Oregon utility files lawsuit to stop release of wind farm bird death data
Pacificorp, a Portland, Oregon utility that operates several wind farms, has filed in U.S. District Court to prevent the Interior Department from releasing information regarding the number of bird deaths at its wind farm sites.
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Pacificorp is asking for an injunction because the Obama Administration has said it will provide the information to the Associated Press. The news agency asked the Interior for the information last year through a Freedom of Information Act request. While Pacificorp regards the information as confidential, the Administration determined that Pacificorp's arguments were "insufficiently convincing," according to AP.
AP asked for the information during the course of investigating deaths of birds and eagles at wind farms. The agency was also looking into what it described as the Administration's reluctance to prosecute the bird death cases at the same time it was encouraging wind power.
Wind turbines do kill birds, but there appears to be vast disagreement on how many deaths can be directly attributed to collisions with wind turbine blades. Some research concludes relatively few birds are killed by them compared to other causes, and others say the numbers are much higher. Wind farm location also is a factor.
In a statement on its website, the Wind Energy Foundation (WEF) has this to say: "Incidental losses of individual birds at turbine sites occur, but they will always be an extremely small fraction of bird deaths caused by human activities. The reality is that wind power is far less harmful to birds than the fossil fuels it displaces. In fact, the Audubon Society states that "climate change is the greatest threat to birds and biodiversity since humans have been on the planet."
Audubon's position on wind power is that the organization strongly supports properly sited wind turbines, WEF says.
The wind energy industry says that collisions with electrical wires, cars or buildings cause more bird deaths than turbine blades. The industry also has taken steps to minimize bird deaths, including design modifications.
The October 17 lawsuit alleged that releasing the information AP wants would do "irreparable harm" to Pacificorp. Other wind companies also have said they are opposed to releasing the information.
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