- A wind farm company has admitted to killing at least 150 bald or golden eagles since 2012.
- Bald and golden eagles are protected from harm and death under federal law.
- The company was charged with over $8 million in fines and five-year probation.
A renewable energy company was given five-year probation and ordered to pay more than $8 million in fines after the deaths of 150 bald and golden eagles on their wind turbines.
NextEra Energy subsidiary ESI Energy pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, per a press release from the Department of Justice.
The Act prevents anyone from killing or taking parts from protected birds without permission from the federal government. Golden and bald eagles are further protected by federal law.
The company pleaded guilty to three specific deaths, which prompted the fines, per the DOJ.
As part of the case it also acknowledged the deaths of a more than 150 eagles at the company's wind farms in Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, North Dakota and Michigan, and other states.
Prosecutors said the eagles died over a period beginning in 2012, and that 136 of them were killed being struck by a turbine blade.
Per the DOJ, ESI failed to apply for the necessary permits after the death of the birds.
"For more than a decade, ESI has violated (wildlife) laws, taking eagles without obtaining or even seeking the necessary permit," assistant attorney general Todd Kim of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division said in the statement.
In its plea agreement, ESI agreed to spend up to $27 million during its probationary period on an "eagle management plan" to minimize future eagle deaths and injuries.
It also committed to paying $29,623 per future injury or death of a bald or golden eagle.
In a statement ESI said that collisions with the wind turbines were unavoidable and should not be criminalized.
"In fact, our company makes significant efforts to avoid accidental collisions with bird populations, including eagles," said NextEra President Rebecca Kujawa.
The ruling came amid a push from the Biden administration for more renewable energy, including a large expansion of offshore wind farms.
The impact of wind turbines on bird populations has caused controversy, and was a favored subject of former President Donald Trump, an well-known opponent of wind turbines.
During a presidential debate in 2020, then President Donald Trump said that wind turbines kill "all the birds" after saying he knows "more about wind" than then candidate Joe Biden.
Trump has personally opposed wind turbines being installed near his properties, suing the Scottish Government over plans for an off-shore windfarm that Trump said would ruin the view from his course in Aberdeenshire.
Trump lost the case and had to pay the legal costs of the Scottish government.
Land wind turbines in the US kill some 234,000 birds a year through collision, according to data collected by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
By comparison, buildings cause about almost a billion deaths by collision with glass and cats kill about 2.4 billion birds a year.
Turbines ultimately favour birds indirectly, according to the American bird conservancy, because they slow down climate change and help preserve endangered habitats.