December 1, 2025. That is the deadline Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves of the U.S. Court of International Trade gave to Enel and its subsidiaries to remove 84 wind turbines west of Pawhuska and return the land to its pre-windfarm state.
She also awarded about $4 million in monetary damages for both conversion, trespass and attorney fees.
“We are thankful that the Court stood up for Indian rights. Our lands and resources have been taken and used by others for more than 150 years,” said the Osage Minerals Council in a statement. “We will always fight to defend our Mineral Estate that our ancestors reserved for our benefit and the benefit of generations to come.
“We are open for business and we look forward to working with anyone who negotiates with us in good faith.”
After more than 12 years of litigation, appeals to the Tenth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, and 10 months of unsuccessful settlement talks, Judge Choe-Groves found the defendants Osage Wind, LLC, Enel Kansas, LLC, and Enel Green Power North America, Inc., liable for conversion, trespass and continuing trespass of the Osage Mineral Estate and ordered the companies to remove all turbines and related infrastructure.
“For the reasons discussed … the Court grants injunctive relief in the form of ejectment of the wind towers by December 1, 2025 on the claim of continuing trespass, with Defendants estimating that it will cost approximately $259 million to remove the wind towers,” Judge Choe-Groves wrote. “The Court awards damages on the claim of conversion in the amount of $242,652.28, and damages on the claim of trespass in the amount of $66,780.00.
“The Court also awards [the Osage Minerals Council] $1,943,666.17 for attorneys’ fees and $32,554.08 for costs, and awards to Plaintiff-Intervenor [United States] $1,822,575.85 for attorneys’ fees and $88,891.78 for costs …”
Background
Enel and its subsidiaries first came to Osage County in 2010 and leased approximately 8,400 acres of surface land to construct a commercial wind farm, according to the opinion. The construction would include 84 turbines, underground electrical lines, an overhead transmission line, meteorological towers (the red lights that flash all night) and access roads.
The Osage Nation filed suit in Northern District of Oklahoma in October of 2011 to halt the construction of the proposed wind farm, but that case was dismissed that same year. Construction began in October of 2013 when the companies began digging, blasting and crushing rock for backfill for the turbine foundations which measured 10 feet by 60 feet for each tower, according to the opinion.
In 2014, the United States intervened on behalf of the Minerals Council as its trustee and filed suit in Northern District Court again seeking judgment on five claims that the wind companies had engaged in trespass, continuing trespass, conversion, unauthorized mining and excavation into the Mineral Estate without first obtaining a lease. The judge in that case denied summary judgement. The United States appealed to the Tenth Circuit that reversed the District Court’s ruling and found the wind companies had mined and trespassed. Enel appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and they denied to hear the case in 2017.
The case went back to District Court and Judge Choe-Groves found Enel liable in December 2023. A non-jury damages trial lasted for eight days in May 2024 regarding monetary damages. As reimbursement for the lengthy prosecution of the case, the United States and the Osage Minerals Council received a substantial judgement for attorneys’ fees and costs, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“This case demonstrates our commitment to preserving and defending tribal sovereignty,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “As Judge Choe-Groves emphasized, injury to the Osage sovereignty cannot be condoned or suffered. The Defendants disregarded cease-and-desist instructions with willful and wrongful intent.”
Sovereignty
Last year, Enel’s attorneys told Judge Choe-Groves that 12 months would be an adequate period of time to remove its turbines when she ordered their ejectment. So this time when Enel told her it would take 18 months to remove them, she denied their request. She wrote that Enel has had nearly a year to “obtain the necessary permits, contact specialists, and make other initial arrangements” to remove the turbines.
She also ruled the Court would not be awarding both injunctive and monetary damages for continuing trespass.
“In this case, the injury caused by Defendants’ continuing trespass was the interference to the Osage Nation’s sovereignty, which a monetary award cannot cure,” she wrote in her opinion.
No matter, because the Osage Minerals Council says this a “historic victory.”
“The Council is thankful for the efforts of their federal trustee, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the United States Department of Justice attorneys, who worked tirelessly to protect their Indian trust resources.”
