Aerial Photos Show Wind Project's Toll on the Desert
Pattern Energy has begun clearing beautiful desert near Anza-Borrego State Park for the nearly 16 square mile Ocotillo Express Wind project. Once completed, the facility will consist of 112 wind turbines, each one standing over 400 feet tall, and requiring wide new roads carved into the fragile desert soil. Photographer Phillip Colla gives us a birds-eye view of the beginning phase of the destruction with a series of images available at his website . The photos were made possible by aviation support provided by LightHawk . A photograph of preparations for a single wind turbine pad. Notice the new dirt road, and clearing around the pad, with a deep pit that will be filled with tons of cement and steel to anchor the turbine. Photo by Phillip Colla . Aviation support provided by LightHawk. Wide new roads are carved into the desert soil to accommodate construction traffic and the arrival of turbine parts larger than an average home. The disturbance of the soil for roads wil