Weighing the cost of green energy: Icebreaker wind farm could prove damaging to bird population
A new renewable energy project in Cleveland is under the microscope due to its potential impact on the bird population, specifically those migrating across the Great Lakes.
The Icebreaker wind farm is a large-scale clean energy project developed by the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo.) that seeks to place wind turbines on Lake Erie.
Icebreaker was originally approved in May 2020, but the project was thought to be at risk following a decision by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) to include a “nighttime feathering” condition, which required that the turbines be shut down after dark eight months of the year in order to prevent migrating birds and bats from colliding with the spinning turbine blades.
A bipartisan group of 32 Ohio legislators expressed their support for the removal of the feathering condition in July, calling it “unusual,” “puzzling” and a “poison pill” for the project.
Since 1970, three billion birds — almost 30 percent of the bird population — have died due to habitat loss, global warming, building collisions and wind turbines.
The Ohio Power Siting Board then voted to remove the requirement in September, thereby allowing LEEDCo. to continue developing the project and, once it is completed, operate at night.
During that meeting, Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, expressed support for the removal of the feathering condition during the meeting as well as continued monitoring of the project’s impact after development is completed.
“The board and the staff of ODNR will have continued oversight, so I’m sure we will tighten restrictions if the data shows that we need to do that,” Mertz said in the September meeting. “I don’t believe there’s a sufficient basis for the board to impose this additional requirement.”
Andy Jones, William A. and Nancy R. Klamm chair and curator of ornithology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, said the migration of birds may be heavily impacted by the Icebreaker project if it continues without the feathering condition. He said lighted structures, especially in an area like Lake Erie, could pose a great risk to flying animals that migrate across the lake.
“Birds use stars to navigate,” Jones said. “That makes them extremely susceptible to lighted structures, especially when we get adverse conditions like foggy nights or low cloud ceilings.”
Due to the attraction birds and bats have to lights, they often mistake structures for stars and consequently collide with them. The small land birds that migrate at night also don’t have infrared vision, making it harder for them to see.
“The real concern with the Icebreaker project in particular is that it’s going to be in one of the darkest places in all of eastern North America,” Jones said. “The middle of any of the Great Lakes is one of our best dark sky areas, and to put lighted structures out there is going to have a greater impact than…adding one more lighted structure to downtown Cleveland or another city.”
As a result, the Icebreaker project could have serious unintended ecological consequences despite representing a major shift toward clean energy for Cleveland.
“I wish we had this perfect formula where for each type of energy source we could calculate the impact on wildlife,” Jones said, adding that meaningful research is the best solution to determining what energy developments are worthwhile. “There are lots of ways to do green energy and we need to make smart choices about ‘Where do we put them? How do we implement them?’”
Environmental groups like the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) have spoken out about Icebreaker and expressed concerns that the project developers aren’t consulting efficient data to determine the wind farm’s impact on birds.
“We don’t know what the risk is because it’s really not been studied properly,” Mark Shieldcastle, research director at the BSBO, said. “Our position is that you do the science first and either support conclusions, or raise considerable doubt.”
Shieldcastle said the lack of supported data collection on the Icebreaker project and its impact on migrating birds is a complicated issue. He said project developers for Icebreaker sent people out on Lake Erie at night with night vision goggles to look for birds, but that that isn’t an effective way to track birds at night.
“Their conclusion was, ‘Well, we didn’t see any birds, therefore there are none,’” Shieldcastle said. “That’s reaching conclusions of a data set that just doesn’t support it. It doesn’t say you’re not right, but you don’t have the data to support what you’re saying. And that’s been our (BSBO’S) biggest argument with them.”
LEEDCo. and the OPSB members who moved to rescind the feathering conditions have often expressed support for the use of data while considering the stipulations in place for Icebreaker. Mertz previously said there is “no reason to consider changing the modification that requires Icebreaker to submit data to the board on avian issues and bats.”
Shieldcastle said despite data being used to justify Icebreaker and the benefits a finished version could have on the economy, there is a concern that funding could be moved around with nothing to show for it.
“If you put money into the play, that changes things and unfortunately kind of the rule of thumb is when money comes up against wildlife, wildlife loses,” Shieldcastle said. “That’s not forward thinking for future generations.”
Dave Karpinski, President of LEEDCo., did not respond to requests for an interview.
Work Divided:
Maria McGinnis conducted and transcribed interviews with Andy Jones and Mark Shieldcastle, pulled audio clips, researched the story topic and its surrounding issues, collaborated on writing the story and laid out the website post.
Alex Johnson conducted research on the story topic and its surrounding issues, collaborated on writing the story and created a gif depicting migrating birds’ flight patterns over Lake Erie.
