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21 May 2014

Commentary of Hawaii Birds Killed by Wind Turbines

Courtesy of Jim Weigand. A PDF listing the turbine fatalities was included in the email received, but is not included here.

Last week a story broke from Hawaii that has exposed this wind industry secret. The wind turbines in Hawaii have been killing endangered species since 2006-2007. In fact a list was published showing 50 endangered species having been killed by wind turbines. For seven years this has been kept from the public and as I have found out from years of researching this industry's bogus documents, there are many other dark secrets pertaining to this industry.

Making matters worse I have read over some of the studies used at these turbine sites. The studies from Hawaii have been rigged to hide mortality. My estimates are that 300-500 endangered species have been killed by the 200 MW of wind power in Hawaii. Most of these deaths have been recent because of this wind energy was not in production in 2006 and 40 of the 50 reported endangered species carcasses were reported after 2011.

The availability of carcasses to be found in any mortality study depends on the scientific methodology, search intervals, search plot size, crippling bias, searcher efficiency, and scavenging rates. All wind industry mortality studies are severely flawed and far from being scientific. When taking into account the severely flawed study methodology used for Hawaii's wind turbine studies, it is very obvious that the real death toll of endangered species killed by Hawaii's turbines is in the hundreds.

The Kaheawa Pastures wind energy facility (First Wind) on the island of Maui wind turbines were built in the nesting habitat of the world's rarest goose, the Nene. This wind energy facility has reported 18 Nene killed by the Kaheawa Pastures turbines with ridiculously small search areas for 300 ft tall turbines. Of these 18 reported Nene fatalities, 11 were recorded during their Aug-April nesting season. This species lays 3-5 eggs and during their nesting cycle, the death of an adult will likely lead to a complete nest failure or the death of their offspring. So not only are the fatality numbers of Nene being under reported, their offspring are being
killed by these turbines.

On top of this entire charade, the fatality data in the mortality studies is being processed with bogus calculations and a Huso program that further reduce the estimated mortality taking place by this wind project.

What has taken place in Hawaii this is an eye opening example of the character of this industry and the extinction of species coming to the world from wind turbines. Hawaii has plans to install thousands of MW of wind power. If this takes place most of the endangered species being killed by their wind turbines will not survive.

Extinction of species is neither renewable nor green.


These are some additional details provided by Mr. Weigand.

On the list I sent there are 50 total that have been reported. These 50 represent 4 species and 40 of the 50 have been killed since 2011. Below are some of my notes from the Kaheawa Pastures wind energy facility. These are as rigged as they get and it is very obvious to me wind crews are pre-scanning ahead of formal searches. They even petitioned to get search areas reduced to 48 meters for their 325 ft tall turbines. They have been using 73 meter search areas..

At KWP they are only using a 73 meter radius search area. This is equal to 16733 sq meters. Proper search areas for these turbines should be at least 150 meters out from turbine bases. This is an area of 70650 square meters or an area 4.22 times larger. A more accurate search area of 175 meters would be an area of 96162 sq meters or an area 5.7 times larger. This factor alone is proof that far more endangered species are being killed by these turbines.

But with any honest study all carcasses or cripples seen no matter how far they are from turbines should be reported and included in the data. It should also be a felony for not reporting or concealing the carcass of an endangered species. Presently because of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service voluntary regulations there are no penalties for this behavior at wind farms

Wind turbines and geese found far beyond 73 meters...

These are some pertinent links available at WindAction.org

Geese slaughter: two eyewitness accounts
Dead geese seen on roads near turbines
Wind turbines a risk for waterfowl, expert tells audience
Species-rich Hawaii poses unique challenges for wind power industry