BSBO Conservation Updates
January 2020
Responsible Wind Energy
The Conservation Committee has continued its activities in opposing the actions by wind energy developers that rely upon faulty ecological science to justify their site selection for placing their wind turbines. We must reiterate that Black Swamp Bird Observatory is not against renewable energy – we recognize the need for renewable energy in the national and global efforts to eliminate the generation of greenhouse gases, a goal fundamental to the slowing and potential mitigation of climate change. However, we cannot sit back and abide the use of faulty science by developers to exonerate their purely expedient site selection process, where the impact of turbines upon the fragmentation of habitat and survival of avian and bat species is a mere afterthought. We further recognize the fundamental roles played by avian and bat species in the health and sustainability of the ecological web of life, nature as we know it, and so continue to try and sustain their well-being, because in the end it is our own well-being as well that is at stake.
As a case in point, the Icebreaker Wind project would place 6-7 turbines in Lake Erie, directly in the middle of the Central Basin, a designated Globally Important Bird Area. The GIBA designation is not given lightly or without substantiation. It is the wintering grounds for up to 40% of the global population of red-breasted mergansers, as well as other waterfowl. It is the migration route where many warblers and other songbirds cross the lake going both North in the spring and South in the fall. It has been shown to be the fall migration route for the Kirtland’s Warbler on their return to the wintering grounds in the Bahamas. Yet, the developers, Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), has stated in their “science” that birds don’t cross the lake, and propose that they fly around it instead. They conclude that the project poses minimal risk to bird and bats, ignoring that the site is in a GIBA and is trafficked by both birds and bats.
This project came before the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) in 2013. At that time the LEEDCo personnel were promoting the project by promising that their vision was to have an additional 1400-1500 turbines on the lake once the initial 6-7 turbines proved it could be done. They promised 800 jobs would result from the build out. Now, eight years later, they deny they have actual plans for such a build out. The project, they say, is “only” a pilot project, as if to say “What harm can 6-7 turbines do?”
With all the above in mind, the current status of the project is that it is finally before the board of the OPSB awaiting a decision on whether to issue a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need, which would grant permission to begin construction when all the conditions and stipulations of their application are met.
There is a wrinkle in the process that did not go unnoticed by BSBO, and our partner in opposition to this project, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC). LEEDCo applied for a Department of Energy (DOE) grant to the tune of $40 million dollars to sustain the costs of early development work.
In response, The DOE took all the faulty science provided by LEEDCo, doing no ecological work of their own, and wrote and Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA contained the reports and echoed the conclusions of LEEDCo stating that the project proposed minimal risk to birds and bats, in part because, they say, birds don’t cross the lake they go around. The EA was passed on to the Army Corps of Engineers for review and the ACE gave it tacit approval. As a result of this superficial review by both the DOE and the ACE, and because it resulted in the awarding of $40 million to LEEDCo even before the project has finished review by the OPSB, BSBO and ABC have filed suit against the DOE and the ACE for failing to live up to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA). We ask in the complaint that the DOE require a full Environmental Impact Study, as we believe is required by the NEPA, and that the granting of funds to LEEDCo be held up until such time as the EIS is completed and reviewed by DOE and ACE.
In short, the science is shoddy, and the developers show no genuine interest in habitat disruption or species mortality. We find it appalling that the position of the Ohio Environmental Council and the Ohio Sierra Club is to support the Icebreaker Wind project, seemingly regardless of the ecological issues. Their position seems to be that climate change mitigation trumps everything, even biodiversity and its sustainability, a position we cannot and will not take. We believe, and indeed hope, that climate change mitigation by developing renewable energy sources can be smarter and more nuanced than that.
Responsible Cat Ownership Program
The Conservation Committee has been working with the village of Oak Harbor to bring about a fully developed a program to address the problem of free roaming cats. Numerous studies indicate that cats are the number one cause of avian mortality, killing billions of birds every year. We also know that the lives of roaming cats are full of disease and danger both to themselves and to the humans around them.
The program began taking form with the passage of a village ordinance making it illegal to feed or foster feral cats. An aftercare program was established whereby captured feral cats were evaluated by a veterinarian and made ready for adoption; or if their health was poor and their survival was in question, they would be euthanized. The first 20 cats were all successfully placed in homes.
BSBO has received a private donation to be used in our effort to change the Ohio Revised Code related to cats as companion animals and expand the existing dog licensing law so that cat ownership is regulated by the same laws as dogs.
We’re also working to develop materials that will allow us to promote our Responsible Cat Ownership program to other municipalities and organizations including information packets to distributed to interested parties which would contain the following: 1) why roaming cats are a danger to birds and humans; 2) a copy of the ordinance; 3) aftercare protocols; 4) testimony and anecdotal evidence of the success of the program.
We have generated interest as far away as California, where others are waiting for a copy of the information packet to show them how to proceed.
We count this as a great success on the Conservation Committee that has been over five years in the making. Our work is becoming a model for others to follow, and all for the benefit of the birds, the cats, and ultimately for ourselves as well.
The Conservation Committee has continued its activities in opposing the actions by wind energy developers that rely upon faulty ecological science to justify their site selection for placing their wind turbines. We must reiterate that Black Swamp Bird Observatory is not against renewable energy – we recognize the need for renewable energy in the national and global efforts to eliminate the generation of greenhouse gases, a goal fundamental to the slowing and potential mitigation of climate change. However, we cannot sit back and abide the use of faulty science by developers to exonerate their purely expedient site selection process, where the impact of turbines upon the fragmentation of habitat and survival of avian and bat species is a mere afterthought. We further recognize the fundamental roles played by avian and bat species in the health and sustainability of the ecological web of life, nature as we know it, and so continue to try and sustain their well-being, because in the end it is our own well-being as well that is at stake.
