In April 2007, the Oregon Department of Energy held a meeting in The Dalles, Oregon to tell residents about a wind farm proposal for nearby Sevenmile Hill and to explain how the state would go about approving or denying the plan. More than 100 residents crammed into the Civic Auditorium for a tense meeting filled with plenty of shouting among the obviously anguished residents. Families for Sevenmile Hill was born that week, as neighbors banded together to protect their homes and community. They poured over UPC Wind's 1,000-page application and pointed out to state authorities all of the lies, half-truths and omissions by the company.
By early June, the state had deemed the application incomplete. By mid-June, residents had won their second court case about the project, showing that UPC had acted unlawfully in erecting wind testing towers on Sevenmile Hill.
By the end of June, one of the landowners who leased his property to UPC was trying to back out. Likewise, the local paper came out strongly in the camp of the residents. The fight goes on....
