Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society

LCBAS Position: Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center

March 2021

 

The Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society been reviewing the development of 244 wind turbine towers on 67,000 acres in the Horse Heaven Hills ridge line from Interstate 182 to south of Benton City. The development will also contain a solar array.

 

LCBAS is concerned about the potential impacts to birds and wildlife including deaths, displacement and habitat loss.

 

Due to the negative impacts to migratory and resident birds, the National Audubon Society has proposed a set of siting criteria for wind turbines (PDF Download: Responsible Wind Power and Wildlife). An excerpt from this publication is copied below. Wind energy information is also available on the Audubon website (Wind Power and Birds).

 

National Audubon has issued the following statement on wind energy:

“Audubon strongly supports wind energy that is sited and operated properly to avoid, minimize, and mitigate effectively for the impacts on birds, other wildlife, and the places they need now and in the future. To that end, we support the development of wind energy to achieve 100% clean electricity.”

 

LCBAS Decision Options

• Oppose the project due to bird and wildlife impacts.

• Support the project due to the low impacts to birds and wildlife and the need to switch to non-carbon based energy production. This would be a national perspective.

• Take no position and send a request to Scout Energy that they need to institute bird deterrent systems such as a lighting warning system, radar detection that stop blades from rotating, painting one blade a different color, “dying bird’’ vocal system, raptor vocal systems and any newly developed deterrent technologies.

• Take no action

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Excerpt below from National Audubon, “Responsible Wind Power and Wildlife, January 2019.”

 

"What risk does wind energy pose to birds? While wind energy helps birds on a global scale by curbing climate change, wind power facilities can harm birds through direct collisions with turbines and other structures, including power lines. Wind power facilities can also degrade or destroy habitat, cause disturbance and displacement, and disrupt important ecological links. Placing wind projects in the path of migratory routes makes this problem worse, especially for larger turbine blades that may reach up into the average flight zone of birds that migrate at night. An estimated 140,000 to 500,000 bird deaths (USFWS Wind Turbines) occur per year due to turbine collisions, which is substantial, but significantly less than deaths caused by outdoor cats and building collisions. Audubon strongly supports wind power and recognizes that it will not be without some impact; however, harmful effects to birds and other wildlife can be avoided or significantly reduced in the following ways."

• Federal, state or local planning for wind energy in “low impact” areas where permitting can be more efficient

• Proper siting and operation of wind farms and equipment through federal (USFWS Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines) and state guidelines

• Development of new technologies that help minimize harm to birds and other wildlife

• Mitigation of habitat and wildlife impacts through conservation measures

• Strong enforcement of existing laws that protect wildlife, including the Endangered Species Act, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and the (Audubon.org) Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

• Encouragement of wind developers and permitting agencies to consult with wildlife experts, including Audubon staff and chapters, to help inform study and siting decisions and to support efforts to improve wind siting and technological solutions to reduce harm to birds.

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