The Prosecutor's Office opens a new avenue to criminally prosecute the death of birds on power lines

Collisions and electrocutions with power lines are among the main causes of death of birds in Spain.

As the country's electrification progresses, linked to the necessary push for renewable energy to fight global warming, this problem is of increasing concern to environmental organizations.

Also, to the prosecutors specialized in the environment, who for years have been trying to find a formula so that these cases go beyond the imposition of administrative sanctions and escalate to criminal proceedings.

The latest reform of the Penal Code, from March of last year, can open an important door by expanding the cases of abuse beyond domestic animals.

This reform allows criminal prosecution of attacks and deaths of any wild vertebrate, as would be the case of birds that die on power lines.

“It gives us an important margin,” interprets Antonio Vercher, head of the environmental area of ​​the State Attorney General's Office.

Vercher has sent a letter to the network of environmental prosecutors in Spain, which EL PAÍS has accessed, in which he refers to a new article introduced in the Penal Code in which prison sentences of between six and 18 months are set for those who mistreat and end the life of any non-domestic vertebrate animal.

In addition, “the penalty of special disqualification of two to four years for the exercise of a profession, trade or trade that is related to animals and for the possession of animals” is also provided for.

“The problem of electrocution and collision of birds on power lines is global, and in Spain it is behind 48% of unnatural deaths of birds,” says David de la Bodega, head of the legal program of the ornithology NGO. SEO/BirdLife.

The data comes from a study carried out last year by this organization in which they analyzed 272,655 records of admissions to community wildlife recovery centers.

They found that the problem affects 305 different types of species.

“And that is not all that happens, because many of the specimens killed in this way are not detected,” adds the expert.

To stop this bleeding, the owners of these infrastructures must insulate electrical conduits and poles, in addition to marking the cables so that they are visible to birds.

In this way, these collisions would be avoided, which cause the birds to end up on the ground, injured, even with some part of their body severed.

“It may be that they are also electrocuted at that moment or that they are still alive, but die from their injuries or from being at the mercy of predators,” says De la Bodega.

When the specimens land on a cable, nothing happens to them, but if they come into contact with the ground (through the pole) or touch two cables at the same time, they become a conductor and "a short circuit is generated that burns them." describes this expert.

In the letter sent to his colleagues, Vercher recalls that in the last annual meetings held by the network of environmental prosecutors, it was warned that “the mortality caused by the interaction of birds with overhead power lines with bare high-quality cables "tension, whether due to electrocution or collision, represents a serious threat to the conservation of protected bird species and, therefore, to biodiversity."

In the 2017 meeting, for example, it was already pointed out that “to confront this threat”, in addition to using “the administrative regulations for environmental protection”, criminal proceedings could be explored.

But that path has been fruitless so far.

Vercher explains that “the only conviction handed down in this regard until now has been” one from November 2021 from the Criminal Court 3 of Madrid.

“The sentence in question condemns, accordingly, an individual, in his capacity as administrator of a preserve, and a company, the preserve itself, which was the owner of an electrical line whose structural deficiencies determined the death by electrocution of an important number of birds colliding with it,” explains the letter from the environmental coordinating prosecutor.

And the condemnation occurs because “structural changes” had not been undertaken to prevent this mortality of birds.

A black stork electrocuted.

Europa Press

This ruling of conformity has been the exception.

“It is almost impossible to convict,” Vercher admits.

Until now, the route most used in the complaints of the public ministry had been that of article 326 bis of the Penal Code, which refers to the exploitation of dangerous facilities that have an environmental impact, or the articles that deal with protected species and spaces. protected.

Now, the key is the new 340 bis, which refers only to the mistreatment and death of wild animals in general without going into many details.

“We would be in a position to direct the investigation to determine the veracity of the abuse, or eventually to the reality of the death, as usually happens,” Vercher points out in his writing about that 340 bis.

“In this way, the task of demonstrating what is appropriate or correct in relation to the technical issues that have ended up having a negative impact on the health or integrity of the animal would end up being left in the hands of the defense,” he adds.

This would mean that prosecutors would no longer have to assume “the burden of proof,” as was the case with article 326 bis, “limiting their work, in principle, to refuting what was raised by the defense,” interprets Vercher.

This same route of the new article 340 bis is the one that Vercher also recommended, through another letter sent in November, for another problem that affects birds: collisions of birds with the glass walls of the paddle tennis courts.

New royal decree

SEO/BirdLife is concerned about the possibility that this type of judicial process could drag on, “thus perpetuating uncorrected power lines that continue to be a significant cause of mortality in birds.”

For this reason, it asks the Government to approve a new royal decree on the correction of power lines - it considers that the current one, which dates back to 2008, is obsolete.

Silvia Lora, from the WWF species department, regrets that with the current regulations, the electricity companies do not assume the cost of wiring corrections and the obligation to insulate the facilities does not extend to the entire territory, but to the areas that communities are marked as black spots.

Something that is impossible to determine.

When a bird victim of electrocution is located, it is brought to the attention of Seprona or the forestry agents, so that the owners can be notified and preventive measures can be adopted.

“They coordinate it in the autonomous communities in accordance with the Environmental Prosecutor's Office,” says De la Bodega.

If companies do not act on the lines, negligence is incurred.

From that moment, the administrative or criminal route is opened.

SEO/BirdLife is involved in two criminal legal proceedings opened in Catalonia against Endesa, where very high mortality was recorded for years without measures being adopted to prevent it.

In the Osona region (Barcelona) 255 cases of electrocution with electrical towers were documented, among them there were 173 white storks, 12 griffon vultures, 7 short-toed eagles, as well as 2 kestrels and 3 eagle owls, among others.

“Following a complaint from the Environmental Prosecutor's Office, it was found to be very serious and the process was opened for the intentional death of fauna and the responsibility of the companies,” says De La Bodega.

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