Effects of Wind Farms on Wildlife

http://www.savewesternny.org/wildlife.html 

"Avian Cuisinarts"

The avian mortality problem of wind power is different from bird mortality from stationary objects. As explained by the CEED Study, p. 2-15: 'Wind farms have been documented to act as both bait and executioner -- rodents taking shelter at the base of turbines multiply with the protection from raptors, while in turn their greater numbers attract more raptors to the farm.'"

But the wind industry does avian impact assessments, right?:

"You asked if the Service is studying the possible cumulative effects of the expanding domestic wind industry on migratory birds and other wildlife. In our letter... dated July 13, 2004, we indicated that the Service is not currently conducting independent studies related to wind energy impacts on migratory birds or bats in the Northeast. Instead, we have been requesting information from project proponents on the temporal and spatial use by migratory birds and bats of commercial grade wind energy sites in the Northeast. However, the wind industry has been generally reluctant to conduct studies and provide such information. Without such pertinent information, and adequately trained field staff, project impacts on migratory birds and bats are difficult to adequately assess, and we are not able to perform our regulatory and advisory roles in licensing domestic wind energy projects on land in the Northeast." -USFWS Regional Director Marvin Moriarty.

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• In such numbers, whatever their alignment, the turbines will constitute a deadly obstacle of the first order."
• Australia in turmoil over windfarms: Mark Duchamp..."The windfarm controversy rises to new heights as the federal Minister of the Environment stopped 2 projects that had been approved by state governments. A concern for endangered species, and a desire to protect local communities against the diktats of state politicians, are motivating the commonwealth minister, Senator Campbell." 


• Groups Raise Concern Over Efforts by Wind Industry to Revise USFWS' Interim Guidance Outside Federal Law: Rowe, MA (February 10, 2006)..." National Wind Watch, Inc., the Humane Society of the United States, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, and Juniata Valley Audubon, Chapter of National Audubon Society, called on Interior Secretary Gale Norton and other federal officials to confirm whether the Fish and Wildlife Service intends to comply with the basic openness and accountability of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) with regard to the 'collaborative process' being pushed by wind." 


• Bird Genocide at windfarm sites: Critical analysis of 4 reports on bird mortality at windfarm sites by Mark Duchamp, former Windfarms/Birds Research Manager of Proact International... "DECEIT, COVER UP, ALL THE WAY UP TO SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE AND FALSIFICATION OF DATA." 


• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation responds to Avian Risk Assessment [3.6 MB]: In a letter dated December 31, 2004 and addressed to David Perri, Executive Vice President of Chautauqua Windpower LLC, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) issued a scathing response to the Avian Risk Assessment prepared by Chautauqua Windpower, its attorneys and environmental consultants, including Ecology & Environment, a Buffalo-based environmental consulting firm.

  Findings of the Draft Avian Risk Assessment indicate that the proposed wind power project will pose a negligible risk to birds. The DEC found that "extremely limited" data were collected, bird mortality risk was inappropriately estimated, the potential impact on bald eagles was misstated, an evaluation of the risk to bats is omitted, inappropriate "apples and oranges" comparisons are "done freely" and there are numerous examples in which Chautauqua Windpower has "slanted the discussion in favor of their proposal."

  Summary of DEC letter
  Critical review of Avian Risk Assessment by William R. Evans 

• Impact of wind farm questioned Report says developers fail to fully examine effect on rare birds: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ..."Officials with the Department of Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission said in a report Wednesday that the methodology used by developers of Forward Wind Energy Center was "less rigorous" than studies of birds at other wind farms in Wisconsin...The environmental impact statement also says other nearby bird studies "strongly suggest" that the developers underestimated the presence of rare bird species in the area where the project would be located.

  In its report, the DNR and PSC noted that 45 rare and endangered species live in the area of the proposed wind farm and could be affected by the project. In particular, whooping cranes have been observed in the project area. The loss of a single whooping crane "could significantly impact the ability to re-establish these very rare birds," the report says.

  The report also expresses concern that the developers failed to perform studies in areas closest to the wind turbines. 

• Agencies fear wind farm effects: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources stated in letters to the state Public Service Commission that the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Forward Wind Energy Center have not been studied to the necessary extent...

  "It is imperative that potential displacement, injury and mortality risks to wildlife be avoided and minimized to the extent possible, and, thus far, it appears that the risks specific to the wildlife on-site have been neither studied nor adequately avoided," states the Nov. 18 letter from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the PSC.

