Wind energy company pleads guilty to eagle deaths 

WASHINGTON » The government for the first time has enforced environmental laws protecting birds against wind energy facilities, winning a $1 million settlement Friday from a power company that pleaded guilty to killing 14 eagles and 149 other birds at two Wyoming wind farms.

The Obama administration has championed pollution-free wind power and used the same law against oil companies and power companies for drowning and electrocuting birds. The case against Duke Energy Corp. and its renewable energy arm was the first prosecuted under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act against a wind energy company.

“Duke Energy Renewables acknowledges … it constructed these wind projects in a manner it knew beforehand would likely result in avian deaths,” the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said Friday.

ON THE MOVE

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced the following new hires:

» Ron Pineda III as a Realtor-associate at the firm’s Leeward office. He has more than 20 years of real estate experience, including serving as a Realtor-associate with Shirokiya Residental Estates.

» Donna M. Tomita as a Realtor-associate at the firm’s Leeward office. She has more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry, including serving as a Realtor-associate with Mark DeCastro Realty and Associates.

Kiewit Building Group has hired the following engineers:

» David Bushnell, a civil engineer, was previously a project engineer with dck Pacific Construction in Honolulu.

» Matthew Lui, an engineer in the estimating department, was previously an intern with the company in 2010 and 2011.