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The company I work for is installing and managing one of these large solar farms in Nevada and from what I’ve seen everyone takes the protection of the tortoise
by doctoboggan 3y ago
The company I work for is installing and managing one of these large solar farms in Nevada and from what I’ve seen everyone takes the protection of the tortoises very seriously. I did a site visit a few months ago and had to watch hours of training videos on the tortoises and what to do when they are encountered. There are environmental monitors on site at all times and they even go around hiding fake tortoises to test the staff’s reaction. The panels were also installed in a less dense configuration to as to affect the environment less. They were also installed with variable length feet so the ground would not have to be leveled.
I am sure the tortoises would be better off if humans never came around but I have to say they are being treated pretty well in this case.
- chasd00 3y ago> ..had to watch hours of training videos on the tortoises and what to do when they are encountered. There are environmental monitors on site at all times and they even go around hiding fake tortoises to test the staff’s reaction. i'm all for protecting the ecosystem but that's surreal. What's the "tortoise" budget?
- doctoboggan 3y agoThe environmental monitors are not actually employees by us. I think they are affiliated with a local university and are managed through the BLM, though I am sure their salaries are ultimately paid by my company through some fees or permits. I believe there are 2 or 3 of them compared to easily 100+ construction/engineering staff. Honestly in the grand scheme of things I am sure the tortoise budget is a very small fraction of the overall budget but I am just a data engineer and don't have insight into that.