As a case in point, the Icebreaker Wind project would place 6-7 turbines in Lake Erie, directly in the middle of the Central Basin, a designated Globally Important Bird Area. The GIBA designation is not given lightly or without substantiation. It is the wintering grounds for up to 40% of the global population of red-breasted mergansers, as well as other waterfowl. It is the migration route where many warblers and other songbirds cross the lake going both North in the spring and South in the fall. It has been shown to be the fall migration route for the Kirtland’s Warbler on their return to the wintering grounds in the Bahamas. Yet, the developers, Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), has stated in their “science” that birds don’t cross the lake, and propose that they fly around it instead. They conclude that the project poses minimal risk to bird and bats, ignoring that the site is in a GIBA and is trafficked by both birds and bats.
This project came before the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) in 2013. At that time the LEEDCo personnel were promoting the project by promising that their vision was to have an additional 1400-1500 turbines on the lake once the initial 6-7 turbines proved it could be done. They promised 800 jobs would result from the build out. Now, eight years later, they deny they have actual plans for such a build out. The project, they say, is “only” a pilot project, as if to say “What harm can 6-7 turbines do?”
With all the above in mind, the current status of the project is that it is finally before the board of the OPSB awaiting a decision on whether to issue a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need, which would grant permission to begin construction when all the conditions and stipulations of their application are met.
There is a wrinkle in the process that did not go unnoticed by BSBO, and our partner in opposition to this project, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC). LEEDCo applied for a Department of Energy (DOE) grant to the tune of $40 million dollars to sustain the costs of early development work.
In response, The DOE took all the faulty science provided by LEEDCo, doing no ecological work of their own, and wrote and Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA contained the reports and echoed the conclusions of LEEDCo stating that the project proposed minimal risk to birds and bats, in part because, they say, birds don’t cross the lake they go around. The EA was passed on to the Army Corps of Engineers for review and the ACE gave it tacit approval. As a result of this superficial review by both the DOE and the ACE, and because it resulted in the awarding of $40 million to LEEDCo even before the project has finished review by the OPSB, BSBO and ABC have filed suit against the DOE and the ACE for failing to live up to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA). We ask in the complaint that the DOE require a full Environmental Impact Study, as we believe is required by the NEPA, and that the granting of funds to LEEDCo be held up until such time as the EIS is completed and reviewed by DOE and ACE.
In short, the science is shoddy, and the developers show no genuine interest in habitat disruption or species mortality. We find it appalling that the position of the Ohio Environmental Council and the Ohio Sierra Club is to support the Icebreaker Wind project, seemingly regardless of the ecological issues. Their position seems to be that climate change mitigation trumps everything, even biodiversity and its sustainability, a position we cannot and will not take. We believe, and indeed hope, that climate change mitigation by developing renewable energy sources can be smarter and more nuanced than that.
Responsible Cat Ownership Program
The Conservation Committee has been working with the village of Oak Harbor to bring about a fully developed a program to address the problem of free roaming cats. Numerous studies indicate that cats are the number one cause of avian mortality, killing billions of birds every year. We also know that the lives of roaming cats are full of disease and danger both to themselves and to the humans around them.
The program began taking form with the passage of a village ordinance making it illegal to feed or foster feral cats. An aftercare program was established whereby captured feral cats were evaluated by a veterinarian and made ready for adoption; or if their health was poor and their survival was in question, they would be euthanized. The first 20 cats were all successfully placed in homes.
BSBO has received a private donation to be used in our effort to change the Ohio Revised Code related to cats as companion animals and expand the existing dog licensing law so that cat ownership is regulated by the same laws as dogs.
We’re also working to develop materials that will allow us to promote our Responsible Cat Ownership program to other municipalities and organizations including information packets to distributed to interested parties which would contain the following: 1) why roaming cats are a danger to birds and humans; 2) a copy of the ordinance; 3) aftercare protocols; 4) testimony and anecdotal evidence of the success of the program.
We have generated interest as far away as California, where others are waiting for a copy of the information packet to show them how to proceed.
We count this as a great success on the Conservation Committee that has been over five years in the making. Our work is becoming a model for others to follow, and all for the benefit of the birds, the cats, and ultimately for ourselves as well.
CLIMATE CHANGE, WIND ENERGY, AND CONSERVATION A SURVEY OF CONFLICTING ISSUES: A WHITE PAPER BY BSBO CONSERVATION COMMITTEE MEMBER, DON BAUMAN
There is a multiplicity of program offerings by many groups which intend to contribute to the remediation and mitigation of climate change. This multiplicity brings into play a very real problem of its own: the lack of concerted and coordinated action among the groups. The actions and planning by these groups are neither on the same track, nor do they seem to share common goals. Some of these groups are the US Department of Energy, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the American Wind Energy Association, the American Bird Conservancy, and the National Audubon Society to name just a very few. It is the purpose of this paper to bring together a “state of the art” description of the wind energy efforts, and to relate how they are often at odds with each other, particularly with respect to the conservation of habitat and wildlife species and the mitigation of climate change.
