An Oklahoma judge has ordered the removal of a massive wind farm after declaring that it was erected without permission from the Native American tribe that holds rights to the land.
Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves ruled that the 84-turbine wind farm and its supporting infrastructure must be torn down, as its construction violated the sovereignty of the Osage Nation and required a lease from the tribe’s minerals council, which the wind farm companies had failed to obtain.
“The developers failed to acquire a mining lease during or after construction, as well as after issuance of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision holding that a mining lease was required,” Judge Choe-Groves wrote.
“On the record before the court, it is clear the defendants are actively avoiding the leasing requirement,” Ms. Choe-Groves continued. “Permitting such behavior would create the prospect for future interference with the Osage Mineral Council’s authority by defendants or others wishing to develop the mineral lease.”
The judge continued: “The court concludes that [the] defendants’ past and continued refusal to obtain a lease constitutes interference with the sovereignty of the Osage Nation and is sufficient to constitute irreparable injury … The court concludes that a permanent injunction is appropriate relief for defendants’ continuing trespass and failure to obtain a lease.”
The December ruling left open the opportunity for the Osage Nation to sue the project’s developers—Osage Wind, Enel Kansas, and Enel Green Power North America—for damages and means that the large wind turbines and their supporting facilities will have to be removed from the tribe’s property, ending a prolonged court battle which has stretched back more than a decade.
In October 2011, the Osage Nation filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt the construction of the wind farm, alleging that the project violated the tribe’s rights by depriving the Osage Nation of access to and the right to develop the mineral estate.
The wind farm was spread across 8,400 acres and included underground lines, overhead transmission lines, meteorological towers, and access roads. To backfill their turbines, construction crews had to extract thousands of pounds of rock from the land, an act that constituted mining, according to the judge, and that required permission from the Osage Nation.
Since the 1906 Osage Allotment Act, the Osage Nation has had federally recognized rights to the oil, natural gas, and other valuable minerals under their land.
The wind farm producers argued before the court that the turbines should remain and that removal would result in a loss of revenue from jobs associated with the project as well as the renewable energy for 50,000 homes.
A representative for Osage Wind could not be reached by the Epoch Times.
Everett Waller, chairman of the Osage Mineral Council, told the Epoch Times that the ruling was “a great victory not only for the Osage Minerals Council but a win for Indian Country.”
“We are a little Indian tribe and as a group of people who own something we believe we should be treated just as any other individual or organization where if someone wants something of ours then they need to follow the rules,” said Mr. Waller. “And this ruling affirms that we have just as many rights as anyone else.”
Mr. Waller added: “This wind energy group moved in and set up these turbines without permission from the rightful owners of the property they built on.”
“This is a win for American property rights. This is a win for everyone.”
The decade-long grind gave many in the Osage doubts that justice would ever be realized, according to Mr. Waller.
“I knew corporate America would do everything possible to win this case and it gave me an advantage because I knew they were going to take us to the limit,” said Mr. Waller. “They had 94 billion dollars that we didn’t have but we stood our ground and didn’t back down.”
“Despite all their advantages, justice prevailed,” he added.
Private property advocates claim that constitutionally protected liberties have increasingly been encroached upon by interests on the progressive left, many of whom claim that a need for green “renewable” energy can override the ownership rights of certain groups or individuals. Mr. Waller says that the battle to protect the land extended beyond the current members of Osage Nation, and also hopes the ruling will set a precedent to protect Osage descendants and all Americans from unlawful corporate intrusion.
“There are a lot of smaller tribes that couldn’t have battled this long, but we dug in and that’s why we’re Osages,” Mr. Waller said. “This is our homeland, and we are going to protect it at all costs. No matter what.”
“I’ve been here long enough to recognize that if we lose our sovereignty, that as a people, that means death. And I’m not going to allow that.
“Not on my watch.”
