Proposed N.S. wind farm could have deadly toll on migrating birds, expert says | 24CA News
Environmental researcher John Kearney says the whirring blades of a proposed 13-turbine wind farm in Nova Scotia could reduce greenhouse gases, however the dangers they pose to migrating birds are too excessive.
The 74-year-old former advisor to the wind trade has lately arrange acoustic monitoring in southwestern Nova Scotia, documenting species starting from black-capped chickadees to noticed sandpipers as they name out throughout autumn flights.
“I’m speaking from the perspective of a person who supports both the objectives of wind power and preserving biodiversity, and here they come in conflict,” he mentioned in a latest interview, shortly after submitting written submissions to the province objecting to the proposed challenge on a peninsula west of Yarmouth.
“To me, it’s quite clear this wind farm should never happen.”
Kearney has a PhD in environmental anthropology — which entails relationships between people and nature. He got here to his conclusion after discovering that fowl calls simply south of the proposed Wedgeport Wind Farm averaged 538 per hour after dawn.
He says that is almost equal to the depth of Brier Island, N.S., situated additional west, which was not too long ago cited within the Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science as “one of the migration hot spots of northeastern North America.”
John Kearney, a former wind advisor who’s now utilizing acoustics to observe fowl populations, works on considered one of his stations in Nova Scotia in a handout picture. The 74-year-old environmental anthropologist is objecting to a wind improvement in southwestern Nova Scotia, saying it poses too nice a danger to migrating flocks. The proponent of Wedgeport Wind Farm disagrees, saying the blades don’t threaten declining populations, and assist the province attain its greenhouse fuel emission objectives.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Danielle Horne **MANDATORY CREDIT**
To Kearney, rejecting the challenge would assist protect the avian songs, however trade proponents counter that there’s restricted proof to point out the proposed coastal location threatens fowl populations.
In an electronic mail, Daniel Eaton, the challenge director at Vancouver-based Elementary Energy, famous the agency and its companions, Stevens Wind and Sipekne’katik First Nation, are responding to the Nova Scotia authorities’s aim of a 53 per cent discount in greenhouse fuel emissions by 2023.
Eaton mentioned that in 2025, the primary 12 months of potential operation, the challenge is anticipated to offset 112,750 tonnes of carbon emissions — which is roughly equal to the yearly output of 25,000 gasoline-powered vehicles.
“We agree there are a variety of habitat types in southwestern Nova Scotia that are important to migratory birds and are appreciative of the work that Mr. Kearney has undertaken to collect information on migratory bird activity across a number of sites in southwestern Nova Scotia,” Eaton wrote on Monday.
However, he added, “we stand by the work done by our consultants, including their work to estimate potential bird mortalities associated with our project.”
The firm’s submission within the environmental evaluate argues as soon as “standard industry mitigation measures” are in place, the impression of the generators on the birds is “not significant.”
It notes their very own subject survey recognized 100 fowl species inside and out of doors the challenge space, and about 16,000 particular person birds. The proponents predict the challenge will trigger about 36 fowl deaths a 12 months, citing a mannequin developed in 2016 from Scottish Natural Heritage, an environmental advisory physique.
Kearney is crucial of the mannequin and questions why theoretical knowledge is getting used when the proponent may very well be requested to check functioning wind generators close to the positioning to acquire mortality charges occurring alongside the windy and foggy Nova Scotia coast.
And he returns to his acoustic knowledge, saying it provides compelling, comparative proof that the proposed farm is in the midst of a migration hall.
The Nova Scotia Bird Society has additionally objected to the wind farm, saying its members have noticed the concentrations of birds passing overhead, “feeding on berries in the barrens and capturing insects in the trees.”
“We understand first hand the interconnections between terrestrial and marine habitats, which result in a high species richness,’ wrote Anthony Millard, president of the society.
Mikaela Etchegary, a spokeswoman for the provincial Environment Department, said the minister, Tim Halman, “will consider the facts, science, and comments from the public and Mi’kmaq,” and render a call by May 4.
Scott Leslie, a naturalist and the writer of “Woodland Birds of North America”, urges the Progressive Conservative authorities to take Kearney severely.
“He is one of the pioneers of using the latest bio-acoustical listening technology in Nova Scotia …. This is a powerful tool for assessing small migratory birds, and one of the most cost effective ways for people to establish whether or not a particular place is important for small migrants,” he wrote in an electronic mail.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed April 19, 2023.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