One approach to mitigate climate change is the transformation of the energy industry toward renewable energy generation of electricity, specifically going from traditional coal-fired generation to wind energy generation. There are a number of problems that have arisen from this course of action: (1) the lack of coordination among agencies and business groups responsible for siting, installing and operating wind farms; (2) the lack of public understanding of the consequences of installing a wind farm consisting of many turbines as compared to a small number of turbines; (3) the lack of environmental regulatory authority over the businesses installing wind farms; (4) a general lack of understanding of the true nature of the environmental impact of wind farms, both to humans and other species, particularly birds and bats; and (5) most fundamentally, the unabashed lack of environmental care or concern on the part of some wind farm businesses, as if somehow a wind farm were inherently good for the planet no matter what.
Red the full White Paper HERE.
One approach to mitigate climate change is the transformation of the energy industry toward renewable energy generation of electricity, specifically going from traditional coal-fired generation to wind energy generation. There are a number of problems that have arisen from this course of action: (1) the lack of coordination among agencies and business groups responsible for siting, installing and operating wind farms; (2) the lack of public understanding of the consequences of installing a wind farm consisting of many turbines as compared to a small number of turbines; (3) the lack of environmental regulatory authority over the businesses installing wind farms; (4) a general lack of understanding of the true nature of the environmental impact of wind farms, both to humans and other species, particularly birds and bats; and (5) most fundamentally, the unabashed lack of environmental care or concern on the part of some wind farm businesses, as if somehow a wind farm were inherently good for the planet no matter what.
Red the full White Paper HERE.
camp perry turbine press release
This month, a groundbreaking piece of bipartisan legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate. Along with democratic senator Ben Cardin, Ohio's very own republican senator Rob Portman is sponsoring this push to help protect birds. Black Swamp Bird Observatory is incredibly proud of our local representative's initiative to protect one of Ohio's most precious natural resources and ecotourism draws. Read the entire text of the press release below:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2017
CONTACTS
Kevin Smith (Portman) 202-224-5190
Sue Walitsky/Tim Zink (Cardin) 202-224-4524
http://bit.ly/2uSZkRV
Portman, Cardin Seek Protections for the Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole and other Migratory Birds
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Ben Cardin (D-MD), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, have introduced legislation (S. 1537) to reauthorize the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, which would help sustain populations of migratory birds that face threats to their health and habitats. Their bill, reintroduced as the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Act, promotes long-term conservation, education, research, monitoring, and habitat protection for more than 350 species of migratory birds including Ohio’s state bird, the northern cardinal, and Maryland’s state bird, the Baltimore oriole. The bill furthers investment in critical conservation programs that have demonstrated marked successes through public-private partnerships and innovative granting and conservation strategies.
“Hundreds of bird species migrate through Ohio each year, making Lake Erie one of the most popular destinations for birdwatching,” Senator Portman said. “Birding contributes more than $20 million to Ohio’s tourism industry and attracts visitors from across the world each year. I am proud to work with my colleagues on the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Act to protect and conserve these bird populations so that they may be enjoyed by future generations.”
“Our goal is to continue to sustain healthy populations of migratory birds that are not only aesthetically beautiful, but also critical to our farmers through consuming billions of harmful insects and rodent pests, pollinating crops, and dispersing seeds,” said Senator Cardin. “This simple legislation reauthorizes a cost-effective, budget-friendly and highly successful federal program to protect birds, including the Baltimore oriole that have seen a steady decline in their populations despite being protected by federal and state laws.”
For nearly a decade, federal investment in habitat protection, education, research and monitoring of neotropical migratory birds has been vital to the well-being of our economy. Nationwide, bird watchers include more than 47 million Americans who are part of a larger wildlife watching community that spends $30 billion annually. Ohio is home to the annual “Biggest Week in American Birding”, based at Maumee Bay State Park. Last year, the week-long event brought in an estimated 77,000 visitors.
The S. 1537, Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Act, formerly the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, has a proven track record of reversing habitat loss and advancing conservation strategies for the hundreds of species of birds considered neotropical migrants—birds that spend summers in the United States and winter in Latin America.
Since 2002, more than $58.5 million in grants have been awarded, supporting 510 projects in 36 countries. Partners have contributed an additional $222 million, and more than 4.2 million acres of habitat have been improved. In 2016, the grants totaled $4 million, with nearly $17 million in matching funds across 17 countries. However, migratory birds continue to face threats from pesticide pollution, deforestation, sprawl, and invasive species that degrade their habitats.
In 2014, Senator Portman worked to pass a resolution to recognize the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the last known passenger pigeon, once the world’s most abundant bird. The resolution highlighted the importance of conserving wildlife populations.
###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2017
CONTACTS
Kevin Smith (Portman) 202-224-5190
Sue Walitsky/Tim Zink (Cardin) 202-224-4524
http://bit.ly/2uSZkRV
Portman, Cardin Seek Protections for the Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole and other Migratory Birds
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Ben Cardin (D-MD), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, have introduced legislation (S. 1537) to reauthorize the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, which would help sustain populations of migratory birds that face threats to their health and habitats. Their bill, reintroduced as the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Act, promotes long-term conservation, education, research, monitoring, and habitat protection for more than 350 species of migratory birds including Ohio’s state bird, the northern cardinal, and Maryland’s state bird, the Baltimore oriole. The bill furthers investment in critical conservation programs that have demonstrated marked successes through public-private partnerships and innovative granting and conservation strategies.
