Law Suit against Wind Power Company
Animal rights and environmental advocates have sued a Rockville-based wind energy company, claiming its plan to build towering wind turbines along a West Virginia mountain ridge threatens an endangered species of bat. The defendants, Invenergy is a company which is focused on the development, ownership, operation and management of large-scale wind sites and other clean energy generation assets in the North American and European markets.
The Invenergy companies have approximately 2,000 MW of wind projects and 2,200 MW of natural gas-fired generating projects in operation and are one of the top five largest owners of wind generation assets in the United States. The Animal Welfare Institute and Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy allege that Invenergy Wind LLC lacks a permit for its ongoing Beech Ridge venture, which calls for approximately 124. Turbines with a height of 390-ft and that it will further destroy the habitat and decrease the numbers of the Indiana bat.
The tiny Myotis Odalis has been endangered since 1967 and is a “keystone ecological species” due to its insect-control function, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in a greenbelt. AWI of Washington and MCRE of Williamsburg want Judge Roger W. Titus to declare that Invenergy Wind, has violated the “take” prohibition of the Endangered Species Act and enjoin it and its subsidiary, Beech Ridge Energy LLC, from continuing the project without approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
