Wind Energy Company to Pay $8 Million in Killings of 150 Eagles
By Eduardo Medina, April 10, 2022, NY Times

A wind energy company pleaded guilty last week 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 probation for five years,
during which it must follow an eagle management plan, after pleading
guilty on Tues to 3 counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

ESI acknowledged that at least 150 bald and golden eagles had died
at its facilities since 2012, and that 136 of those deaths were “affirmatively determined to be attributable to the eagle being
struck by a wind turbine blade,” the Justice Dept said in a statement.
The deaths occurred across 50 of the 154 wind farms that the company
operates in the United States, the Justice Dept said.

The company failed to take steps to protect the eagles or obtain
the permits that are necessary 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 secures 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 building any structure, driving any vehicle,
or flying any airplane carries with it a possibility that accidental
eagle and other bird collisions may occur as a result of that activity.”

“We have a longstanding and well-earned reputation for protecting our environment and positively coexisting with and supporting wildlife
around our facilities,” Ms. Kujawa said. “And we have never sited a
wind turbine knowing an eagle would fly into it, nor have we taken
any action in disregard of federal law.”

The company agreed to spend up to $27 million on measures to “minimize additional eagle deaths and injuries,” prosecutors said. Steven Stengel,
a spokesman for NextEra, said that there was so far no specific breakdown
of how that money would be spent.

The case comes as the bald eagle, the nation’s symbol whose resurgence
is considered one of the greatest conservation stories of the 21st c,
faces a new threat: lead poisoning.

All but a few hundred bald eagles were presumed dead by the mid-20th
century, killed off largely by the widespread use of the synthetic
insecticide DDT. A ban on DDT in 1972 and conservation efforts helped
the population to rebound. The bald eagle was removed from Endangered
Species Act protection in 2007 and its estimated population grew to 316,
700 by 2019.

But researchers found this year that of the 1,200 eagles they tested,
nearly half had been exposed repeatedly to lead, which can lead to death
and slow population growth. Scientists believe that the primary source of
the lead is ammunition used by hunters, who shoot animals that the eagles
then scavenge.

Protecting the eagles has become a “challenging situation,” especially when it comes to wind turbines, said Julia Ponder, a professor and
associate dean at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University
of Minnesota, whose research focuses on raptor medicine and surgery.
“I’d love it if it were black and white, but it’s not,” she said.

While wind turbines can harm eagles and other birds, they are also
an alternative form of energy that is cleaner than fossil fuels,
which are contributing to a warming of the planet, she said.
The tips of a wind turbine’s blades can spin at about 200 mph,
fast enough to immediately kill any bird, Professor Ponder said.

A 2013 study found that between 140,000 and 328,000 birds are killed
each year 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 that sought to make wind turbines safer for eagles.
It called for using cameras to determine if the birds were approaching
the blades, triggering on-the-ground inflatable tubes, or “wind dancer” figures, like those often seen at car dealerships, to scare the birds
away, Professor Albertani said in a presentation last year.
Eagles appear to be “annoyed by anthropomorphic figures,” he said.

Prof. Ponder said some researchers were looking into using audio
signals to keep the birds away from turbines. Others are working
on detection systems that would shut off a turbine when eagles
approach — a measure that could be effective, but costly, for
power companies.

“These are really complex questions,” she said. “And we have to work
to find the right questions to ask, and the answers to them.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/bald-eages-dead-wind-farms.html

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at 5:10:25 PM UTC+8, David P. wrote:

Wind Energy Company to Pay $8 Million in Killings of 150 Eagles
By Eduardo Medina, April 10, 2022, NY Times

A wind energy company pleaded guilty last week 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 probation for five years,
during which it must follow an eagle management plan, after pleading
guilty on Tues to 3 counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

ESI acknowledged that at least 150 bald and golden eagles had died
at its facilities since 2012, and that 136 of those deaths were “affirmatively determined to be attributable to the eagle being
struck by a wind turbine blade,” the Justice Dept said in a statement.
The deaths occurred across 50 of the 154 wind farms that the company operates in the United States, the Justice Dept said.

The company failed to take steps to protect the eagles or obtain
the permits that are necessary 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 secures 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 building any structure, driving any vehicle,
or flying any airplane carries with it a possibility that accidental
eagle and other bird collisions may occur as a result of that activity.”

“We have a longstanding and well-earned reputation for protecting our environment and positively coexisting with and supporting wildlife
around our facilities,” Ms. Kujawa said. “And we have never sited a
wind turbine knowing an eagle would fly into it, nor have we taken
any action in disregard of federal law.”