“Hundreds of bird species migrate through Ohio each year, making Lake Erie one of the most popular destinations for birdwatching,” Senator Portman said. “Birding contributes more than $20 million to Ohio’s tourism industry and attracts visitors from across the world each year. I am proud to work with my colleagues on the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Act to protect and conserve these bird populations so that they may be enjoyed by future generations.”
“Our goal is to continue to sustain healthy populations of migratory birds that are not only aesthetically beautiful, but also critical to our farmers through consuming billions of harmful insects and rodent pests, pollinating crops, and dispersing seeds,” said Senator Cardin. “This simple legislation reauthorizes a cost-effective, budget-friendly and highly successful federal program to protect birds, including the Baltimore oriole that have seen a steady decline in their populations despite being protected by federal and state laws.”
For nearly a decade, federal investment in habitat protection, education, research and monitoring of neotropical migratory birds has been vital to the well-being of our economy. Nationwide, bird watchers include more than 47 million Americans who are part of a larger wildlife watching community that spends $30 billion annually. Ohio is home to the annual “Biggest Week in American Birding”, based at Maumee Bay State Park. Last year, the week-long event brought in an estimated 77,000 visitors.
The S. 1537, Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Act, formerly the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, has a proven track record of reversing habitat loss and advancing conservation strategies for the hundreds of species of birds considered neotropical migrants—birds that spend summers in the United States and winter in Latin America.
Since 2002, more than $58.5 million in grants have been awarded, supporting 510 projects in 36 countries. Partners have contributed an additional $222 million, and more than 4.2 million acres of habitat have been improved. In 2016, the grants totaled $4 million, with nearly $17 million in matching funds across 17 countries. However, migratory birds continue to face threats from pesticide pollution, deforestation, sprawl, and invasive species that degrade their habitats.
In 2014, Senator Portman worked to pass a resolution to recognize the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the last known passenger pigeon, once the world’s most abundant bird. The resolution highlighted the importance of conserving wildlife populations.
###
bsbo and abc submit comments to opsb on the leedco icebreaker project
March 31, 2017
Ohio Power Siting Board
Docketing Division
180 Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215-3797
By email: contactOPSB@puc.state.oh.us
Re: Case# 16-1871-EL-BGN
Dear Ohio Power Siting Board:
This is a joint letter from the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Ohio and the Washington, DC-based American Bird Conservancy.
The Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) was founded in 1992 on the south shore of Lake Erie’s Western Basin for the purpose of studying and disseminating information about bird migration in the area. Northwest Ohio and Lake Erie have been recognized as prime stopover sites along the migration routes for birds for over 90 years. Formal study of birds in the area began as far back as 1926 with the work of Lou Campbell.1 It is the mission of BSBO to follow this tradition of avian research, and to expand into areas of public education, bird conservation, habitat conservation, biodiversity preservation, and economic development through birding (http://www.bsbo.org/).
The American Bird Conservancy, founded in 1994, is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to conserve native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas (http://www.abcbirds.org). ABC acts by safeguarding the rarest species, conserving and restoring habitats, and reducing threats, while building capacity in the bird conservation movement.
BSBO and ABC support the development of clean, renewable sources of energy such as wind power, but also believe that it must be done responsibly and with minimal impact on our public trust resources, including native species of birds and bats, and particularly threatened, endangered and other protected species. As such, we only support Bird-Smart wind energy development as defined by ABC, and feel it is our responsibility to express our concerns regarding the Icebreaker Wind Energy Project application and the veracity of its supporting documents. We also believe it is our responsibility to inform the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) of the most recent information available on the migration of highly endangered Kirtland’s Warblers through the proposed site area in the Central Basin of Lake Erie, 8 miles offshore of Cleveland.
Our concerns and recommendations are as follows:
The combined scale of U.S. and Canadian wind aspirations for Lake Erie is at least 2,700 turbines, or about 9,300 MW. It is therefore essential that every effort be made by LEEDCo to prepare a fundamentally sound, quantitative risk assessment of mortality to bird and bat species known to be in the area, especially protected species covered by the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and their Canadian equivalents. We will detail further our objections to the risk assessments offered by LEEDCo to date, along with some recommendations for remedies.
The BSBO and ABC position differs from that of NAS in that we recommend that LEEDCo perform an agreed upon, valid pre-construction risk assessment, while NAS would only require a written commitment to do so as a condition for project approval. BSBO believes it is the obligation of OPSB to have that risk assessment in hand and available for review by USFWS and ODNR prior to consideration for project approval. Of particular note is that there is a poor correlation between pre-construction risk assessments and the number and type of birds and bats killed post-construction.3
The KIWA is a species on both the Endangered Species List and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act list that we now know may be at risk, not only from the 6 turbines of the Icebreaker project, but also from the potential 2,700 more turbines it may lead to.
We cannot emphasize enough the significance of the Cooper, et al., study. It shows with newfound clarity that nearly the entire existing population of a protected species travels through the proposed project site twice every year. Therefore, BSBO recommends that additional studies be performed to verify the in-flight behavior risk of this species before the application can be considered complete.
