ROXBURY — The Maine Board of Environmental Protection on Thursday will consider a petition from Concerned Citizens to Save Roxbury and other appellants who want to halt development of a $120 million wind farm atop Roxbury peaks.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Ground Round at the Holiday Inn in front of the Augusta Civic Center.

The board will hear testimony from Concerned Citizens about its request for a temporary restraining order that would halt construction until financial capacity can be demonstrated. Wind-power developer Record Hill Wind LLC will testify against the order.

According to BEP Executive Analyst Cynthia Bertocci, the appellants must prove in support of their petition that:

• Irreparable injury will occur to the appellants if the stay is not granted.

• There would be a strong likelihood of success on the merits of the appeal.

• There would be no substantial harm to Record Hill Wind or the general public if the stop order is granted.

On Aug. 20, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection approved Record Hill Wind’s application to build a 50.6-megawatt wind energy development project in Roxbury. The 22-turbine project is estimated to cost $120 million.

With permit in hand, work began immediately.

On Sept. 21, Concerned Citizens appealed the permit, citing several issues, among which was financial capacity.

On Nov. 3, the group’s lawyer, Rufus E. Brown of Portland, filed a petition seeking issuance of an emergency order by the BEP prohibiting further construction.

In the document, Brown wrote that Maine Department of Environmental Protection officials erred when they approved and granted Record Hill Wind a permit.

He said there was an inconsistency in the DEP’s final order: One section states that the DEP ruled that Record Hill Wind demonstrated adequate financial capacity to comply with DEP standards provided it submits final evidence of that capacity “prior to the start of construction.” Another section states that Record Hill Wind isn’t required to submit this evidence until “prior to the start of operation.”

After the appellants pointed this out, the DEP notified the developer that it intended to have Record Hill Wind demonstrate financial capacity prior to construction, Brown said.

Record Hill Wind answered with an Aug. 27 letter from Northern Trust of Chicago, stating that an unnamed owner of Record Hill Wind LLC had unencumbered cash and securities at the bank in excess of $150 million.

Northern Trust Senior Vice President Kimberly A. Miller, however, didn’t make any claims about the continued availability of those assets, nor would the bank be compelled to fund any aspect of the project. She said the letter didn’t represent a letter of credit from the bank.

Brown’s petition misidentifies the $150 million as $120,000. He claims the DEP was wrong to accept the bank letter as proof of financial capacity.

Record Hill Wind lawyers Juliet Browne and Gordon Smith of Portland responded to the petition on Nov. 25, claiming that Concerned Citizens’ request didn’t meet any of the three criteria the BEP’s Bertocci said they must prove.

Browne and Smith also say the appellants’ petition for a stop-work order is moot because Record Hill Wind has already started closing the site down for the winter and won’t continue construction until after mud season in 2010.

Though not required, Record Hill Wind would provide updated financial capacity information at least 15 days prior to restarting construction next year, lawyers Browne and Smith said.

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