There’s a court fight brewing and it pits a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell against Decatur Township in Van Buren County.
Today, Jason West (pictured above) lives in a Decatur Township country home surrounded by farmland. Soon, that will change if a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, the owners of Shell Oil company, has its way. Shell New Energies US-owned Savion company is planning to replace an estimated 1,000 acres of farmland with a solar panel array and energy storage facility.
West learned of the plan after Decatur Township officials had already approved an ordinance allowing the development. But because of a clerical error, the township had to reopen the public process. The question ended up on the August ballot and 80 percent of voters in Decatur Township rejected the changed ordinance.
West says the very next Monday after the vote, the Shell-owned company filed suit against the township saying, in part, the voters have no standing.
“They’re essentially trying to turn our entire town into a giant power plant. The company filed a lawsuit against Decatur Township asking a judge to allow them to build here anyway. Even though the voters said no. It’s terrible. They should respect the vote. They should respect what the people of this town have said.”
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Southwest Michigan Solar Project is pending in the 36th Circuit in Van Buren County. Representatives for Savion, LLC including their legal contacts have not responded to requests for comment.
West says the people of the township are not opposed to solar or private property rights. They simply want to protect the heritage of their area, including the mineral-rich farmland that blankets the landscape.
“Raising kids here and protecting people that have their dream home that they worked their whole life to build. (The township) has to protect them too, and not just be an expressway to let solar come in and build wherever they want.”