First, LEEDCo’s consultants cite aerial surveys over the south-central portion of Lake Erie conducted by ODNR during 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 as support that only a small number of birds and bats occur offshore at a distance of 8-10 miles, comparable to the proposed location of the Project. Mr. Shieldcastle, who helped design the methodology for these aerial surveys and personally participated in fly overs on many occasions, is strongly of the opinion that LEEDCo’s consultants have used inappropriate statistical methods to analyze the survey data and that such methods lead to a serious underestimation of the numbers of many species of birds and bats which regularly occur in significant numbers in the offshore area in question. Further, his personal observations in flying those surveys disclosed tens of thousands, or more, of certain important species of waterfowl, gulls and other birds in the very areas where the turbines would be located. Moreover, these aerial surveys do not account for bird and bat activity during the entire year, nor do they account for nocturnal activity, which for some species is a time of significant movement/activity far out over the water, as has been shown by recent avian radar studies.6
LEEDCo’s consultants further cite a 2003 radar study by Dr. Robert Diehl, et al., entitled “Radar Observations of Bird Migration over the Great Lakes” for the proposition that many migrating birds avoid flying over large bodies of water, from which they conclude that such birds would not be present in the Project area. Mr. Shieldcastle, as a result of personal communication with Dr. Diehl believes that the type of radar used by Diehl (NEXRAD radar) is not capable of gathering the type of data that would be necessary to draw the conclusions that LEEDCo’s consultants do, and therefore any analysis of that data for the purposes that LEEDCo does is scientifically invalid. In fact, LEEDCo relies on only one radar scan that is not representative of anything from which valid conclusions on numbers of birds present could be drawn. Most telling, Dr. Diehl has pointedly said to Mr. Shieldcastle that his paper “…cannot support or refute the risk to migrating birds by turbines in Lake Erie.” The weaknesses of previous radar studies of the kind conducted by LEEDCo, which do not measure flight altitude, have been confirmed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) recent advanced radar studies around the Great Lakes.6,7
While citing it in the bibliography of the RA, LEEDCo’s consultants choose to largely ignore the findings of the 2016 US Fish and Wildlife Service report entitled “Great Lakes Avian Radar Report Lake Erie Shoreline: Erie County Ohio and Erie County Pennsylvania” which discusses previously unknown information about the flight altitudes of migrating bird populations as they ascend and descend to stopover sites during the course of a night and significantly concludes that: “Depending on the location, these altitude changes may have placed migrants at risk of collision with wind turbines and other tall man-made structures.” The report also indicates that lake crossing of numbers of species of birds in high volumes do regularly occur at altitudes which could put them at risk of collision with wind turbines. BSBO, ABC and others in the bird conservation community, believe that the USFWS studies represent the most recent and most relevant information yet generated for gauging the potential impacts of wind turbines in the vicinity of the shore of Lake Erie, yet it is given short shrift in the LEEDCo preliminary RA.
Based on these deficiencies alone, BSBO and ABC conclude that the risk assessment must be performed again, preferably by independent, third-party experts, in order to obtain meaningful results, and that the application should be considered incomplete until that time.
On p. 8 the USFWS states “We believe that the available information is insufficient to determine mortality risk…given the lack of site-specific data and the inconsistencies in pre- and post-construction data collected at land-based wind projects. We believe it is important to gather site specific data…” Based on this criticism BSBO believes the application should be considered incomplete.
On P. 8, the USFWS states “ the Service requests that at a minimum, turbines should be curtailed (the blades should be oriented such that they do not catch the wind) until the manufacturer’s cut-in speed (3.0 m/s for the turbine model proposed in the application) is reached at night during bats’ active periods (generally April-October).” The basis of this thinking is that bats tend not to fly at high wind speeds; therefore, shutting down the turbines at low wind speeds will curtail mortality. However, a study done in 2010 in Pennsylvania8 showed that in order to curtail bat mortality the cut-in speed needs to be raised to 5.5 m/s. This reduces bat mortality by 70%, while a cut-in speed of 3.0 m/s has almost no effect. BSBO and ABC recommend that the cut-in speed of the turbines be 5.5 m/s during the time of high bat activity, April through October, as identified by USFWS.
While BSBO and ABC understand that USFWS, ODNR, and LEEDCo are working together to devise plans for obtaining valid and sufficient data to inform a rigorous scientific risk assessment, we recommend that the application be considered incomplete until an independent and scientifically valid risk assessment is in hand. Based on past performance, and considering the overall importance and significance of the project, BSBO and ABC suggest that the promise to provide a risk assessment at a future date is not sufficient to grant project approval.
BSBO and ABC also believe that a plan needs to be in place to monitor bird and bat mortality at the LEEDCo site post-construction. One problem is that the project sits over open water and thus any bird and bat mortality data is likely to be difficult, if not impossible, to collect using traditional methods. There are advanced technologies available to collect this data (e.g., streaming video and auditory detection of strikes), but they are in an early stage of development. It is critical that LEEDCo have such a plan in place before project approval, and that they can and do collect data on the number and types of species impacted by their project.
BSBO and ABC appreciates the opportunity to comment on the application.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Kaufman, BSBO Executive Director
Michael Hutchins, Ph.D., Director, American Bird Conservancy’s Bird-Smart Wind Energy Program
Citations:
1 Matt Markey, The Toledo Blade, “Campbell’s research makes us richer birders,” May 11, 2012.
2 John Miner, The London (Ontario) Free Press, “Ohio group moving ahead with big plans to harness Lake Erie’s wind,” Nov. 29, 2015.
3 Migual Ferrer et al. “Weak relationship between risk assessment studies and recorded mortality in wind farms”. Journal Applied Ecology. 49 (1) 38-46. 2011
4 Wendy Mitman Clarke, Smithsonian.com, “Scientists Track, For the First Time, One of the Rarest Songbirds on Its Yearlong Migration,” Mar. 6, 2017.
