Benton County Commissioners approved a lawsuit against Governor Jay Inslee for lessening restrictions on the Horse Heaven Hills Wind Farm project.
Both the county and Tri-Cities CARES are against the governor’s decision and county commissioners unanimously voted to move forward with the lawsuit on Tuesday.
Tri-Cities CARES released statements recently about their stance on the situation and have been waiting for the county and Yakama Nation to go public before submitting a petition to the state.
Board member Paul Krupin said the original plan for the wind farms was something he felt the community could live with, but Inslee’s new plan is not.
“Right now what the governor has directed, they’re reducing the mitigation,” he said.
The Benton County Commissioners Office sent out a statement saying they voted to direct legal counsel to file a notice of appeal on the governor’s decision. The issue is set to go to the Washington State Supreme Court in Thurston County,
County commissioners have been opposed to the project since it began because of what they say are negative impacts on the community and surrounding areas, according to the statement. Commissioners are prepared to bring this issue to the highest court in the state.
Yakama Nation has objected to the wind farm project as planned in the past as well, but have not made comments on the lawsuit yet.
