The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has unanimously rejected arguments from the Friends of Lincoln Lakes nonprofit group, which challenged the Department of Environmental Protection's approval of a 40-turbine wind power project on Rollins Mountain in northern Penobscot County, the Associated Press reports.
The group said that regulators approved the project too quickly and failed to consider the impact it would have on people and wildlife. Evergreen Wind Power III LLC, a subsidiary of First Wind, is proposing to build a 60 MW wind farm.
Friends of Lincoln Lakes also claimed that Maine's Wind Power Act is unconstitutional because it streamlines the permitting and appeals process for wind power projects in specified areas of the state. The law is part of the state's long-term strategy to install more than 2,000 MW of wind capacity by 2015 and 3,000 MW by 2020.
However, the justices ruled that the law's provisions are ‘rationally related to a legitimate state interest’ and do not violate the U.S. or Maine Constitution.
SOURCE: The Associated Press Â
