A wind power company last week pleaded guilty to killing at least 150 eagles at its wind farms and was ordered to pay $8 million in fines and restitution, federal prosecutors said.
The company, ESI Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, was also sentenced to five years’ probation, during which time it must follow an eagle management plan, after pleading guilty Tuesday on three charges of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
ESI acknowledged that at least 150 bald eagles and golden eagles had died at its facilities since 2012, and that 136 of those deaths were “confirmative due to the eagle being hit by a wind turbine blade,” the Justice Department said in a statement. . †
The deaths occurred in 50 of the 154 wind farms the company operates in the United States, the Department of Justice said.
The company has not taken any steps to protect the eagles or obtain the permits needed when eagle deaths are documented or predicted, the Justice Department said. By not taking these steps, prosecutors said, ESI had “gained a competitive advantage.”
“This prosecution and the restitution it ensures will protect the ecologically vital and majestic natural resources of our bald eagle and golden eagle populations,” Phillip A. Talbert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, said in a statement.
Rebecca Kujawa, the president of NextEra, said in a statement that she disagreed with the federal government’s enforcement of the policy because “the reality is that building a structure, operating a vehicle, or flying an aircraft carries the possibility that an accidental eagle and other bird strikes may occur as a result of that activity.”
“We have a long-standing and well-deserved reputation for protecting our environment and positively coexisting with and supporting wildlife around our facilities,” said Ms. Kujawa. “And we’ve never set up a wind turbine knowing that an eagle would fly into it, nor have we taken any action in violation of federal law.”
The company agreed to spend up to $27 million on measures to “minimize the number of additional eagles killed and injured,” prosecutors said. Steven Stengel, a spokesperson for NextEra, said there was no specific breakdown of how that money would be spent until now.
The case comes as the bald eagle, the symbol of the nation whose resurgence is considered one of the greatest conservation stories of the 21st century, faces a new threat: lead poisoning.
All but a few hundred bald eagles were believed to be dead by the mid-20th century, killed in large part from the widespread use of the synthetic insecticide DDT. A 1972 ban on DDT and conservation efforts helped the population bounce back. The bald eagle was removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act in 2007, and its estimated population grew to 316,700 in 2019.
But researchers found this year that of the 1,200 eagles they tested, nearly half had been repeatedly exposed to lead, which can lead to death and slow population growth. Scientists believe that the lead’s primary source is ammunition used by hunters, who shoot animals that then prey upon the eagles.
Protecting the eagles has become a “challenging situation,” especially when it comes to wind turbines, said Julia Ponder, a professor and associate dean in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota, whose research focuses on raptor medicine and surgery.
“I’d love it if it was black and white, but it’s not,” she said.
While wind turbines can be harmful to eagles and other birds, they are also an alternative form of energy that is cleaner than fossil fuels, contributing to global warming, she said.
The tips of a wind turbine’s blades can spin at about 200 miles per hour, fast enough to kill any bird instantly, Professor Ponder said.
A 2013 study found that between 140,000 and 328,000 birds are killed annually in the United States at monopole turbines.
Roberto Albertani, a professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University, said in 2017 that he and his team had devised a system to make wind turbines safer for eagles.
It called for the use of cameras to determine if the birds were approaching the blades, activating inflatable tubes on the ground or “wind dancers” figures, such as those commonly seen at car dealerships, to scare the birds away, Professor said. Albertani in a presentation last year.
Eagles appear to be “annoyed by anthropomorphic figures,” he said.
Professor Ponder said some researchers were investigating using audio signals to keep the birds away from turbines. Others are working on detection systems that would turn off a turbine when eagles approach — a measure that could be effective but costly for utility companies.
“These are really complex questions,” she says. “And we need to work on finding the right questions to ask, and the answers to them.”