  The Fish and Wildlife Service is recommending moving the westernmost turbines three or four miles away from the eastern edge of the marsh instead of two miles away, which is in the site plan. The service also wants a phasing in of construction beginning with the turbines on the eastern edge of the project, smaller turbines and pre-construction studies of bird and bat movement through the area. The DNR also said the application is not complete in studying potential impacts on wildlife. The agency asks the project be moved to the east and be phased in from east to west.

  Palmer said it is too early to say if Invenergy would accept all the recommendations. "We have contracts to supply power to utilities, and we've applied for a project to fulfill those contracts," he said. "As our supply requests from the state utilities stand, building a few turbines, waiting a few years and building more doesn't meet those requirements." 

• Birds, bats at high risk on Red Oak The Recorder. March 2, 2006..."After he was hired to study avian effects for a project in Maryland, however, Boone came across a thin report on the utility and, "I couldn't believe how bad the science was," he said. It spurred Boone into becoming an activist and policy analyst opposing wind development in the East... "Boone said the wind industry often argues turbines only kill about two bats each, and that cats kill far more birds. Those arguments, however, do not hold water, he says. For one thing, the kinds of birds killed by cats are common back yard birds, not forest and migratory birds affected by wind utilities.

  Bat populations can be seriously and critically affected by wind projects, particularly if the number of facilities proposed in the East are built, creating an overall cumulative effect on their migratory patterns and survival. After reviewing the studies conducted by HNWD and Liberty Gap, however, Lambert said he found too many errors and inconsistencies. "We really need more research," he said." 

• Wind farms condemned as eagles fall prey to turbines: By Valerie Elliott, Times Online (UK)..."The drive for clean energy is bad news for one of Britain's rarest birds

  Wind turbines have caused the deaths of four white-tailed eagles on isolated islands off the Norwegian coast. Thirty other eagles have failed to return to their nesting sites within the wind farm area on Smola, 9.6km (six miles) northwest of Norway, according to wildlife campaigners." 

• Why Renewable Energy Is Not Cheap and Not Green: Robert L. Bradley, Jr., NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS...Killing Birds: The 'Avian Mortality' Problem..."A 20 percent share of U.S. capacity, a figure that the American Wind Energy Association put forward some years ago in congressional hearings (see above), would equate to 880,000 cumulative bird deaths. Calculated on an average operating basis, the number would rise severalfold... While such groups as the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society have criticized wind power's effects on birds, many eco-energy planners have ignored the problem in their devotion to wind power... Wind power proponents have argued that the bird death problem is being effectively addressed and should not slow down the growth of the industry. Yet the problem has been studied since the mid-1970s and continues unabated two decades later." 


• Wind turbines taking toll on birds of prey: USA Today, Updated 1/5/2005..."After years of study but little progress reducing bird kills, environmentalists have sued to force turbine owners to take tough corrective measures. The companies, at risk of federal prosecution, say they see the need to protect birds. "Once we finally realized that this issue was really serious, that we had to solve it to move forward, we got religion," says George Hardie, president of G3 Energy."  


• Study published by NABU (German Nature Society) December 2004: Excerpts from a summary in English of the 80 page report... "Collision rates (annual number of killed individuals per turbine) have only rarely been studied with appropriate methods (e. g. with controls of scavenger activities). Particularly in Germany such studies are missing...

  In spite of many publications on windfarms and birds there still is a great demand for further research. First of all there is an urgent need for reliable data on collision rates at wind turbines of birds and bats in Germany. This holds true particularly for the new and big turbines which will replace the present generation of wind turbines. It is still unclear whether these big and necessarily illuminated turbines pose a high collision risk to nocturnal migrants which have not yet been very much affected by smaller turbines. The high collision rates of Red Kites in Germany also urgently deserve to be studied. The aim of the research has to be a quick reduction of the collision rates. The sensitiveness against wind farms of many other bird species that are of particular nature conservation interest (storks, raptors, Cranes) has not been sufficiently studied yet." 

• Windfarm Wasteland Birds and Bat strikes: Country Guardian (UK)...Evidence of bird and bat strikes by wind turbines, legal aspects and research with particular attention paid to the Altamont Pass turbines.


• Thirty songbirds die at a single turbine in one night: Cumberland Times-News, 2003.