The company agreed to spend up to $27 million on measures to “minimize additional eagle deaths and injuries,” prosecutors said. Steven Stengel,
a spokesman for NextEra, said that there was so far no specific breakdown
of how that money would be spent.

The case comes as the bald eagle, the nation’s symbol whose resurgence
is considered one of the greatest conservation stories of the 21st c,
faces a new threat: lead poisoning.

All but a few hundred bald eagles were presumed dead by the mid-20th century, killed off largely by the widespread use of the synthetic insecticide DDT. A ban on DDT in 1972 and conservation efforts helped
the population to rebound. The bald eagle was removed from Endangered Species Act protection in 2007 and its estimated population grew to 316,
700 by 2019.

But researchers found this year that of the 1,200 eagles they tested,
nearly half had been exposed repeatedly to lead, which can lead to death
and slow population growth. Scientists believe that the primary source of the lead is ammunition used by hunters, who shoot animals that the eagles then scavenge.

Protecting the eagles has become a “challenging situation,” especially when it comes to wind turbines, said Julia Ponder, a professor and
associate dean at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University
of Minnesota, whose research focuses on raptor medicine and surgery. “I’d love it if it were black and white, but it’s not,” she said.

While wind turbines can harm eagles and other birds, they are also
an alternative form of energy that is cleaner than fossil fuels,
which are contributing to a warming of the planet, she said.
The tips of a wind turbine’s blades can spin at about 200 mph,
fast enough to immediately kill any bird, Professor Ponder said.

A 2013 study found that between 140,000 and 328,000 birds are killed
each year 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 that sought to make wind turbines safer for eagles.
It called for using cameras to determine if the birds were approaching
the blades, triggering on-the-ground inflatable tubes, or “wind dancer” figures, like those often seen at car dealerships, to scare the birds
away, Professor Albertani said in a presentation last year.
Eagles appear to be “annoyed by anthropomorphic figures,” he said.

Prof. Ponder said some researchers were looking into using audio
signals to keep the birds away from turbines. Others are working
on detection systems that would shut off a turbine when eagles
approach — a measure that could be effective, but costly, for
power companies.

“These are really complex questions,” she said. “And we have to work to find the right questions to ask, and the answers to them.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/bald-eages-dead-wind-farms.html

Few hundred killed by DDT pesticide. How about people who ate DDT pesticide's vegetables and animal foods like chicken, cows, and cattle, who ate those pesticide feeds on the soils?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at 5:10:25 PM UTC+8, David P. wrote:

Wind Energy Company to Pay $8 Million in Killings of 150 Eagles
By Eduardo Medina, April 10, 2022, NY Times

A wind energy company pleaded guilty last week 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 probation for five years,
during which it must follow an eagle management plan, after pleading
guilty on Tues to 3 counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

ESI acknowledged that at least 150 bald and golden eagles had died
at its facilities since 2012, and that 136 of those deaths were “affirmatively determined to be attributable to the eagle being
struck by a wind turbine blade,” the Justice Dept said in a statement.
The deaths occurred across 50 of the 154 wind farms that the company operates in the United States, the Justice Dept said.

The company failed to take steps to protect the eagles or obtain
the permits that are necessary 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 secures 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 building any structure, driving any vehicle,
or flying any airplane carries with it a possibility that accidental
eagle and other bird collisions may occur as a result of that activity.”

“We have a longstanding and well-earned reputation for protecting our environment and positively coexisting with and supporting wildlife
around our facilities,” Ms. Kujawa said. “And we have never sited a
wind turbine knowing an eagle would fly into it, nor have we taken
any action in disregard of federal law.”

The company agreed to spend up to $27 million on measures to “minimize additional eagle deaths and injuries,” prosecutors said. Steven Stengel,
a spokesman for NextEra, said that there was so far no specific breakdown
of how that money would be spent.

The case comes as the bald eagle, the nation’s symbol whose resurgence
is considered one of the greatest conservation stories of the 21st c,
faces a new threat: lead poisoning.

All but a few hundred bald eagles were presumed dead by the mid-20th century, killed off largely by the widespread use of the synthetic insecticide DDT. A ban on DDT in 1972 and conservation efforts helped
the population to rebound. The bald eagle was removed from Endangered Species Act protection in 2007 and its estimated population grew to 316,
700 by 2019.

