SAN DIEGO (CN) - An environmental group, a labor union and residents say a 10,000-acre wind farm on public land on the western edge of the Mojave Desert will threaten protected species and the peace and quiet of nearby Ocotillo.
Ocotillo Express, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pattern Energy Group, wants to build the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility on 10,000 acres of public land 5 miles west of Ocotillo in southeastern California. Ocotillo, population 206, is about 25 miles west of El Centro.
The Desert Protective Council, the Labors' International Union of North America Local Union No. 1184, and Hector Casillas and John Norton sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors, and the developers, Ocotillo Express and Pattern Energy Group, in Federal Court.
The wind farm will generate 315 megawatts of electricity using 112 wind turbines, according to the BLM website.
"According to the record of decision ('ROD') released by BLM, the OWEF would involve the 'installation of wind turbines ... the construction of new access roads, an operation and maintenance (O&M) facility with associated utility routing, the electrical collection system, the project substation, the utility switchyard, utility staging and storage areas, up to three permanent meteorological towers, temporary work areas, fencing, and a concrete batch plan/construction laydown area,'" the complaint states.
"All of this is slated to be constructed in an area which was, until BLM's approval of this project, protected by the CDCA Plan [California Desert Conservation Area] against projects that would disturb the desert ecosystem such as wind development projects. Thus, BLM has amended the CDCA plan to allow for wind projects such as OWEF."
The California Desert Conservation Area covers more than 25 million acres of public land, 10 million of them overseen by The Bureau of Land Management. At the direction of Congress, the BLM created a plan to develop and protect the land in the late 1970s.
Superheated air from the immense Mojave Desert is drawn toward the cooler ocean over the mountains just west of the proposed wind farm. Similar geography and climate inspired the construction of the giant wind farm west of Palm Springs, about 60 miles to the north.
But the plaintiffs claims that the wind farm, and the county's approval of the project and its environmental impact report, violate the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and state planning and zoning laws.
Laurens Silver with the California Environmental Law Project said the project's location is problematic.
"It's adjacent to the small community of Ocotillo, less than a half mile away from the nearest residents," Silver told Courthouse news in an interview.
"It's also next to the Anza-Borrego State Park, the largest desert recreation area in the state."
Anza-Borrego, which borders the project area on the west, is home to several endangered animal and plant species. Seasonal wildflowers and more than 100 miles of hiking trails attract thousands of visitors each year.
"BLM has identified the project site as containing high-value lands for numerous protected species, including golden eagle, burrowing owl, Peninsula bighorn sheep, migratory birds, bats, and other species," according to the complaint.