A wind farm in Oklahoma now gets to be dismantled. The Osage have been fighting against Enel for 12 years about a wind farm that was put in against the wishes of the Osage Nation.
At the base of it was mineral rights as well as land rights. That means that even though the company was able to lease PART of the land, when they started digging, then all bets were off. But even though there were multiple notifications of a cease and desist nature, the company just ignored them. It seems like they were going for a fait accompli as well as federal $$$.
Under the Osage Allotment Act of 1906, the tribe owns the rights to the minerals beneath the land it bought from the Cherokee Nation in the late 1800s. Those mineral rights include oil, natural gas, and the rocks that Enel mined and crushed for the wind project. By mining without permission, the company violated the tribe’s sovereignty. Choe-Graves concluded that Enel “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” in 2017. She continued, saying the company’s “past and continued refusal to obtain a lease constitutes interference with the sovereignty of the Osage Nation and is sufficient to constitute irreparable injury.”
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Daniels and other Osage tribal members opposed the project because of its potential intrusion on sacred burial sites, as well as the 420-foot-high turbines’ deadly impact on eagles.
Eighty-four turbines are going to be removed. $300 million just for the removal, plus damages to the Osage for Enel being assholes.
What a great way to start the New Year!
Midwest Chick's Place 
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