But researchers found this year that of the 1,200 eagles they tested,
nearly half had been exposed repeatedly to lead, which can lead to death
and slow population growth. Scientists believe that the primary source of the lead is ammunition used by hunters, who shoot animals that the eagles then scavenge.

Protecting the eagles has become a “challenging situation,” especially when it comes to wind turbines, said Julia Ponder, a professor and
associate dean at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University
of Minnesota, whose research focuses on raptor medicine and surgery. “I’d love it if it were black and white, but it’s not,” she said.

While wind turbines can harm eagles and other birds, they are also
an alternative form of energy that is cleaner than fossil fuels,
which are contributing to a warming of the planet, she said.
The tips of a wind turbine’s blades can spin at about 200 mph,
fast enough to immediately kill any bird, Professor Ponder said.

A 2013 study found that between 140,000 and 328,000 birds are killed
each year 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 that sought to make wind turbines safer for eagles.
It called for using cameras to determine if the birds were approaching
the blades, triggering on-the-ground inflatable tubes, or “wind dancer” figures, like those often seen at car dealerships, to scare the birds
away, Professor Albertani said in a presentation last year.
Eagles appear to be “annoyed by anthropomorphic figures,” he said.

Prof. Ponder said some researchers were looking into using audio
signals to keep the birds away from turbines. Others are working
on detection systems that would shut off a turbine when eagles
approach — a measure that could be effective, but costly, for
power companies.

“These are really complex questions,” she said. “And we have to work to find the right questions to ask, and the answers to them.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/bald-eages-dead-wind-farms.html

In 10 years since 2012, 136 of the 150 eagles died from wind mills. No actions were taken to prevent deaths. There should be more eagle deaths from wind mills before 2012 was no accounted for it.

In the first place, why this kind of unsafe open-blade of wind mill system is allowed to be installed to draw energy from the wind?.

This kind of open-blade wind mill system is used for many years already and more wind mill is still building in many pen spaces like in the offshore island, outshore sea, beaches, desert, and mountains too.

The risk of injury and killing birds are very high and very risky to their flights, too. Why did the engineers and licensing authorities allowed such applications for such in installations of open-blade wind mill is allowed to be used in the world in the
first place.

Did they see that the open-blade wind mill is like a guillotine to maim and snap off the head or wings of any bird in free flight but obstructed by these unauthorized tall windmills ?

These wind mill is similar to being like a table fan without a wire mesh casing to protect it. Since table fan is encased with a safe removable wired-cage casing, the safety of children poking their finger through the cage to the rotating blade of the
fan will not able to poked through at all.

Henceforth, why can't the wind mill be caged with a wired cage like the table fan?. Don't the engineers of wind mill know how to engineer a metal wire net-cage like what is used now in table fan?

Don't they know that they can install a wire plastic netting some distance away from the wind mill so that the bird when arrived at the net will be stopped?.

Don't they know that the angle of the netting cage install at some distance away can be gradually angled to enable the bird to have enough time to skirt its original flight path to be diverted to change flight direction?.

Don't thy know with China's technology in 5G and coming soon 6G digital signal path, the blade of wind mill can be activated remotely to slow down or stop when the signals informed that the birds are approaching the wind mill?.

Don't they know that when they can install China-made advanced technology in digital floodlight lightings can blink off the birds from approaching the wind mill?

In any case, the birds in the air have the same human rights to fly anywhere in any direction at anytime on their own at their own delightful time without any human law forbidding them.

Henceforth, windmill must be designed to prevent any accident on birds and others, too.









--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

stoney wrote:

David P. wrote:

Wind Energy Company to Pay $8 Million in Killings of 150 Eagles
By Eduardo Medina, April 10, 2022, NY Times
[ . . . ] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/bald-eages-dead-wind-farms.html

In 10 years since 2012, 136 of the 150 eagles died from wind mills. No actions were taken to prevent deaths. There should be more eagle deaths from wind mills before 2012 was no accounted for it.

In the first place, why this kind of unsafe open-blade of wind mill system is allowed to be installed to draw energy from the wind?.

----------------
I just looked at pictures of "windmills in China" on Google, and
NONE of them have cages around the blades!
--
--

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 3:15:34 PM UTC+8, David P. wrote:

stoney wrote:

David P. wrote:

Wind Energy Company to Pay $8 Million in Killings of 150 Eagles
By Eduardo Medina, April 10, 2022, NY Times
[ . . . ] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/bald-eages-dead-wind-farms.html

In 10 years since 2012, 136 of the 150 eagles died from wind mills. No actions were taken to prevent deaths. There should be more eagle deaths from wind mills before 2012 was no accounted for it.

