Bird monitoring advanced in vote -Spending on Altamont Study Capped
Contra Costa Times|Chris Metinko|July 8, 2006
Instead of approving a proposed three-year research program that would track bird deaths and injuries, supervisors Tuesday unanimously agreed to let a newly appointed five-member scientific review committee decide on the parameters of such a program. The supervisors also agreed to cap spending on the program -- which will be funded by Altamont turbine operators -- at $2 million.
Instead of approving a proposed three-year research program that would track bird deaths and injuries, supervisors Tuesday unanimously agreed to let a newly appointed five-member scientific review committee decide on the parameters of such a program. The supervisors also agreed to cap spending on the program -- which will be funded by Altamont turbine operators -- at $2 million.
Alameda County supervisors balked at a $3 million program that would monitor the effect of Altamont windmills on scores of birds -- including protected species such as golden eagles, red-tailed hawks and burrowing owls.
Instead of approving a proposed three-year research program that would track bird deaths and injuries, supervisors Tuesday unanimously agreed to let a newly appointed five-member scientific review committee decide on the parameters of such a program. The supervisors also agreed to cap spending on the program -- which will be funded by Altamont turbine operators -- at $2 million.
``The cost has gone out of control,'' Supervisor Scott Haggerty said. ``It's skyrocketed.''
Earlier this year, the county received …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Alameda County supervisors balked at a $3 million program that would monitor the effect of Altamont windmills on scores of birds -- including protected species such as golden eagles, red-tailed hawks and burrowing owls.
Instead of approving a proposed three-year research program that would track bird deaths and injuries, supervisors Tuesday unanimously agreed to let a newly appointed five-member scientific review committee decide on the parameters of such a program. The supervisors also agreed to cap spending on the program -- which will be funded by Altamont turbine operators -- at $2 million.
``The cost has gone out of control,'' Supervisor Scott Haggerty said. ``It's skyrocketed.''
Earlier this year, the county received proposals from four environmental consultants on programs to monitor bird fatalities in the Altamont Pass. According to a study released in 2004 by the California Energy Commission, an estimated 1,700 to 4,700 birds die each year by flying into whirring turbine blades or being electrocuted by transmission lines that thread through the 50,000-acre Altamont Wind Resource Area.
In May, the supervisors asked the consultants with the top three proposals -- by the University of California-Santa Cruz, WEST and Jones & Stokes -- to come up with a collaborative proposal to monitor the 5,400 windmills east of Livermore.
On Tuesday, however, the supervisors and attorneys for the windmill operators questioned the rising cost of such a program. Haggerty pointed out the WEST proposal from earlier in the year -- which at one point was the front-runner -- came in at approximately $1.4 million, half of what is now being asked. The supervisors instead passed the decision on the makeup of such a research program to members of the Altamont scientific review committee they had just named earlier in the meeting.
Rick Wiebe, an attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity, argued the county should move forward with the program since this would be the first monitoring of bird deaths the county had done since the windmills were erected in the 1980s.