Agricultural News
Energy Company Partners with Wildlife Conservation Department to Minimize Impact to Lesser Prairie Chicken
Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:09:01 CDT
Plains and Eastern Clean Line Oklahoma LLC (Clean Line) and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) signed a memorandum of understanding to create a collaborative working relationship for lesser prairie-chicken conservation. The lesser prairie-chicken was identified as a species of greatest conservation need in the Oklahoma State Wildlife Action Plan and is a candidate species for listing as a federal threatened or endangered species. Under this agreement, Clean Line and ODWC will work together to minimize any adverse effects to the species from the planned Plains & Eastern Clean Line transmission project.
The ODWC has a spatial planning tool that allows industry to avoid, minimize, and offset habitat impacts in selecting sites for wind farm and transmission line development. Under this MOU, Plains and Eastern Clean Line will cooperate with the ODWC to protect, enhance, and/or restore lesser prairie-chicken habitat in northwest Oklahoma and the Panhandle in an attempt to offset any unavoidable adverse effects. This agreement solidifies a common goal between both agency and industry to promote lesser prairie-chicken conservation and sustainable energy development in Oklahoma. Clean Line is participating in ODWC's Oklahoma Lesser Prairie-Chicken Conservation Action Plan, as well, in an effort to demonstrate to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that all reasonably practicable actions are being implemented to ensure the viability of this species.
"Clean Line is pleased to establish this important relationship with ODWC to develop a workable set of voluntary best practices that will minimize adverse effects to the lesser prairie-chicken and its habitat in Oklahoma," said Michael Skelly, President of Clean Line Energy. "We strive to set an example as a steward of the environment and are committed to the responsible development of our transmission projects.
"The Plains & Eastern Clean Line transmission project will connect thousands of megawatts of clean energy generation in western Oklahoma, southwest Kansas, and the Texas Panhandle to utilities and customers in Tennessee, Arkansas, and other markets in the Mid-South and Southeast. The project will include an approximately 800-mile overhead high voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) transmission line currently under development. Plains & Eastern Clean Line Oklahoma LLC is an Oklahoma transmission-only public utility. Clean Line plans to invest approximately $2 billion for this transmission line that will enable approximately $7 billion of investment in 3,500 MW of new clean power generation.
"This agreement with Clean Line is another example of how we are actively coordinating conservation efforts with industry," said Richard Hatcher, director of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. "These types of agreements are essential to both the long-term viability of the lesser prairie-chicken and continued development of wind energy in areas with prairie-chickens."
"These types of voluntary agreements continue to demonstrate that industry is willing to make substantial investments in our state, while also continuing to improve the state's environment," said Oklahoma Secretary of Environment, Gary Sherrer. "I am very pleased to see that Clean Line Energy and the ODWC are teaming up to raise the bar of siting major infrastructure in an upmost environmentally sensitive manner."
Community outreach and the engineering and design of the Plains & Eastern Clean Line have made significant progress since its inception in 2009. The project team has met with over 1,200 individuals in the project area and held roundtable meetings with local officials and community leaders in more than 30 counties across Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee to gather feedback about the study area and responsibly site the project. Clean Line also hosted more than 30 state and federal agencies in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee at workshops where participants provided insight on their approval processes and engaged in discussions on sensitive areas to avoid, as well as other environmental issues. In addition to the agreement with ODWC, Clean Line has entered into agreements with The Nature Conservancy of Arkansas and The Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma to share information and knowledge to minimize the environmental impacts of the project.
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