5 Nathan W.Cooper, et. al., Journal of Avian Biology 48, pp. 209-219, “Light-level geolocation reveals wintering distribution, migration routes, and primary stopover locations of an endangered long-distance migratory songbird,” 2017.
6 Rebecca Horton, et al. , “Great Lakes Avian Radar Technical Report, Lake Erie Shoreline: Erie County, Ohio and Erie County Pennsylvania, Spring 2012.” U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Technical Publication FWS/BTP-R3012-2016.
7 Nathan Rathbun et al. “Great Lakes Avian Radar Technical Report; Niagara, Genesee, Wayne, and Jefferson Counties, New York; Spring 2013.” U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Technical Publication FWS/BTP-3012-2016
8 Manuela M. P. Huso, John P. Hayes, “Effectiveness of Changing Cut-in Speed to Reduce Bat Fatalities at Wind Farms,” an annual report prepared for the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, p. 3, May 2010.
Ohio Power Siting Board
Docketing Division
180 Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215-3797
By email: contactOPSB@puc.state.oh.us
Re: Case# 16-1871-EL-BGN
Dear Ohio Power Siting Board:
This is a joint letter from the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Ohio and the Washington, DC-based American Bird Conservancy.
The Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) was founded in 1992 on the south shore of Lake Erie’s Western Basin for the purpose of studying and disseminating information about bird migration in the area. Northwest Ohio and Lake Erie have been recognized as prime stopover sites along the migration routes for birds for over 90 years. Formal study of birds in the area began as far back as 1926 with the work of Lou Campbell.1 It is the mission of BSBO to follow this tradition of avian research, and to expand into areas of public education, bird conservation, habitat conservation, biodiversity preservation, and economic development through birding (http://www.bsbo.org/).
The American Bird Conservancy, founded in 1994, is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to conserve native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas (http://www.abcbirds.org). ABC acts by safeguarding the rarest species, conserving and restoring habitats, and reducing threats, while building capacity in the bird conservation movement.
BSBO and ABC support the development of clean, renewable sources of energy such as wind power, but also believe that it must be done responsibly and with minimal impact on our public trust resources, including native species of birds and bats, and particularly threatened, endangered and other protected species. As such, we only support Bird-Smart wind energy development as defined by ABC, and feel it is our responsibility to express our concerns regarding the Icebreaker Wind Energy Project application and the veracity of its supporting documents. We also believe it is our responsibility to inform the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) of the most recent information available on the migration of highly endangered Kirtland’s Warblers through the proposed site area in the Central Basin of Lake Erie, 8 miles offshore of Cleveland.
Our concerns and recommendations are as follows:
- The scope and importance of the project. The project as stated consists of 6 turbines. Yet, the impact and significance of the project go far beyond that. Firstly, the LEEDCo VP of Operations was quoted as saying “Our vision is 5,000 MW over the next 10 to 15 years.”2 This is equivalent to another 1,450 turbines.
The combined scale of U.S. and Canadian wind aspirations for Lake Erie is at least 2,700 turbines, or about 9,300 MW. It is therefore essential that every effort be made by LEEDCo to prepare a fundamentally sound, quantitative risk assessment of mortality to bird and bat species known to be in the area, especially protected species covered by the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and their Canadian equivalents. We will detail further our objections to the risk assessments offered by LEEDCo to date, along with some recommendations for remedies.
- The recommendations of National Audubon Society (NAS) to remedy deficiencies in the LEEDCo application. BSBO has worked in concert with NAS and ABC to formulate recommendations and remedies to the inadequacies of LEEDCo’s preliminary bird and bat assessments. While BSBO and ABC endorse many of the recommendations of NAS as put forth in their comments to OPSB dated March 24, 2017, BSBO and ABC believe these recommendations are not strong enough, given the overall importance of the project and its significance to the ecology of the Great Lakes. We will discuss our further recommendations below, but for purposes of brevity, have summarized the salient points of the NAS:
- The collection of risk assessment data on site of the project on birds and bats: a plan should be submitted by LEEDCo to OPSB with methodology and protocol for data collection, reviewed by US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), and that is species specific.
- A post-construction monitoring plan should be submitted to OPSB, and approved by USFWS and ODNR.
- LEEDCo should submit an Adaptive Management Plan to outline corrective actions to be taken if anomalies in mortality occur that are beyond expectations, including follow-up measures to be taken to evaluate results.
- An overall Bird Bat Conservation Strategy should be included as part of the Adaptive Management Plan.
- Because the project area lies within an Important Bird Area (IBA) the analyses should show priority to species and species groups used to justify the IBA designation.
The BSBO and ABC position differs from that of NAS in that we recommend that LEEDCo perform an agreed upon, valid pre-construction risk assessment, while NAS would only require a written commitment to do so as a condition for project approval. BSBO believes it is the obligation of OPSB to have that risk assessment in hand and available for review by USFWS and ODNR prior to consideration for project approval. Of particular note is that there is a poor correlation between pre-construction risk assessments and the number and type of birds and bats killed post-construction.3
- Recent study on Kirtland’s Warbler migration. Wendy Mitman Clarke, in her article published recently4 summarized the groundbreaking study performed by Nathan W. Cooper, et al., which used geolocators attached to male Kirtland’s Warblers (KIWA).5 The study followed the location of a little over 1% of the total population of male KIWA from 2012 to 2015 to determine nesting areas, wintering areas, Spring and Fall migration routes, migration stopover areas (for feeding), and annual timing of each. There are several points in the study having a direct impact upon the Icebreaker project risk assessment and the application.
