Siemens 2.3 megawatt wind turbines, like this one pictured, are proposed to be installed in the Walker Ridge area bordering Lake and Colusa counties as part of one of the options for a 70 megawatt renewable energy project planned by AltaGas Income Trust of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Siemens press photo.

LAKE COUNTY – In the midst of the push for increased use of renewable energy sources, a Canadian company is proposing to build a wind farm along Walker Ridge in Lake and Colusa counties.

AltaGas Income Trust, based in Calgary, Alberta, submitted a proposal to the Bureau of Land Management on Jan. 22 for the farm, which be located within a 8,157-acre area leased by the BLM to the company, according to Rich Burns of the Ukiah BLM field office.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to receive a report on the project at 11 a.m. during its Tuesday meeting.

AltaGas applied for an area that covers all of Walker Ridge, from Bartlett Springs to the north, to Highway 20 in the south, with the western side stretching halfway down to the Indian Valley Reservoir and Bear Valley bordering the eastern side, Burns said. The project area follows the county line between Lake and Colusa.

Burns said a notice of intent on the project is expected to be published in the Federal Register within the next few weeks.

That will kick off the public process for developing an environmental impact statement, which will evaluate the wind farm's plan of development, Burns explained.

Burns said the plan of development hasn't yet been perfected, but will be available to the public once the Federal Register notice is published.

Watching the plan as it unfolds are groups including Tuleyome and the Sierra Club.

Tuleyome, a group formed in 2002 that seeks to protect the Putah-Cache bioregion, has voiced its concern to BLM officials over the project proposal.

Bob Schneider, Tuleyome's senior policy director, said the group is a strong supporter of renewable energy, but he told Lake County News that “renewable energy should not go everywhere and in fact we should not be destroying important ecological parts of the planet to save the planet.”

Schneider said Tuleyome is asking the BLM to withdraw Walker Ridge from consideration of all soil disturbing projects at least until detailed studies have been completed.

Speaking on behalf of the local Sierra Club, Victoria Brandon said they've been following the project for years and have a number of concerns, but are waiting until the BLM puts out the plan of development before taking a formal position.

“Of course the Sierra Club favors renewable energy in the abstract, but each project has to be assessed individually to see how green power balances against ecological damage,” Brandon said.

An overview of the project

In response to a series of questions submitted by Lake County News, AltaGas officials said the project is expected to generate up to 70 megawatts of renewable energy, which they said would supply the electricity needs of up 25,000 homes. They're actively seeking a California utility to purchase the prospective output from the project.

AltaGas reported that it is considering two options – one for 29 turbines that produce 2.3 megawatts each, and one for 42 turbines producing 1.6 megawatts each.

Julia Spiess, spokesperson for the company, said the turbines would measure 129 meters – or 423 feet from the tower base to the tips of the blades, with the distance from the bottom of the blades to the ground measuring 31 meters, or 101 feet.

The area that will be used during construction will be limited to 500 of the 8,157 acres being leased by AltaGas, the company reported. Once constructed, the wind farm facility would use 80 acres of Walker Ridge, including currently developed areas, such as roads.

An overview of the plan of development noted that it would have an underground electrical collection system and an overhead transmission line, and would feature Siemens wind turbines.

The operations and maintenance building would occupy a three-acre site at the project's southern end near Highway 20, the company reported.

Plans call for using Walker Ridge and Bartlett Springs roads for access, with Bartlett Springs Road to be expanded to 40 feet in width.

With the current road into the area only about 26 feet wide, “It's a given they're going to have to do a lot of road construction to be able to do this project,” Burns said.

AltaGas, through its division AltaGas Renewable Energy Pacific Inc., has been working on the project since 2008, when AltaGas acquired the project through the purchase of Greenwing, the previous project owner, company officials reported.

AltaGas reported that, due to its ridgetop location, AltaGas and BLM have determined Walker Ridge to be “a promising wind resource.” Another benefit, the company said, is that the area is close to power transmission lines and well advanced in the transmission queue, and won't require a new transmission line.

More than five years of wind data has been gathered from the site, and three additional meteorological towers have been gathering data since early 2009, the company told Lake County News. AltaGas said there is good demand for renewable energy from utilities and the site is located entirely on BLM-administered land.

The company added that the proposed project will help the state of California meet its Renewable Portfolio Standard program goals.

Company officials couldn't offer estimates on the project's annual estimated revenue, but said several hundred jobs are expected to be created during construction, with skilled workers and businesses in neighboring counties getting the opportunity to offer services.

Once up and running, the wind farm would likely employ between two to four full-time staff plus require additional contractors on an ongoing basis for maintenance purposes, the company said.

