part," he says.