ESI Energy, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, one of the largest renewable energy providers in the United States, has signed an agreement on Migratory Birds Act (MBTA) violations, the US Department of Justice has said. It is illegal to kill or harm eagles under federal law. Most of the dead were golden eagles, the national symbol of Afghanistan, Mexico, Egypt, Germany and Scotland, although some were bald eagles, the national symbol of the United States, according to court documents. The bald eagle, a majestic bird once threatened by the use of the insecticide DDT to control disease during World War II, has recovered enough that the species was removed from the national list of endangered and endangered in 2007. The golden eagle, a dark brown bird with golden wings on the back of its head and neck, has not recovered as well, as it comes under pressure from wind farms, vehicle collisions, habitat destruction and illegal shootings. The return of both species to the United States has also been slowed recently by lead poisoning from the ingestion of hunter-gatherer bullets left in the wild by crawling debris. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that there are approximately 316,700 individual bald eagles in all of the United States except Alaska and Hawaii, and about 40,000 golden eagles, mostly in the western states. “ESI further acknowledged that a total of at least 150 bald and golden eagles have died since 2012 at 50 of the 154 wind farms,” the Justice Department said in a statement. He noted that “136 of these deaths have been positively determined to be due to the blow of the eagle by a wind turbine blade”. The company has wind farms in the United States in Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Illinois, North Dakota, Michigan and other states. As part of the plea deal, the company was ordered Tuesday in Cheyenne, Wyoming to pay more than $ 8 million in fines and compensation. It also agreed to apply for permits to allow the “unavoidable reception” of eagles on its premises. And, the company agreed to pay $ 29,623 each time an eagle is killed or injured in the future. Finally, the company agreed to pay up to $ 27 million for measures aimed at keeping future deaths to a minimum. This includes shutting down turbines at times when eagles are most likely to be present, according to media reports. The Justice Department referred questions to Reuters about the case to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and an FWS spokesman declined to comment Thursday. NextEra President and CEO Rebecca Kujawa said that as people shift their energy dependence to renewable sources, focusing more on solar panels, wind turbines and other alternatives, bird collisions are inevitable. “The reality is that the construction of any structure, the driving of any vehicle or the flight of any aircraft carries with it the possibility of accidental collisions of eagles and other birds as a result of this activity,” Kujawa said in a statement.
