Board Approves 80 Windmills; Audubon Society Will Appeal

The Klickitat County Board of Adjustment unanimously approved a conditional use permit for a wind power electrical-generating facility in the Columbia Hills. The permit allows Kenetech Windpower Inc. of San Francisco to erect 80 turbine windmills on 12,623 acres about 10 miles southeast of Goldendale.

Kenetech plans to start work at the site this summer and begin operating the first 80 turbines in late 1996. Kenetech’s plans include up to 345 windmills on the site in three years.

The initial phase of the project - building 80 windmills - will cost about $30 million and generate 30 megawatts of power. Ultimately, the project could produce 115 megawatts, enough to light 2-1/2 cities the size of Yakima.

The Columbia Gorge Audubon Society and the Yakama Indian Nation have opposed the project.

The Audubon Society plans to appeal the board’s decision to Klickitat County Superior Court, local member Dennis White said.

“That whole area will be saturated with turbines, whirling blades and noise,” he said. “The birds of prey are not going to be able to course across the sky without running into one of those damned things.”