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  BAT DEATHS

  Red Bat
  
  Photo CMerlin D. Tuttle,
  Bat Conservation International

  "The cumulative impacts on bat populations from proposed and/or constructed wind farm developments, especially in the eastern United States, may lead to further population declines, placing multiple bat populations at serious risk of extinction." - Dr. Thomas Kunz, Director of the Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, Boston University

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  An unexpected side effect of wind power: bats on ridgetops in the East show an unexplained tendency to collide with the blades of wind turbines. While that may not seem important to the average person, bats are vital to the health of the environment and to many human economies. They are primary predators of night-flying insects, including many agricultural pests that cost farms and forests billions of dollars of damage annually. Some are important pollinators and seed dispersers.

  There are 9 species of bats in NY and 46 species in the U.S. Nine of them account for almost 90% of the deaths and several of those species are in decline. Bats have a longer life cycle than birds and their numbers will decline much quicker. It's not clear why some bats are susceptible to colliding with turbine blades, but the Government Accountability Office has stressed the need for further study. Unfortunately, turbines continue to be slapped up at an alarming rate on ridge tops in the East, before proper study can be done. Often, no pre-construction study is done at all, even when requested by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The USFWS has drawn up guidelines for turbine placement, but has no authority to enforce the guidelines.

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  Conservation Programs > Bats & Wind Energy
  Key Facts
  

  The following key facts were compiled from existing studies and a review conducted by Greg Johnson, Western Ecosystem Technology, Inc., as well as field observations by BWEC scientists.

  1. Bat fatality at wind turbines has been documented worldwide in Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, and Sweden, and occurs throughout all regions and in varying habitat conditions across North America.

  2. Bat fatality at wind turbines is largely understudied; to date, only 12 studies have been conducted in the U.S. Numerous information gaps remain and warrant investigation. Only one refereed journal article on bat mortality at turbines has been published.

  3. Bat fatalities have been reported at nearly all wind energy facilities in the U.S. and annual mortality has been estimated to vary from <2 to nearly 50 bats/turbine/year. These estimates may represent conservative minimums in some situations when searcher efficiency and scavenger removal rates are not adequately addressed..

  4. Search efficiency and carcass removal by scavengers is highly variable among sites, varies with vegetative cover and terrain, and must be accounted for when estimating total number of bats killed.

  5. Current evidence suggests that bat mortality appears to be highest in or near forests, especially along ridge tops, moderate in open areas close to forest in the Midwest, and lowest in open grassland or farmland away from forests.

  6. Data from studies in open habitats should not be extrapolated to forest environments.

  7. Currently, no detailed studies of bat fatality or interactions with turbines have been conducted in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, or New Mexico, where large concentrations of bats occur, including migratory free-tailed bats.

  8. In forested areas, risk may extend through most of the summer in addition to periods of spring or fall migration.

  9. Hoary, red, and silver-haired bats are killed most frequently, but there are regional differences in species composition of fatalities.

  10. Current evidence indicates that bats rarely strike either meteorological towers or non-operating wind turbines.

  11. Current evidence suggests that FAA lighting appears does not have an effect.

  12. Peaks in bird and bat kills appear to be largely non-overlapping, with bats preceding birds in fall migration.

  13. No endangered species of bat has yet been found and reported killed at a wind farm in the continental United States. However, observations to date are too few to speculate on risk levels to several endangered species that occupy habitats in the vicinity of proposed and existing wind farms (e.g., the Indiana bat during migration).

  14. Red bats are one of the species most frequently killed by turbines in the U.S. and they appear already to have been reduced sharply from historical numbers. There is serious concern that proliferation of wind energy development could push such bats toward endangered status unless methods to prevent or minimize mortality are found.

  15. Unlike many species of birds, bats are long-lived, have low reproductive rates, and appear to be especially vulnerable to wind turbines. Unless solutions are soon discovered to prevent or minimize this new threat, the cumulative impact on populations of bats could become extremely serious.

  Source: Bat Conservation International (www.batcon.org)

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• Wind Energy: A Lethal Crisis: Must read article in Bat Conservation Times, A Bat Conservation International, Inc. Publication  


• Why are wind turbines killing Alberta's bats?: CBC News, September 8, 2006... "University of Calgary researchers are trying to understand why hundreds of bats are dying each year in Pincher Creek, inexplicably drawn to wind turbines.

  As part of the study, Erin Baerwald, an ecology student, hunts for dead and injured bats in Pincher Creek's turbine fields. 'Last year, more than 500 were found. This year, we're following a similar trend. And that's just this wind farm,' Baerwald said." 

