Hatchet turbines would be mass killers

This afternoon, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors will have a hearing concerning the Hatchet Ridge Wind project. The board's decision will have a significant impact on birds living in and migrating through the West. The Board of Supervisors has not been given the knowledge to make a proper decision on the project. Also, the Shasta County Planning Commission could not possibly make a wise decision with the poor biological assessment that was presented to the county. I cannot emphasize how important this meeting will be. I hope to bring some clarity to the matter.

I lived in the Intermountain area for 16 years. I am a wildlife biologist and studied the deer herds during this period. I am also an expert on birds of prey. Finding nest sites and setting up blinds was a passion of mine for years. The Hatchet Ridge Wind project lies in the middle of the Pacific Flyway. It is a migration route taken by millions of migratory birds each fall and spring. Migrating birds travel over the mountains to catch updrafts. These are the same winds that Hatchet Ridge would like to use to power their turbines. Birds from as far away as the Arctic Circle and Aleutian Islands will pass through this area. The project will kill thousands of birds. In fact this project has the potential to have the highest wind-turbine mortality rate in the world. At the very least, the list of dead bird types will far exceed any other location. This is because of the many different species of birds that both live in the area and migrate through this region. Almost every western bird type will represent the smashed and fallen victims of this project.

The Altamont Pass wind turbines in the San Francisco Bay area kill an estimated 881 to 1,300 birds of prey each year. Total Altamont bird kills for a 25-year period are estimated at 27,500 to 55,000 birds. Estimates are used, because many victims are never found due to scavenging animals and crippled birds moving out of search areas. These numbers were compiled by field studies. Wildlife rehabilitation centers in Shasta County will be overloaded if injured birds are not left to die under the turbines.

This brings up another problem with the project. The wind power industry learned a lesson from the astounding number of bird kills at Altamont Pass. Instead of pursuing better wind turbine designs that would limit bird kills, it chose a path of cover-up and lies. Today many wind turbine sites have limited access and workers will lose their jobs if they disclose the truth. Since it is on private land, the public will never know the truth about the bird mortality unless outside agencies and groups have unlimited access to the site. A company that would provide a false environmental document to the Shasta County Planning Commission will never be honest about bird mortality on its land. When they find an injured bird, will they wring its neck?

Several months ago a single bald eagle was shot near its nest site, and the community was outraged. How will the public react to the slaughter that lies ahead in the killing fields on Hatchet Ridge? I hope the community screams. I hope it is loud enough so Hatchet Ridge Wind will "be limited to the use of only vertical axis and other proven alternative wind turbine designs." Shasta County is being sold an archaic wind turbine project by a very powerful industry, an industry that is only concerned with profit. Shasta County, do not buy it.

These turbines are killers. There has been a cover-up. The environmental documents do not disclose the true impact of the project. I encourage every citizen of Shasta County to come to the hearing and hear the truth. Wind power can be wonderful, but this is not the way to do it.