In the first place, why this kind of unsafe open-blade of wind mill system is allowed to be installed to draw energy from the wind?.

----------------
I just looked at pictures of "windmills in China" on Google, and
NONE of them have cages around the blades!
--
--

They didn't have it is because they didn't need to do it. This is also because there is no international law to do it to protect the birds from flying into it. Also, China has hardly any big or precious birds killed by windmills.

Also windmills in China are not located in the flight path of big and precious birds like eagles and others. Also, the location of wild birds like swans and other big birds are not in the flight paths of the wind mills.

With the above reasons, they do not need to put a cage at all. There is not need if there is no killed of big birds found at the wind mills sites at all. Small birds have better sensory instinct than big birds and hence they can skirt away from the noise
of the wind mill blade before reaching the windmill.

So they don't get killed so easily except big birds if the wind mills are located within the flight paths and nesting flight areas of them in the vicinity of the windmills. Hence, windmill should be relocated from the nesting area or flight paths of
these big birds.

If windmill cannot be relocated because of the need for winds from that area, then the wind mill should be caged with a plastic mental netting cage like the table fan to prevent the suction and killing of those big birds like eagle, owl, seagull, swan
and other big birds, and so on.

Sometimes, the authorities before issuing their decisions to install windmills must first carry out their surveys and studies not only on their wind directions but also more importantly of the bird environments, too. They have to decide if the installer
of windmills has to install a windmill guard to protect bird from crashing into them.

Authorities should include in their specification of tender asking tendering supplier and installer of windmill to include bird guard in their contract price of tender.

The authorities can also ask the tendering suppliers to supply proposals to how how their guards can be affixed and can easily maintained and serviced, too.

The authorities can also separately appoint an independent environment consultant on bird as specialist to advise on the ways of distancing of the location of the guard from the windmill.

The authorities can or should also appoint an independent engineering consultant to create and design a bird guard that is nice in appearance to the birds and nice in creative and scenic appearance to the scenic viewers in the areas.

The engineering consultant will also make sure the bird guard is easily maintainable at the lowest cost and easily replaced too. They should ensure a environmentally safe material is used for the bird guard.

With all these put in place, the supplier and install of wind mill will just have to follow the design layout plans and installed plans for the bird guard to be included in their supply of wind mill.

Whereas, now, one can see that the supplier of wind mill is being penalized for the death of eagles - 136 of 150 big birds were killed since 2012.

With the figure of 136 eagles killed in 10 years, it means 13.6 eagles were killed every year from 2012 to till now 2022. With the total figure of 150 number of birds killed in last 10 years, it means 15 big birds including the precious eagle is killed
every month.

Henceforth, the people in authorities in charge of wild life there should be sacked and replaced and they should be fined too, instead of the supplier which is blamed for not protecting the birds from crashing into their windmill.

Seriously, since the supplier is also the installer of windmill and is also the subcontractor as maintainer of the windmills, their liability of their job should not include to protect birds from flying into the windmill.

It should be the responsibility of the authorities in issuing the contract to state their requirement for the windmill to include bird guard too. If the authorities did not state their requirement for a bird guard for the windmill contract, then the
supplier has no duty to build one for it.

It is costly for supplier to building of a bird guard if no specification called for it in the tender document. Hence it cannot be included in the price if there is no specification stated for it.

Contractor tendering for the supply and installations of windmills will be not so stupid as to include something like bird guard when not stated in the tendering document on the contract specifications for windmills.

Henceforth, it is proper for the authorities to initiate studies on bird environment and the need to use bird guard in the supply of windmill. They should then state them as specification required to be included by supplier and installer in the contract
tendering document.

Seriously, if the authorities can count how 135 eagles of 150 birds were killed in the past 10 years, why were they still sitting around and yawning away for 10 years counting and watching the number of bird deaths?

Instead of sitting around watching for 10 years, why didn't they take pre-emptive strike remedial action to check why the specification of windmill did not install bird guard to prevent killing of birds from there on, after bird death happened?

What were staff in authority doing in the past 10 years - by sheer looking at the sky every day of the weeks for counting of birds?

Do they aware that the tendering document did not specify that wind mill has to protect of big birds too?

Do they know or be made aware that bird guard is possible on wind mill, like table fan, too?

Henceforth, those people in the authorities that is charging and fining the supplier through the court system should be fined and sent to jail for their negligence of duties and lacking of initiatives, and poor performance, etc.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)