The AES Laurel Mountain wind energy facility consists of 61 GE 1.6 MW turbines (97.6 MW) and a 32 MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). On October 2 and 3, 2011, fog and a low cloud ceiling resulted in migrating songbirds becoming trapped in the light of the battery complex. A total of 483 birds were destroyed as a result of colliding with the battery system and wires. AES Laurel Mountain LLC was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Aloi to pay $30,000 in fines after pleading guilty to two federal charges related to the deaths, a crime under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). A portion of the filing is provided below. The full record can be accessed by downloading the documents attached to this page.
The AES Laurel Mountain wind energy facility consists of 61 GE 1.6 MW turbines (97.6 MW) and a 32 MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). On October 2 and 3, 2011, fog and a low cloud ceiling resulted in migrating songbirds becoming trapped in the light of the battery complex. A total of 483 birds were destroyed as a result of colliding with the battery system and wires. AES Laurel Mountain LLC was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Aloi to pay $30,000 in fines after pleading guilty to two federal charges related to the deaths, a crime under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). A portion of the filing is provided below. The full record can be accessed by downloading the documents attached to this page.
Excerpt of Filing
The 483 birds in question belonged to listed species of migratory birds. 50 C.F.R 10.13. Of the 483 birds, 308 were Blackpoll Warblers. As of October 2, 2011, the defendant AES LAUREL MOUNTAIN LLC was not authorized to take any such birds pursuant to MBTA regulations. 50 C.F.R 21
Defendant AES LAUREL MOUNTAIN LLC had a legal obligation to comply with the MBTA in the course of its activities related to wind power generation and storage. In furtherance of said obligation, defendant AES LAUREL MOUNTAIN LLC had a duty to implement reasonable, prudent, and effective measures to avoid or minimize the impact of lighting on migratory birds. AES LAUREL MOUNTAIN LLC also had a duty to train and supervise its employees working at its site concerning compliance wit the MBTA.
Prior to October 2, 1011, defendant AES LAUREL MOUNTAIN LLC failed to provide instruction and training to its employees about compliance with the MBTA. More specifically, despite awareness of the risk that lighting poses to migratory birds - particularly, in remote, elevated areas - the defendant corporation failed to provide any instruction or training to site managers, team leaders, physical plant engineers, and maintenance technicians about the nature of that risk and how to minimize it.
In the absence of instruction, training, or direction to the contrary, employees in charge of operating and maintaining the BESS complex kept the aforementioned lights on all night every night, automatically lit and extinguished by dust-to-dawn photo cells, as a security measure. This course of action proximately caused the death of 482 migratory birds over a period during the nights of October 2nd and 3rd, 2011
