More bad news for Altamont birds

By Ilana DeBare

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors had an opportunity Tuesday to reverse a bad decision about Altamont wind power — and they refused.

The board voted 3-2 for steps that would uphold their recent decision to let Altamont Winds Inc. (AWI) delay for another three years before replacing their outmoded, deadly turbines with modern ones that kill fewer birds.

AWI is the only wind company at Altamont Pass that has not begun repowering, the term for replacing old deadly turbines with more efficient, safe ones. AWI’s current permit calls for it to repower by the end of 2015. But AWI has pled poverty, saying it can’t afford to repower, and so the supervisors cut the company its third “special deal” in the space of a decade.

The three-year extension will lead to the unnecessary deaths of an estimated 1,900 birds, including 11 to 16 majestic Golden Eagles and 300 to 400 other raptors.

“Our wildlife cannot afford more of this killing,” GGBA Executive Director Cindy Margulis warned the board on Tuesday before the vote.

This week’s vote broke down along the same lines as the board’s earlier vote in April — with Supervisors Scott Haggerty, Nate Miley, and Richard Valle voting to give AWI an extension, and Supervisors Wilma Chan and Keith Carson opposing the extension.

At issue this week was approval of a “Statement of Overriding Considerations” — basically, a legal document stating that the benefits of allowing AWI to keep operating its old turbines outweigh the severe environmental damage.

GGBA — joined by representatives from Mt. Diablo and Santa Clara Valley Audubon — made a cogent and comprehensive case that the extension will benefit neither wildlife nor county residents.

GGBA board members Linda Carloni and Alan Harper were joined in testifying by nearly the entire GGBA staff. Among the points made:

• Repowering would create numerous new union jobs. Other Altamont wind companies are generating between 500 and 600 skilled construction jobs through demolition, salvage, and replacement of the old turbines. That is more than ten times the total number of staff (about 40) currently employed by AWI.
• Repowering would make the Alameda County wind industry more competitive. Modern, efficient turbines that are not viewed as death traps for wildlife will be more attractive to buyers of renewable energy, and will generate more tax revenue for the county.
• AWI has been billing itself as a “small local business” but in fact its reach goes far beyond Alameda County. AWI’s own web site refers to a connected series of privately-owned companies with more than 20 wind projects in states like Idaho. Rather than boosting the economy of Alameda County, AWI is siphoning off revenues from Altamont to develop projects in these other states.
• The death toll on birds is far greater than the county has acknowledged. The county’s own Scientific Review Committee determined that the AWI extension will cause at least 40 percent more deaths than projected in the county’s environmental impact report.
• AWI is under scrutiny by state and federal wildlife protection agencies. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service wrote the Board of Supervisors this spring urging it not to grant the extension because of AWI’s track record with wildlife.

Given all these factors and more, there are no grounds for the supervisors to claim that AWI’s continued operation of its outmoded turbines provides any “overriding” benefit to the county.

Yet Supervisors Haggerty, Miley and Valle chose to move forward down this reckless and ill-advised path.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Miley denied that his vote was influenced by campaign contributions from AWI. “It’s been alleged that because AWI provided me with finical contributions, that swayed my decision. That’s wrong,” he said.

The Contra Costa Times reported last month that AWI gave more than $25,000 since 2006 to the three supervisors who voted in its favor — $19,750 to Haggerty, $5,306 to Miley, and $764 to Valle.

In the wake of this latest decision, GGBA is considering options for further defense of birds at Altamont. Meanwhile, we offer our deep thanks to Supervisors Chan and Carson for their vote in support of wildlife, jobs, and modernization of the important Altamont wind facilities.

We also offer thanks to the hundreds of Audubon members and other wildlife lovers who spoke out on this issue. We’ll keep you posted and call on you again as needed!