May 23, 2019
STRAUSS DSEIR TALKING POINTS
Talking Points
The applicant has designed the project solely to achieve maximum electrical output from the wind farm.  Reducing avian mortality by strategically locating the wind turbine generators has not even been considered.  This approach contradicts the State and Federal wind energy guidelines.
Most wind farms that have been designed in the last few years have been designed to reduce avian mortality.  Strauss should be designed that way too!
The County should devise a Bird-Friendly Alternative that would move some of the generators off of ridgetops and adjust the number and type of generators to meet the project’s energy production goals.  The County should hire an expert with experience in designing wind projects that protect birds and produce adequate power.
The project as proposed would destroy 607 mature oak trees.  I support the Modified Project Alternative that would substantially reduce the destruction of oaks.
The DSEIR claims that the proposed project is consistent with the Santa Barbara County Comprehensive Plan Conservation Element.  It is not.  The mitigations proposed in the DSEIR would not reduce the project impacts to the maximum extent feasible.  Constructing a Bird-Friendly Alternative, as previously mentioned, would.
The discussion in the DSEIR of the closure of San Miguelito Road to public travel beyond Sudden Road is vague, and fails to adequately describe potential impacts to public access and recreation.  This stretch of road is regularly used by birdwatchers, runners, bicyclists, and sightseers. The road’s quiet, isolated, rural character creates a significant recreational resource.  The DSEIR does not discuss the circumstances that might lead to this part of the road being closed to the public during the operational phase of the project. There is no discussion of the closure’s likelihood or of the adverse impact such a closure would have on public access and recreation.  The DSEIR should state definitively whether or not this section of San Miguelito Road will be closed.  If so, the impacts to Public Access and Recreation should be designated as “Class I”.
The County should do a more thorough investigation of the possibility of transporting the turbine blades by air (heavy-lift helicopter or blimp).  The analysis of this option in the DSEIR appears to have been rushed and is inadequate.  Transporting the blades by air would drastically reduce the damage to the environment adjacent to San Miguelito Road, including the destruction of 158 mature oak trees.  In 2017 Lockheed Martin announced that they had developed a heavy-lift “hybrid airship” which would have a payload capacity of more than 40,000 lbs.  This would be more than enough to transport the Strauss turbine blades and would reduce environmental impact significantly.