State officials are proposing to largely allow the developer of a wind farm in the Horse Heaven Hills to proceed with construction, though not to the extent desired by the developer. 

The state Energy Facility Siting Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, is proposing to allow Horse Heaven Wind Farm LLC, a subsidiary of Scout Clean Energy, to build primary project components of the 1,150-megawatt wind farm within two miles of all but five endangered ferruginous hawk nests on the site, closer than originally allowed in the original certification agreement for the project. 

EFSEC is accepting public comment on the proposal through Oct. 13 before the council considers action on Oct. 15. 

The draft decision has received pushback from Scout as well as the wind farm’s opponents. Scout Energy officials say their inability to build closer to those additional five nests will eliminate more than 200 megawatts of wind and solar power generating capacity for the project and require rerouting of other infrastructure, according to EFSEC documents. 

Benton County and nonprofit Tri-Cities C.A.R.E.S. objected to how Scout conducted the required review process in assessing impacts to nesting sites. EFSEC also rejected a request from Tri-Cities C.A.R.E.S. to provide a map of where infrastructure would be constructed, the nonprofit said in a message to its supporters. 

“Using cryptic legal language EFSEC is approving an unknown number of turbines without letting anyone know where they are located,” Tri-Cities C.A.R.E.S. said. 

The nonprofit, Benton County and Yakama Nation are still awaiting word on whether the Washington State Supreme Court will hear their lawsuit to stop the project.  

A Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled in mid-June to move the legal challenge to the higher court, though Supreme Court justices have not yet added it to their fall or winter dockets.