Spring Valley

Location: White Pine County, about 30 miles east of Ely, NV

Acres: 8,320

Elevation: 5,675 feet

Type of project: Wind; 63-75 wind turbines utilizing an existing 230 kV transmission line for distribution

Developer: Pattern Energy Group, San Francisco (formerly Spring Valley Wind, LLC)

Potential Output: 150 MW

Location Description: The Spring Valley fast-track wind project is northwest of Great Basin National Park, west of US Highway 50 and east of the Schell Creek Range. It is also adjacent to the Swamp Cedar Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), which was established in recognition of its biological and cultural resources.

Background

Wind turbines cause mortality for birds and bat species, and this area has numerous raptor nest sites and is an important area for migrating bats. Rose Cave is three miles east of the project site. This natural cave is used as a migratory stopover for an estimated 1 million or more Brazilian free-tailed bats. You can see videos, filmed in Texas, of free-tailed bats here.

There also are three active lek sites (sage grouse mating grounds) in the mapped area and, while little is known about the effects of wind energy development on sage grouse, it is likely to negatively affect their populations. You can see a video we shot in the spring of 2010 of a strutting male sage grouse here, on our Youtube channel.

The view of Spring Valley from Mt. Moriah.
Photo by Todd Kincaid

Is this smart from the start?

No. There are substantial questions as to whether this proposed wind energy development will significantly impact the natural and human environment, including impacts to wildlife, habitat, springs and visual resources. The BLM required an Environmental Assessment (EA) as opposed to an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (click here to learn more about EA and EIS). An EIS review would have more adequately answered these questions and most important, better informed the public about the proposed project’s environmental impacts.

The nearby Rose Cave is an important bat migration stopover, and bats are negatively affected by wind generation facilities. They die from impacts with rotors or as the result of barotraumas (severe internal trauma and death in bats caused by sudden changes in the barometric pressure created by the rotors.) Many raptors nest in and move through the valley and will suffer mortality from flying into wind turbines. We see no clear path to mitigation or off-sets for these impacts to wildlife. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Watershed Project, the Ely Shoshone Tribe, the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation have filed a lawsuit against the project.

Brazilian free-tailed bat. Photo by Ron Grove



Ferruginous Hawk. Photo by Bob Goodman	What others are saying: This is a Jan. 25, 2011 story about a lawsuit filed against the project, "Lawsuit claims BLM approval violated laws," in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Here is a Nov. 1, 2010 letter-to-the-editor by Greg Seymour, NWP's Renewable Energy Coordinator, about the many short-comings of the project, printed in The Business Press (published by Las Vegas Review-Journal) Feb. 9, 2010 article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "NV Energy agrees to deal with wind farm," by Jennifer Robison Feb. 3, 2010 article in The Ely Times, "NV Energy seeks OK for wind farm contract" Dec. 17, 2009 article in The Ely Times, “BLM releases draft EA for local wind farm” Nov. 4, 2009 article in The Ely Times, “After four years, Spring Valley Wind project nears EA review," by Rudy Herndon How to take action: This project is being handled by: BLM Ely District Office HC 33 Box 33500 Ely, NV 89301 Project Manager: Wells McGiffert, ph: 775-289-1800, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This is a link to the Ely’s office’s Spring Valley Wind Project website. The Spring Valley Wind Project Draft Environmental Assessment is available here. Paper copies are available at the BLM Ely District Office, 702 North Industrial Way, in Ely. Do you have additional information for us? Is so, send us an e-mail.