- The Spring (northerly) migration takes place roughly between April 27th and May 13th; the route passes through central Ohio and the Western Basin of Lake Erie, with a stopover in southwestern Ontario and points immediately south, before reaching nesting areas in northern Michigan. The easternmost area of the migration route passes through the proposed site of the Icebreaker project.
- The Fall (southerly) migration takes place between October 6th and October 25th; the route passes directly over the Central Basin of Lake Erie, the site of the Icebreaker project.
The KIWA is a species on both the Endangered Species List and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act list that we now know may be at risk, not only from the 6 turbines of the Icebreaker project, but also from the potential 2,700 more turbines it may lead to.
We cannot emphasize enough the significance of the Cooper, et al., study. It shows with newfound clarity that nearly the entire existing population of a protected species travels through the proposed project site twice every year. Therefore, BSBO recommends that additional studies be performed to verify the in-flight behavior risk of this species before the application can be considered complete.
- Rebuttal to risk assessment (RA) studies offered by LEEDCo to date. BSBO and ABC understand that LEEDCo has no specific bird or bat expertise; they are a power development entity. As such they have relied on paid consultants to perform the risk assessment studies and to draw conclusions. This does not, however, absolve LEEDCo of the responsibility for the veracity of those studies, which to date BSBO and ABC have found to be sadly lacking. LEEDCo has since undertaken communication with USFWS to get recommendations for further, adequate risk assessment data. The following points are taken from the comments of Mark Shieldcastle, Research Director at BSBO. Prior to his work with BSBO he was employed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, for 32 years. Through his work with ODNR and BSBO Mr. Shieldcastle has won a well-deserved reputation as one of the foremost experts on Lake Erie migratory bird behavior, bird study design, statistical analysis of same and methodologies for mitigating the impacts of human activities on the wildlife resources of Ohio and the habitats which support the wildlife. What follow are his primary comments and concerns, referring to the 11/29/2016 document entitled “Icebreaker Wind: Summary of Risks to Birds and Bats.”
- Page i, paragraph 1 of the RA Executive Summary states: “The overall conclusion of this analysis is that the Project poses low risk of adverse impacts to birds and bats. This conclusion stems largely from two principal observations: 1) the Project is small in scale, consisting of six turbines; 2) the level of use of this area by birds and bats is low compared to bird and bat use of terrestrial or nearshore environments.”
- The second principal observation relied on by LEEDCo, namely that birds and bats are present in low numbers in the offshore area proposed for siting of the 6 turbines, is purported to be supported by a number of very questionable scientific premises or the misapplication/misinterpretation of such premises by LEEDCo’s paid consultants. BSBO finds that the problems with LEEDCo’s analysis are so pervasive that only a few representative examples will be provided.
First, LEEDCo’s consultants cite aerial surveys over the south-central portion of Lake Erie conducted by ODNR during 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 as support that only a small number of birds and bats occur offshore at a distance of 8-10 miles, comparable to the proposed location of the Project. Mr. Shieldcastle, who helped design the methodology for these aerial surveys and personally participated in fly overs on many occasions, is strongly of the opinion that LEEDCo’s consultants have used inappropriate statistical methods to analyze the survey data and that such methods lead to a serious underestimation of the numbers of many species of birds and bats which regularly occur in significant numbers in the offshore area in question. Further, his personal observations in flying those surveys disclosed tens of thousands, or more, of certain important species of waterfowl, gulls and other birds in the very areas where the turbines would be located. Moreover, these aerial surveys do not account for bird and bat activity during the entire year, nor do they account for nocturnal activity, which for some species is a time of significant movement/activity far out over the water, as has been shown by recent avian radar studies.6
LEEDCo’s consultants further cite a 2003 radar study by Dr. Robert Diehl, et al., entitled “Radar Observations of Bird Migration over the Great Lakes” for the proposition that many migrating birds avoid flying over large bodies of water, from which they conclude that such birds would not be present in the Project area. Mr. Shieldcastle, as a result of personal communication with Dr. Diehl believes that the type of radar used by Diehl (NEXRAD radar) is not capable of gathering the type of data that would be necessary to draw the conclusions that LEEDCo’s consultants do, and therefore any analysis of that data for the purposes that LEEDCo does is scientifically invalid. In fact, LEEDCo relies on only one radar scan that is not representative of anything from which valid conclusions on numbers of birds present could be drawn. Most telling, Dr. Diehl has pointedly said to Mr. Shieldcastle that his paper “…cannot support or refute the risk to migrating birds by turbines in Lake Erie.” The weaknesses of previous radar studies of the kind conducted by LEEDCo, which do not measure flight altitude, have been confirmed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) recent advanced radar studies around the Great Lakes.6,7
While citing it in the bibliography of the RA, LEEDCo’s consultants choose to largely ignore the findings of the 2016 US Fish and Wildlife Service report entitled “Great Lakes Avian Radar Report Lake Erie Shoreline: Erie County Ohio and Erie County Pennsylvania” which discusses previously unknown information about the flight altitudes of migrating bird populations as they ascend and descend to stopover sites during the course of a night and significantly concludes that: “Depending on the location, these altitude changes may have placed migrants at risk of collision with wind turbines and other tall man-made structures.” The report also indicates that lake crossing of numbers of species of birds in high volumes do regularly occur at altitudes which could put them at risk of collision with wind turbines. BSBO, ABC and others in the bird conservation community, believe that the USFWS studies represent the most recent and most relevant information yet generated for gauging the potential impacts of wind turbines in the vicinity of the shore of Lake Erie, yet it is given short shrift in the LEEDCo preliminary RA.
