Appeal documents opposing approval of the Whistling Ridge Energy LLL wind energy facility

Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (“EFSEC” or “Council”) and former WA Governor Christine O. Gregoire erred by failing to ensure that the Project will comply with mandatory requirements for wildlife protection.

Wildlife impacts are among the most serious potential side-effects of a poorly sited wind energy facility. Spinning turbine blades can result in avian collisions and death. Bats often forage and chase insects around the spinning turbines, resulting in death from "barotrauma," a type of internal hemorrhaging caused by a sudden drop in air pressure. Wind facilities can result in permanent habitat fragmentation and cause species to avoid otherwise suitable habitat, which may impact both flight and nesting behaviors. At other wind facilities, this displacement effect has been documented up to 660 feet from any given turbine.

In the case of the WREP, several key facts indicate that wildlife impacts could be quite high, and therefore must be properly studied, disclosed, and mitigated prior to project approval. If built, the WREP would be the first commercial wind facility of its kind sited within a Pacific Northwest forest, where impacts are potentially much higher than in other ecosystems. The Project site is located within the White Salmon SOSEA, and the northern spotted owl43 has been documented “in close proximity to the [Project] site.” Several special-status species have been documented at or near the Project site. In fact, far more avian species have been identified at the Project site than at the Altamont Pass wind energy facility in California, where bird fatalities are “notoriously high.” Not surprisingly, numerous concerns were expressed about the Project’s potentially significant impacts to wildlife, not only by Petitioners and their wildlife expert Dr. K. Shawn Smallwood,47 but also by several chapters of the Audubon Society,48 the Counsel for the Environment (“CFE”), the CFE’s wildlife expert Don McIvor,50 and others.

To protect wildlife, EFSEC’s regulations require a two-tiered process. First, applicants must comply with WAC 463-60-332, which, inter alia, requires an applicant to perform wildlife surveys, propose mitigation measures, and include this information in the application. Second, EFSEC is required to conduct an adjudication “for the presentation of evidence on the application.” WAC 463-14-080(4); see also RCW 80.50.090(3). EFSEC’s rules outline the standards it must use to adjudicate the adequacy of the application for the protection of fish and wildlife. These rules are found at WAC 463-62-040, and require the applicant to demonstrate, inter alia, “no net loss of fish and wildlife habitat function and value.” WAC 463-62-040(2)(a).