FOSSIL, Ore. (AP) — The Defense Department says it has asked radar experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory to investigate whether a huge wind farm planned for northcentral Oregon would interfere with signals from a radar station located at Fossil, Ore.
But the study announced Friday will take as long as 60 days. That will extend long past the planned May 1 groundbreaking date for the Shepherds Flat project. Les Gelber is a partner with Caithness Energy, the wind farm’s developer. He says this is a delay the project can’t tolerate.
The Oregonian says Caithness is working with Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley as well as White House officials to try to push for a quicker solution.
Gelber says the lab study should have been started three years ago when the company first talked with the Air Force about the project.