- The RA concludes that raptors are present in low numbers in the proposed Project area and thus the collision risk for raptors is said to be low. BSBO scientists and other experts dispute this conclusion, as it is well known that Bald Eagles, Ospreys and Peregrine Falcons readily cross Lake Erie, not just for migratory purposes, but for regular movement between favored areas in Ontario and Ohio. Indeed, BSBO pelagic boat surveys have regularly observed this behavior on Lake Erie in the Cleveland area. It appears that the LEEDCo consultant’s ground-based surveys were not appropriate to draw valid conclusions about potential exposure to raptors flying over water. This is another deficiency in the RA.
Based on these deficiencies alone, BSBO and ABC conclude that the risk assessment must be performed again, preferably by independent, third-party experts, in order to obtain meaningful results, and that the application should be considered incomplete until that time.
- Comments regarding USFWS letter to OPSB dated March 3, 2017. On p. 4 of the letter USFWS states “We are currently working with Applicant (LEEDCo) and ODNR to recommend site-specific pre- and post-construction waterfowl surveys fall through spring…” BSBO and ABC find this survey period to be insufficient, and we recommend the survey be extended over a period of three years in order to generate statistically significant data. It is unfortunate that the prior surveys have not provided adequate, rigorous data; but that is not reason to truncate the amount of time given to perform such an adequate and rigorous study now.
On p. 8 the USFWS states “We believe that the available information is insufficient to determine mortality risk…given the lack of site-specific data and the inconsistencies in pre- and post-construction data collected at land-based wind projects. We believe it is important to gather site specific data…” Based on this criticism BSBO believes the application should be considered incomplete.
On P. 8, the USFWS states “ the Service requests that at a minimum, turbines should be curtailed (the blades should be oriented such that they do not catch the wind) until the manufacturer’s cut-in speed (3.0 m/s for the turbine model proposed in the application) is reached at night during bats’ active periods (generally April-October).” The basis of this thinking is that bats tend not to fly at high wind speeds; therefore, shutting down the turbines at low wind speeds will curtail mortality. However, a study done in 2010 in Pennsylvania8 showed that in order to curtail bat mortality the cut-in speed needs to be raised to 5.5 m/s. This reduces bat mortality by 70%, while a cut-in speed of 3.0 m/s has almost no effect. BSBO and ABC recommend that the cut-in speed of the turbines be 5.5 m/s during the time of high bat activity, April through October, as identified by USFWS.
While BSBO and ABC understand that USFWS, ODNR, and LEEDCo are working together to devise plans for obtaining valid and sufficient data to inform a rigorous scientific risk assessment, we recommend that the application be considered incomplete until an independent and scientifically valid risk assessment is in hand. Based on past performance, and considering the overall importance and significance of the project, BSBO and ABC suggest that the promise to provide a risk assessment at a future date is not sufficient to grant project approval.
BSBO and ABC also believe that a plan needs to be in place to monitor bird and bat mortality at the LEEDCo site post-construction. One problem is that the project sits over open water and thus any bird and bat mortality data is likely to be difficult, if not impossible, to collect using traditional methods. There are advanced technologies available to collect this data (e.g., streaming video and auditory detection of strikes), but they are in an early stage of development. It is critical that LEEDCo have such a plan in place before project approval, and that they can and do collect data on the number and types of species impacted by their project.
BSBO and ABC appreciates the opportunity to comment on the application.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Kaufman, BSBO Executive Director
Michael Hutchins, Ph.D., Director, American Bird Conservancy’s Bird-Smart Wind Energy Program
Citations:
1 Matt Markey, The Toledo Blade, “Campbell’s research makes us richer birders,” May 11, 2012.
2 John Miner, The London (Ontario) Free Press, “Ohio group moving ahead with big plans to harness Lake Erie’s wind,” Nov. 29, 2015.
3 Migual Ferrer et al. “Weak relationship between risk assessment studies and recorded mortality in wind farms”. Journal Applied Ecology. 49 (1) 38-46. 2011
4 Wendy Mitman Clarke, Smithsonian.com, “Scientists Track, For the First Time, One of the Rarest Songbirds on Its Yearlong Migration,” Mar. 6, 2017.
5 Nathan W.Cooper, et. al., Journal of Avian Biology 48, pp. 209-219, “Light-level geolocation reveals wintering distribution, migration routes, and primary stopover locations of an endangered long-distance migratory songbird,” 2017.
6 Rebecca Horton, et al. , “Great Lakes Avian Radar Technical Report, Lake Erie Shoreline: Erie County, Ohio and Erie County Pennsylvania, Spring 2012.” U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Technical Publication FWS/BTP-R3012-2016.
7 Nathan Rathbun et al. “Great Lakes Avian Radar Technical Report; Niagara, Genesee, Wayne, and Jefferson Counties, New York; Spring 2013.” U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Technical Publication FWS/BTP-3012-2016
8 Manuela M. P. Huso, John P. Hayes, “Effectiveness of Changing Cut-in Speed to Reduce Bat Fatalities at Wind Farms,” an annual report prepared for the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, p. 3, May 2010.
OCTOBER 2018 - ROAMING CAT AND OUTDOOR FEEDING STATION BAN
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