[BCNnet] Anti Cape Wind group wins legal battle for the birds of Altamont

Tue Dec 7 22:46:06 CST 2010

News Release 

December 06, 2010

For Immediate Release

Contact: (510) 622-4500

Contact: Christine Gasparac, (510) 622-4500 

_Christine.Gasparac at doj.ca.gov_ (mailto:Christine.Gasparac at doj.ca.gov) 

_Print  Version_ (http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/print_release.php?id=2011) 

Brown's Office Brokers Settlement to Save Birds and Make Altamont Wind  
Turbines More Efficient
OAKLAND -- Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced an  
agreement to upgrade the quarter-century-old wind turbines in Altamont Pass to  
make them more efficient and less deadly to migratory birds. 

"This  landmark settlement mandates the replacement of outmoded wind 
turbines with  newer models that are more efficient, generate more power and are 
less harmful  to eagles, falcons and other birds," Brown said. 

The Altamont Pass Wind  Resources Area in Alameda and Contra Costa counties 
is the site of the world's  first wind turbines. These units, constructed 
more than three decades ago, are  now outdated, inefficient and deadly to 
thousands of birds each year.  

Today's settlement is between environmental groups, the state, and  NextEra 
Energy Resources, the largest turbine operator at the site. Under the  agr
eement, NextEra will upgrade all its older-model turbines. Scientific data  
shows that newer, larger turbines are more efficient and kill far fewer 
birds.  

A 2004 study commissioned by the California Energy Commission found that  
the 5,400 older turbines operating at Altamont Pass killed an estimated 1,766 
to  4,271 birds annually, including between 881 and 1330 raptors such as 
golden  eagles -- which are protected under federal law -- hawks, falcons and 
owls. The  bird fatalities at Altamont Pass -- an important raptor breeding 
area that lies  on a major migratory route -- are greater than on any other 
wind farm in the  country. 

In September 2005, Alameda County renewed permits for the  turbines, but 
several Audubon Society chapters and Californians for Renewable  Energy 
(CARE), a local environmental group, challenged the permits in a lawsuit  under 
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

After a  settlement failed to substantially reduce the large number of bird 
fatalities,  Brown stepped in and brokered today's agreement. 

Under the agreement,  NextEra will replace some 2,400 turbines over the 
next four years and will shut  down all its existing turbines no later than 
2015. The company also has agreed  to erect the new turbines in environmentally 
friendly locations. 

NextEra  agreed to pay $2.5 million in mitigation fees, half to the state 
Energy  Commission's Public Integrated Energy Research Program and half to 
East Bay  Regional Park District and the Livermore Area Regional Park District 
for raptor  habitat creation. 

A copy of the agreement is attached.

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