If the project gets the go ahead, construction could begin in April 2012, with completion expected in December 2012, the company reported.

Burns said the plan has called for preconstruction work to begin in the summer of 2011. “That's overly optimistic, I think,” he said, adding that the environmental impact study will ultimately determine the project's timeline.

Starting in the 1990s several companies considered the area for wind generation, Burns said. Enron was involved at one point, as were GE Wind and then Greenwing, the predecessor to AltaGas.

When the BLM did its resource management plan – BLM documents show a final record of decision approving the plan was signed in September 2006 – part of the work was contracted out to the US Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which Burns said looked at areas that were believed to have good wind resource levels.

“Even though there wasn't a whole lot of information about it at the time, the Walker Ridge area was an area that looked like it had potential for wind energy development,” he said.

Burns said there are numerous potential impacts to consider, from soil to mercury to water quality, as well as how it will affect recreation and health and safety, since the area won't be closed to the public.

The turbines likely won't be located in the 14,500-acre area which was burned in 2008's Walker Fire, although a transmission line might, Burns said. He said the fire didn't do longterm damage to the area, where a lot of vegetation already is coming back.

He said BLM has met with several tribal and environmental groups and other interested parties about the project.

Meanwhile, he said AltaGas continues a number of studies, including botanical, cultural and biological.

One concern is for the raptor species in the area, including bald and golden eagles. Burns said US Fish and Wildlife has established guidelines for wind turbines and farms with respect to raptor species, and BLM will follow those guidelines.

Nests currently are being monitored, and turbines must be located at least two miles away, he said.

He added that it isn't yet certain how the project might impact the raptors.

“Fish and Wildlife is going to have a significant role when it comes to raptor species,” especially with respect to the eagles and the regulations protecting them, Burns said.

A map of the proposed project area along Walker Ridge on the board of Lake and Colusa counties, with wind turbine locations noted. This map is included in a plan of development produced by AltaGas Income Trust of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Supporting a 'conservative approach'

Schneider and Tuleyome have pointed out a number of reasons for not allowing the project to move beyond the proposal stage.

“It's a hard one because everyone likes renewable energy,” Schneider said.

He said the California Native Plant Society petitioned the BLM in 2005 to make the entire Walker Ridge region – a total of about 14,000 acres – an “area of critical environmental concern.”

He said the area has a high amount of serpentine soils and rock with a potentially high mercury content. Special, rare types of plants grow in those serpentine soils, Schneider said.

The project would require “substantial” soil disturbance, specifically for widening roads and for building the 52 feet by 10 feet deep foundations needed for the massive turbines, he said.

Schneider said that soil disturbance is a concern particularly because one half of all of the mercury that enters the Sacramento River system comes from the Cache Creek watershed.

“For us it's a public health issue,” he said.

He added, “We strongly support that the BLM is presently spending millions of dollars on toxic mercury clean up on Walker Ridge, but think it risky to the agency and the taxpayers to risk exacerbating this issue with this project that has a high risk potential with very marginal gain at best.”

Schneider said that Tuleyome believes that the BLM should take “a very conservative approach,” consult with the US Geological Survey on the project and complete the necessary studies before moving forward on any major soil disturbing proposals.

There also are concerns about ridgetop removal, soil stability and having enough time to do a thorough biological study, which Schneider said could take at least three years to complete.

Brandon, noting that the Sierra Club's Redwood Chapter is taking the lead on following the project, said their questions are similar to those of Tuleyome – including impacts on birds, rare plants and bats, as well as unstable geology, disturbance of serpentine soil and the possibility of increasing airborne mercury and asbestos in two watersheds, the north fork of Cache Creek and Bear Creek, that already are impaired.

“On the other hand the wind resource seems marginal, as evidenced by the number of companies that have considered similar projects in the location but decided 'no thanks' in the end,” she said.

Brandon suggested that without federal subsidies there's no way the wind farm project would pencil out.

If the money were invested in other ways – such as subsidizing insulation and weatherstripping – the reduction in fossil fuel consumption would be a lot more dramatic, she said.

Beyond those concerns, Schneider brought up others. He said in Altamont sparks are thrown off the wind turbine blades, causing wildfires. “That would really be a bad idea on Walker Ridge,” he said.

Schneider credited the BLM with being transparent and responsive. “I think they understand our concerns.”

However, once the federal National Environmental Policy Act process gets started there will no longer be transparency, said Schneider.

At that point AltaGas will hire a consultant, with a confidentiality agreement covering that relationship. He said Tuleyome wants a third party entity, such as the US Geological Survey, to provide the necessary information to help the government and public make good decisions.

“It's an ecological treasure up there and it's a potential public health issue,” said Schneider. “We need an open transparent process.”

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