Wind farm builder must study bird, bat deaths

(AP) — The developer of a 23-turbine wind farm in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle must study bat and bird mortality for three years after construction and set aside funds in case the project is decommissioned.

Those are among the conditions the Public Service Commission set Monday in approving the $131 million project by U.S. WindForce LLC of Greensburg, Pa.

Pinnacle Wind at NewPage would be built on Green Mountain in Mineral County. WindForce must build within five years of its final certification or risk losing the siting permit, the commission said in its order.

The conditions set for Pinnacle are similar to those set for other wind farms in the state, the commission said.

David Friend, vice president of sales and marketing for WindForce, said the company is still reviewing the order but believes the commission was fair. Initially, Friend said, none of the conditions appears to be problematic.

Last month, however, a federal judge halted construction of a wind farm in Greenbrier County, siding with environmentalists who argued the project would harm the endangered Indiana bat.

The Washington-based Animal Welfare Institute and the Williamsburg, W.Va.-based Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy sued Beech Ridge Energy of Rockville, Md., and its parent, Invenergy LLC.

They claimed the 119-turbine project violated the Endangered Species Act because it was likely to kill and injure the bats, and the developers had not obtained an incidental take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

U.S. District Judge Roger Titus ordered Beech Ridge to stop construction until it gets the Fish and Wildlife Service permit. He also barred the company from operating any of the 40 existing turbines between April 1 and Nov. 15, when the bats are migrating.

The conditions for the WindForce project include complying with the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act during both construction and operation.

The commission said WindForce must obtain "any necessary environmental permits and/or certifications" from state and federal agencies, including Fish and Wildlife, for habitat removal, soil excavation, grading and other disturbances.

The commission's order, however, suggests neither birds nor bats are likely to pose a serious threat to the Pinnacle project. Studies done in 2007 found no threatened or endangered bird species in the turbine area and concluded "the risk to bats generally and endangered bats specifically are low."

Though two caves were identified within five miles of the project, neither housed any protected bat species, the commission's order said.

Avian studies also looked at raptor migration and concluded the project site is not an important migration area. The order says Pinnace eliminated a second string of turbines it had planned for one location to reduce the risk to migrating golden eagles.