WV Intermediate Court Tosses Two Ridgeline Appeals Cases

The Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia dismissed two separate appeals on August 26 concerning the Ridgeline Power Plant and Data Center Project in Tucker and Grant Counties. These appeals were brought by environmental organizations including Tucker United, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the Sierra Club, and Friends of the Blackwater.

Fundamental Data, the developer behind the project, through its responsible official Casey Chapman, issued a statement respecting the court's ruling and reaffirming its commitment to comply with state requirements as the project progresses.

One appeal, Case No. 26-ICA-92, challenged a February 5 order from the West Virginia Air Quality Board that upheld the project's air permit. The court dismissed this appeal due to a jurisdictional dispute, finding that such challenges must be filed with the State Supreme Court or, by agreement, with the Kanawha Circuit Court, neither of which occurred. The second appeal, Case No. 25-ICA-391, questioned the Air Quality Board's handling of a draft permit and Fundamental Data's claims of confidential business information. This appeal was also dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, with the court noting the proper venue would have been a circuit court in the county of origin or the Kanawha Circuit Court, and additionally deemed the appeal moot since a final permit had already been issued and appealed in the other case.

The article notes that both cases experienced delays due to the voluntary recusal of two ICA judges, Daniel W. Greear and Charles O. Lorensen, stemming from concerns over their family and professional ties to Fundamental Data and its legal representatives. The article explicitly states that these were appeals to an order that *upheld* the permit, so these are appeals *against* the permit approval.