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Editor’s note: This story includes graphic images of the remains of an animal that some readers may find disturbing.
EXCLUSIVE: The University of Minnesota is facing a proposed penalty of over $14,000 after it was discovered that a green energy initiative funded by a grant from the Obama administration was responsible for the gruesome death of an American bald eagle.
The incident occurred at the University of Minnesota’s Eolos Wind Energy Research Field Station in Dakota County, Minnesota.
Photos obtained by Fox News Digital show the moment a University of Minnesota wind turbine struck the bald eagle, dismembering it into three pieces and leaving a bloodied carcass on the floor below.
A violation notice says the university violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act by killing the eagles without what is called an “incidental take permit.” As such, the university is facing a proposed civil penalty of $14,536 for illegally killing what one Department of the Interior official called a “national treasure.”
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According to a Department of the Interior violation notice reviewed by Fox News Digital, the university was aware that bird collisions were a danger and was in the process of testing its collision detection sensors when the incident occurred.
The eagle’s remains were discovered in pieces. The lower torso and tail were found by technicians first, while the head and wings were not found until over a month later.
Following the incident, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent the university a letter, urging the institution to reassess the turbine’s danger to eagles and to consider applying for a long-term permit for incidental take of eagles. However, the January notice of violation issued by the DOI does not indicate that the university has since obtained any such permit.
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The Minnesota turbine is a part of the university’s Eolos Wind Energy Research Consortium, a wind-energy research collaboration. The construction of the turbine was funded by a $7.9 million grant from the Obama Department of Energy awarded in 2010, according to local outlet the Minnesota Daily.
One of former President Barack Obama’s first major legislative achievements was the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which according to a report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, appropriated an “unprecedented $90 billion to ‘lay the foundation for a clean energy economy of the future,’ of which the U.S. Department of Energy received $35.2 billion.”
The Minnesota incident is not the only such killing to have occurred in recent years.
In November, Fox News Digital reported on FWS proposing hefty fines on renewable energy company Ørsted Onshore North America for two bald eagle kills by wind turbines in Nebraska and Illinois. In January, FWS issued notice of finalized fines of a total of $32,340 for the two eagles killed by Ørsted turbines.
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U.S. Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum has previously criticized solar and wind projects, saying they are “destabilizing our grid and driving up prices.”
“When you think about the green new scam, it was pro-China, and it’s anti-American, and it’s also unaffordable and unreliable,” Burgum said on Jesse Watters Primetime in June.
Matthew Middleton, a spokesperson for DOI, commented on the killings, telling Fox News Digital that under President Donald Trump and Secretary Doug Burgum, the department “is enforcing the law to protect these iconic birds and demand accountability from an industry that has jeopardized these protected species.”
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“America’s bald eagles are a national treasure, not collateral damage for costly wind experiments,” said Middleton, adding, “Wind companies will no longer get a free pass as this administration safeguards bald eagles and advances energy policies that prioritize affordability and strengthen America’s economy.”
A spokesperson for the University of Minnesota confirmed to Fox News Digital that the university had received DOI’s notice and said it is “currently under review.”
Ørsted did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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