• Windmills shred bat population Energy companies find clean not always green; environmentalists angry: Larry Lipman - Cox Washington Bureau, December 14, 2005..."Though wind still generates less than 1 percent of the nation's electricity, the Department of Energy has set a goal of raising that to at least 5 percent by 2020. To reach that goal, the American Wind Energy Association estimates it will require an increase from about 16,000 turbines nationwide now to more than 78,000 turbines then... About 600 of those turbines are planned for West Virginia and Pennsylvania. If they are built, more than 50,000 bats a year may be killed in those two states alone, said Merlin D. Tuttle, founder and president of Austin, Texas-based Bat Conservation International Inc... He said there were no good estimates of how many bats would be killed nationwide if the association's projection of 78,000 turbines was reached, but he estimated it would be far higher than 50,000."

  "'They can't sustain that kind of kill rate,' Tuttle said, noting that bats are among the slowest-reproducing mammals --- generally one pup each year, although some species have two to four. 'Bats are just as important by night as birds are by day,' he said...A study conducted at FPL's Mountaineer Wind Energy Center here this year indicated that its 44 turbines may have caused between 1,300 and 2,000 bat deaths in a six-week period. That study was led by Edward B. Arnett, a scientist with Bat Conservation International, and financed largely by the American Wind Energy Association and its 700 member companies... bats are not colliding with stationary blades, they're being hit by moving blades, said Dan Boone, a wildlife biologist from Bowie, Md., who has joined the fight against new windmill farms on forested mountaintops."

  "The recent Mountaineer study has led to an impasse between bat conservationists and the wind power industry over what to do next. Conservationists have called for further studies that would disengage some turbines on nights when the wind speed is low and bats and their prey are more likely to fly."

  "The wind power industry has rejected that suggestion... 'We don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to be focusing on a solution that potentially could reduce the amount of power that is generated and potentially put stress on the machines,' said Steve Stengel, an FPL Energy spokesman." 

• Relationships between Bats and Wind Turbines in Pennsylvania and West Virginia: 7 page Summary of Findings from the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative's 2004 Field Season (Click here for the full 187 page report in .pdf form).


• GAO-05-906, Wind Power: Impacts on Wildlife and Government Responsibilities for Regulating Development and Protecting Wildlife: the Government Accountability Office, September 2005, 64 pages. [1.67 Mb .pdf file]..."Wind power has recently experienced dramatic growth in the United States, with further growth expected. However, several wind power-generating facilities have killed migratory birds and bats, prompting concern from wildlife biologists and others about the species affected, and the cumulative effects on species populations.

  What GAO Found: The impact of wind power facilities on wildlife varies by region and by species. Specifically, studies show that wind power facilities in northern California and in Pennsylvania and West Virginia have killed large numbers of raptors and bats, respectively. Studies in other parts of the country show comparatively lower levels of mortality, although most facilities have killed at least some birds. However, many wind power facilities in the United States have not been studied, and, therefore, scientists cannot draw definitive conclusions about the threat that wind power poses to wildlife in general. Further, much is still unknown about migratory bird flyways and overall species population levels, making it difficult to determine the cumulative impact that the wind power industry has on wildlife species. Notably, only a few studies exist concerning ways in which to reduce wildlife fatalities at wind power facilities.

  Regulating wind power facilities is largely the responsibility of state and local governments. In the six states GAO reviewed, wind power facilities are subject to local- or state-level processes, such as zoning ordinances to permit the construction and operation of wind power facilities. As part of this process, some agencies require environmental assessments before construction. However, regulatory agency officials do not always have experience or expertise to address environmental and wildlife impacts from wind power. The federal government plays a minimal role in approving wind power facilities...

  ...Three federal laws-the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act- generally forbid harm to various species of wildlife. Although significant wildlife mortality events have occurred at wind power facilities, the federal government has not prosecuted any cases against wind power companies under these wildlife laws, preferring instead to encourage companies to take mitigation steps to avoid future harm. All of the six states GAO reviewed had statutes that can be used to protect some wildlife from wind power impacts; however, similar to FWS, no states have taken any prosecutorial actions against wind power facilities where wildlife mortalities have occurred.

  ...GAO recommends that FWS provide state and local regulatory agencies with information on the potential wildlife impacts from wind power and the resources available to help make decisions about where wind power development should be approved. The Department of the Interior agreed with GAO's recommendation. (Bolding ours) 

• Bat Death Research: researchers have estimated the total number of bats killed by the turbines at this one industrial facility may well exceed 3,000 during 2003.


• Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton made headlines in November of 2004, when a Freedom of Information Act suit was filed against her by Citizens of Blackwater and backed by 21 citizens groups. The suit was filed for failing to turn over wildlife death information due to wind turbines.