Tortoises force partial delay of solar project

IVANPAH • A much higher number of tortoises discovered at the site of a massive solar project near the California/Nevada border has caused the Bureau of Land Management to order a temporary halt to some of the construction there.

Brightsource, currently building a 370-megawatt solar project in the Ivanpah area of the Mojave Desert, has been ordered to cease construction on two of the three facilities that will make up the plant.

According to BLM spokesperson Erin Curtis, far more desert tortoises have been found at the site of the project than was predicted based on previous studies.

Because of the tortoise’s status as a threatened species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sets certain limits on interactions with the tortoises during the construction of a project. A limit had been placed for the handling of 38 tortoises for the life of the project. That limit has already been met, Curtis said.

As a result, BLM ordered Brightsource to suspend construction of two of the solar facilities until the Fish and Wildlife Service can complete a new survey and present new guidelines for the affected areas.

Curtis wasn’t certain exactly why the tortoise numbers were much higher than expected, but said the original studies upon which the estimates were based took place during drought years, and there may have been reduced tortoise activity during that time.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has 135 days to prepare a new opinion and set new guidelines. Curtis said the Service was trying to get the guidelines done by May, because there is a seasonal window through which desert tortoises are permitted to be moved to new locations.

Curtis said it was too soon to determine whether the new findings could endanger the affected parts of the solar project.

The first of the three solar facilities under construction at Ivanpah is not affected by the ruling. When completed, the entire system is expected to provide power for about 140,000 homes.

Representatives from Brightsource did not return calls for comment Tuesday.