Article updated: 5/14/2013 5:00 PM

Wind farms get pass on eagle deaths

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A wind turbine farm owned by PacifiCorp stands near Glenrock, Wyo., Monday, May 6, 2013. Wind farms owned by the company, with clusters of turbines as tall as 30-story buildings and spinning rotors the size of jetliners, have killed at least 20 eagles in the state, according to data obtained by The Associated Press.

Associated Press

A golden eagle is seen flying over a wind turbine on Duke energy's top of the world wind farm in Converse County Wyo. The company has reported 10 golden eagle deaths since it started operation in 2009. It's the not-so-green secret of the nation's wind-energy boom: Spinning turbines are killing thousands of federally protected birds, including eagles, each year.

Associated Press

Solomon, a 14-year-old golden eagle, perches on a branch at the Sulphur Creek Nature Center on Thursday, May 9, 2013, in Hayward, Calif. According to keepers, a wind turbine near the Altamont Pass severed a portion of Solomon's left wing in 2000 leaving him unable to fly or survive in the wild.

Associated Press

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Wind farms in this corner of Wyoming have killed more than four dozen golden eagles since 2009, one of the deadliest places in the country of its kind. But so far, the companies operating industrial-sized turbines here and elsewhere that are killing eagles and other protected birds have yet to be fined or prosecuted - even though every death is a criminal violation.