Is Washington State’s Huge Wind Farm Actually Out of Danger?

1. Madison County, Missouri – A giant battery material recycling plant owned by Critical Mineral Recovery exploded and became engulfed in flames last week, creating a potential Vineyard Wind-level PR headache for energy storage.

• The explosion led surrounding communities to evacuate. As video of the explosion ricocheted across Facebook and elsewhere, EPA began giving regular public updates and the National Fire Protection Association put an explainer out about the risks of battery fires.
  
• As of Monday, EPA was finding “occasional detections” of toxic hydrogen fluoride and particulate matter in the air but “below action levels … typically associated with flare-ups during the continued” safety efforts at the plant.
  
• CMR did not respond to a request for comment.

2. Benton County, Washington State – Governor Jay Inslee finally got state approvals finished for Scout Clean Energy’s massive Horse Heaven wind farm after a prolonged battle over project siting, cultural heritage management, and bird habitat.

• Inslee previously rejected a request by the state’s energy siting council to slash the size of Horse Heaven to accommodate environmental concerns and host community discontent. Some turbines were taken off of the project plans but nowhere near the recommended reduction.
  
• I spoke with Paul Krupin at Tri-Cities CARES, a citizens group that was opposed to the scope of the project, who told me his organization and collaborating opponents in the Yakima tribe have yet to decide whether to challenge this approval in state court.
• “We’re thinking about it,” he said, acknowledging some potential legal claims may have an uphill battle but Yakama tribal members may have a shot because of existing treaty rights.

3. Fulton County, Georgia – A large NextEra battery storage facility outside of Atlanta is facing a lawsuit that commingles usual conflicts over building these properties with environmental justice concerns, I’ve learned.

• The litigation was filed in October in Fulton County Superior Court by three residents close to the proposed project site and challenges the legality of local regulators’ March approval of the battery project.
  
• Activists have declared the project an environmental justice issue given the majority-black surrounding communities also claim to deal with other forms of disproportionate industrialization from Amazon warehouses.
  
• “This is an older neighborhood … They’ve lived there my entire life. It’s one thing if you consciously decide to move into a neighborhood that has a battery storage facility,“ activist Mose James IV told podcaster Adrianne Hutchinson in September, “but for some reason on the South side – South Fulton – our neighbors, we look up and there’s warehouses surrounding each and every one of our neighborhoods.”
• To watch the full interview with James and to hear how this battery fight portends environmental justice problems in the energy transition, here’s a link.

Here’s what else I’m watching…

In Colorado, Weld County commissioners approved part of one of the largest solar projects in the nation proposed by Balanced Rock Power.

In New Mexico, a large solar farm in Sandoval County proposed by a subsidiary of U.S. PCR Investments on land typically used for cattle is facing consternation.

In Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County commissioners are thinking about new solar zoning restrictions.

In Kentucky, Lost City Renewables is still wrestling with local concerns surrounding a 1,300-acre solar farm in rural Muhlenberg County.

In Minnesota, Ranger Power’s Gopher State solar project is starting to go through the public hearing process.

In Texas, Trina Solar – a company media reports have linked to China – announced it sold a large battery plant the day after the election. It was acquired by Norwegian company FREYR.