Rep. Newhouse Argues the Wind Project Would Disrupt Operations at Tri-Cities Airport

Representative Dan Newhouse of Washington’s 4th District has written to the Federal Aviation Administration asking it to take a closer look at a massive wind farm project set for construction near a commercial airport, which the agency previously determined to pose “No Hazard to Air Navigation.”

The so-called Horse Heaven Hills Wind Project spans roughly 72,000 acres southwest of Kennewick and would place up to 222 turbines across about 24 miles of Benton County. Proposed turbine heights reach roughly 671 feet.

The primary concern is not the land use, but rather the impact on the skies above. Tri-Cities Airport (PSC), which handled 949,110 passengers in 2024, sits less than 10 miles from the development.

On top of routine commercial flights in the Tri-Cities area, concerns have been raised regarding nearby Department of Defense military training routes, medevac runs to the region’s only Level II trauma center, and aerial firefighting tanker operations. Newhouse’s recent letter, mailed to the FAA on December 1, warned that turbines of this size and placement introduce “unnecessary and significant risks to aviation that need to be recognized and considered."

The project has already sat in regulatory limbo for years. Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council received the application in February 2021, issued an EIS in October 2023, and sent recommendations to Governor Inslee in April 2024. After reconsideration, Inslee signed the site certification agreement in October 2024. The project, clearly, remains contested by local stakeholders.

Newhouse also criticized the approval process as a whole, claiming former Governor Jay Inslee “expediently permitted” the project despite numerous objections. The congressman pointed to letters from state lawmakers and the local group Tri-Cities C.A.R.E.S. as evidence that objections were made but never resolved.

"I share the concerns of the residents in the Tri-Cities with the proposed wind project because of potential devastating impacts to the airspace,” Newhouse wrote. “I believe a rigorous re-examination of the prior determination of no hazard is essential to properly and accurately assess this project’s impact on the community.”

FMI: https://newhouse.house.gov