(The Center Square) – Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee has approved a revised Site Certification Agreement for the Horse Heaven Wind Farm Project in Benton County.

The project is to be located just south of the Tri-Cities, where residents and local leaders are not giving up the fight against the massive wind turbine and solar array project.

As previously reported by The Center Square, a group called Tri-Cities CARES has argued the gigantic turbines, up to 671 feet tall, will destroy landscape views, endanger a fragile species – the ferruginous hawk – and impact Native American cultural sites.

“This monstrous wind and solar project is designed to cover more than 72,000 acres, or over 100 square miles of the Horse Heaven Hills too close to over 300,000 residents,” wrote TCC.

In a Sunday Facebook post soliciting donations, the organization said it’s launching “a legal battle to prevent the Tri-Cities from being significantly impacted by the Horse Heaven Hills Wind and Solar Project.”

Benton County, the Yakama Nation, and TCC have until the end of November to file a lawsuit challenging the governor’s decision.

Based on the concerns raised and pushback from the community, the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, made up of mostly Washington state employees, initially recommended a scaled-back version of the project from the one Inslee wanted.

“We thought that EFSEC made a good compromise, and the most objective turbines were pushed back,” said TCC’s Dave Sharp in a September interview with The Center Square.

But then Gov. Inslee resisted the tailored recommendations, telling EFSEC that any scaling back of the project should be balanced with prioritizing “the state’s pressing clean energy needs.”

Much to the dismay of community members and local officials opposed to the project, EFSEC revisited and reconsidered some of the original objections related to buffer zones around former nesting sites for the endangered hawk where turbines could not be located and the protection of Native American sites.  

The council ultimately gave Inslee most of what he wanted.

In an Oct. 18 letter to EFSEC, Inslee wrote, “After considering the record, I find that the Council evaluated this application in a manner consistent with the statutory requirements and intent of Chapter 80.50 RCW, and I concur with the Council’s recommendation to approve the application. In addition, I find that the Council carefully considered both the environmental impacts of the project and its consistency with the land use plans and ordinances in effect in Benton County.”

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