December 2, 2013
A wind energy company has pleaded
guilty to killing birds in violation of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act
and has agreed to pay $1 million in fines, according to an AgProfessional
article available here.
The fine is part of a plea
agreement submitted to the U.S. District Court of Wyoming between Duke Energy
Corporation and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural
Resources Division. Other parts of the
plea deal include a requirement that Duke Energy implement an environmental
compliance plan to prevent future bird deaths and five years of probation.
The 160 bird deaths,
including 14 golden eagles, took place between 2009 and 2013 at two Duke sites
in Wyoming that have 176 wind turbines, according to an article by the LA Times
available here.
“This case represents the
first criminal conviction under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for unlawful avian
takings at wind projects,” said Robert G. Dreher, acting assistant attorney
general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources
Division, in a statement.
The Migratory Bird Treaty
Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 703-712, was enacted in 1918 and makes the killing of over
1,000 species of birds a federal offense.
The Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) warned Duke to make all efforts to build the projects in a way
that would reduce the risk of bird deaths, but the sites were built before the
FWS formalized regulations on turbine construction in 2012.
Both sides agreed
that Duke had been cooperative and had already begun making changes to cut down
on bird deaths.
“Our voluntary monitoring and curtailment of turbines have been effective. Upon implementing these measures, more than a year passed without any known golden eagle fatalities at these sites,” said Tim Hayes, Duke Energy Renewable’s environmental development director.
For more information on the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a report from the Congressional Research Service is available
here. For more information on animal welfare,
please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
