Poppy - San Francisco Bay
Guest
|
 Posted:
Sat Jul 02, 2005 4:02 pm Post subject:
Windmills and Bird Kills |
|
|
Posted on Sat, Jul. 02, 2005
Wind plants offer shutdowns to stem winter bird deaths
By Guy Ashley
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Wind power companies have proposed winter shutdowns of all 5,400
windmills that churn in the Altamont Hills east of Livermore to
decrease the number of birds killed by flying into their whirring
blades.
The 31/2-month seasonal shutdowns, which would be phased in over five
years, are part of an industry plan to reduce Altamont bird fatalities
by 50 percent by 2010.
Wildlife groups want more, including $6.5 million from Altamont-area
companies to compensate for future bird deaths and for the estimated
20,000 raptors killed over the past two decades. The money would pay
for a safe breeding ground for the birds.
"Even if mortality is reduced by 50 percent, they're still going to
kill 500 or more raptors each year,'' said Jeff Miller, wildlife
advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, which has led efforts
to reduce bird kills in the Altamont. "That's still a significant
problem.''
The Altamont is one of the nation's leading producers of wind power,
generating enough power annually to serve 120,000 homes for a year. It
is vital to attainment of state mandates to increase the availability
of clean, renewable energy over the next decade.
But a darker side to the operation has emerged since windmills began to
rise from the Altamont's rolling hills in 1981. They kill thousands of
birds, including scores of protected raptor species, each year, in part
because the Altamont stands amid prolific raptor breeding areas and is
smack in the middle of a major migratory flyway.
"The scale of the bird kills is so atrocious in the Altamont that it's
one example where you can say maybe this isn't an environmentally
friendly source of power,'' Miller said.
Talks between wildlife groups and wind-power companies broke off this
week as they prepare for a crucial hearing Thursday. The Alameda County
Board of Supervisors will consider wildlife protection measures as
conditions of renewing wind companies' Altamont permits for 13 years.
Negotiations over the past several months have produced significant
results: the industry has agreed to pay for an environmental report
examining bird mortality and to permanently shut down a number of
"killer turbines'' thought to be particularly hazardous because of
their locations.
|
|
FAQ
Memberlist
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in