Long before bats had a problem with wind turbines, raptors had a problem with wind turbines. The problem seemed particularly bad in Altamont, California, which was one of the nation’s first utility-scale wind power operations. The lessons learned there were supposed to prevent similar problems happening elsewhere.

It didn’t. Last week Duke Energy plead guilty to killing eagles and other birds at its Wyoming wind farm. The fine of $1 million was the very first levied against a wind power company, The Christian Science Monitor reports. The Monitor story also says that the case was the first prosecuted against a wind company under the Migratory Bird Act. It also says that the US Fish and Wildlife Service has 18 more cases in the works. Six of those have been referred to the Justice Department.

Read the entire story in The Christian Science Monitor.
Find more stories on the case, here.

Photo: Golden eagle by Donna Dewhurst, from USFWS