The United States filed for a preliminary injunction to halt construction of 94 industrial wind turbines in Osage County Dec. 2, two of which have been completed.
The motion, filed in the Northern Oklahoma District Court in Tulsa, asks the court to halt “all excavation, digging and earth-moving activities” in Osage County. It cites irreparable harm to the Osage Minerals Estate and notes the public interest involved in stopping the construction of the turbines favors an injunction to be granted.
The U.S. cites the 25 C.F.R.’s, the federal regulations governing the minerals estate. The “mineral estate of that [Osage] reservation has remained held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Osage Nation to this very day.” The motion cites discovery of unpermitted excavation sites approximately 10 feet deep and between 50 and 60 feet in diameter.
The Osage Minerals Council must first approve a lease for any excavation of mineral other than oil and gas to take place. The Osage Agency superintendent must then sign off on the lease. According to the motion, the defendants ignored the federal regulations and spent $800 million without waiting for a $40 permit to issue.
According to the motion, materials excavated to fill the bases of the wind turbines include sand, soil of various types and a variety of native rocks, including limestone and other minerals reserved to the subsurface estate. An Oct. 9 letter, sent to Francesco Venturini, president of Enel Green Power North America, Inc., from BIA Superintendent Robin Phillips, notified him to acquire a sandy soil permit before continuing construction, the letter was ignored.
The eight-member Osage Minerals Council released a statement on the filing.
“The Osage Minerals Council applauds the United State for recognizing the need to stop construction immediately,” according to the release. “The Osage Minerals Estate has, and will continue to be, irreparably harmed by Defendants’ unauthorized excavation activities. We look forward to the Court granting the United States’ preliminary injunction motion.”
To download a copy of the motion, visit: http://static.osagenews.org.s3.amazonaws.com/cms_page_media/43/USvOsageWind_Injunction.pdf
By
Shannon Shaw Duty
Original Publish Date: 2014-12-02 00:00:00