A proposed wind turbine project near the Lake Ontario shoreline is drawing criticism from bird conservation groups.
The Lighthouse Wind Project would put up to 70 or so wind turbines in parts of Orleans and Niagara Counties, near the lake shore, and that has brought concerns from an organization called the American Bird Conservancy.
The group rates that project as one of the 10 worst sited wind farms in the U.S., because it says it has the potential of severely impacting raptors and songbirds.
The president of the Audubon Society of the Genesee Valley, June Summers, notes that some birds that migrate long distances are already in peril, and she says these turbines would create the potential of serious injuries or death to those birds since there is a migration corridor near the lake.
“Migration is a very perilous journey and they lose a lot of them on migration, so a number of these populations of birds are declining.”
Apex Clean Energy, the company proposing the project, says that they are conducting numerous environmental studies to ensure the project is as safe as possible for all types of wildlife including birds. Apex says the actual location for the wind farm has not been completed yet and they are also reaching out to various stakeholders. Apex's Director of Wildlife & Environmental Permitting, Dave Phillips, says the company agrees that the south shore of Lake Ontario is an important migration area, and that's why detailed studies will be done to "ensure low levels of impacts to wildlife."
If the project does get the go-ahead, the company says construction would not begin before 2018 at the earliest.
