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Tag Archives: APPEC

Endangered turtles win wind farm appeal in Prince Edward County

27 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

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Tags

APPEC, community opposition wind farm, endangered species Ontario, environmental damage wind farm, prince Edward County, Wind Concerns Ontario, wind energy, wind farm, wind farm legal action, wind power, wind turbines

ENDANGERED TURTLES WIN PROTECTION FROM WIND FARM IN ONTARIO, CANADA

The Environmental Review Tribunal determined the Blandings Turtle was endangered by the wind farm

Landmark legal decision overturns government approval of large power project

WELLINGTON, ONTARIO, CANADA, April 27, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ —
A years-long legal battle over a wind power project by Germany-based wpd in Ontario, Canada, resulted in a ruling by the provincial government’s Environmental Review Tribunal yesterday, in favour of protecting an endangered species of turtle.

In the Tribunal ruling, government approval for 18 of 29 industrial-scale wind turbines in the “White Pines” project was reversed. With 60 percent of the project removed, it may be impossible for the power developer to meet its contractual obligation.

The citizens of Prince Edward County, about two hours east of Toronto, where the project was to be located, fought the wind turbines for almost 10 years, and spent almost $2 million CAD in legal fees.

“The County” as it is called, on the shores of Lake Ontario, is a stopping place for hundreds of thousands of birds migrating in eastern North America, and was identified as an Important Bird Area by conservation groups. The area is also a habitat for the endangered Blandings turtle, and home to the Little Brown Bat which is on the verge of extirpation.

“This [decision] is clearly a victory for the survival of the Blanding’s turtle and many other animal and plant species,” said Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County president Gordon Gibbins. “Although the Tribunal decision was specifically concerned with protecting the turtles and their habitat, we are very pleased that indirectly as a result of this decision there will be no turbines in the Prince Edward County Important Bird and Biodiversity Area.”

“The Tribunal decision has made it clear that this wind power project was never about protecting the environment,” said Jane Wilson, president of Wind Concerns Ontario, the coalition of community groups concerned about wind power projects.

“The wind power project was always about money. The citizens of Prince Edward County fought hard to protect the environment and wildlife against our own Ministry of the Environment.”

Citizen evidence was crucial in bringing forward evidence of harm to the environment in the various appeals of the power project, Wilson says. “The government did little or no oversight on how wildlife is to be protected, and it was the people of Prince Edward County who brought the information to the Tribunal. As a result, in Ontario now, wind power does not automatically override environmental concerns.”

Economic impacts were also a concern for the community. The County is a tourist destination with dozens of wineries and cheese establishments; winery owners were concerned about the negative impact of the huge power-generating turbines on the County with its quaint villages and pastoral views as a tourist attraction.

Prince Edward County Mayor Robert Quaiff said, “Our community has been fighting this project for quite some time. I’m glad to see that the Environmental Review Tribunal has recognized and given credence to our concerns.”

For more information, visit Wind Concerns Ontario at www.windconcernsontario.ca
905-362-9334

Jane Wilson
Wind Concerns Ontario
905-362-9334
email us here

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Wind power developer uses threat to influence environmental agency

15 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Alliance to protect Prince Edward County, APPEC, Blanding's Turtle, Environmental Review Tribunal, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, prince Edward County, wind farm, wind fram environmental damage, wind power, wind turbines

Power developer announcement it is about to clear land which is habitat for an endangered species is an attempt to force the Environmental Review Tribunal to issue a decision on the Prince Edward County wind power project, and proposed “remedies” for species at risk

The Environmental Review Tribunal determined the Blandings Turtle was endangered by the wind farm; the company is proceeding with construction in the absence of a final decision

April 15, 2017

Minutes before 4 PM on the Thursday of the Easter weekend, Germany-based wind power developer WPD issued notice to the Environmental Review Tribunal that the company intends to start clearing land in advance of building the White Pines power project.

Land clearing is to begin on Wednesday, the corporate power developer said, which meant there is only one day after the Easter weekend to file any documents against the action.

The White Pines project has been contested in an appeal before the Tribunal; the original decision found that the power project would cause harm to endangered species of turtles and bats. A hearing was held in late January to hear possible “remedy” actions to prevent loss of life, but a decision accepting or rejecting the remedies has not yet been rendered.

WPD is in danger of being in breach of its contract with the Ontario government if it does not begin supplying power by the critical Commercial Operation Date.

The Blandings Turtle, one of the endangered species at risk from the wind power project construction, has already been seen in the County by residents, so has emerged from hibernation.

The rush to construction shows how willing the wind power developer is to risk environmental damage, a spokesperson for the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County told news media Quinte News.

At an earlier phase of the White Pines project WPD began unauthorized land clearing but was halted by an order from the Environmental Review Tribunal. WPD is also the power developer behind the contentious Fairview Wind project near Collingwood. It threatened to sue the Ontario government if a contract was not issued for the power project.

Previous attempt by WPD to clear land for unauthorized construction of the Prince Edward County wind power project

 

 

Heritage home tour/wine tasting fund-raiser

26 Monday May 2014

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

APPEC, legal actions wind farms, Loyalist heritage homes, Ostrander Point, prince Edward County, wind power generation project, winderies Prince Edward County

Heritage House & Winery Tour

This is a fund-raiser with the accent on “fun”!

A tour of Loyalist heritage homes and a tour of three Country wineries…all to help in raising money for legal costs to protect Ostrander POint in Prince Edward County from a wind power generation project.

Visit the website for the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County for details

 

Environmental Review Tribunal wraps up: evidence shows harm to human health ‘probable’

24 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

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Tags

Alliance to protect Prince Edward County, APPEC, Environmental Review Tribunal, Eric Gillespie, Gilead Power, Green Energy Act, health effects wind farms, health effects wind turbine noise, indirect health effects wind turbines, infrasound wind turbines, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Ostrander Point, prince Edward County

Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County
P.O. Box 173
Milford, Ontario K0K 2P0

APPEC Appeal Shows Probability of Harm to Human health

Milford, ON  June 24, 2013.   The Environmental Review Tribunal hearings on the Ostrander Point wind project concluded in Toronto on June 21.   The Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC) has presented evidence that indicates the probability of harm to human health from wind turbines.

Summations by counsel for APPEC, Gilead Power, and the Ministry of Environment (MOE) focused on three important issues:  the relevance of the Erickson appeal (2011), the medical evidence presented, and the standard of proof required.

APPEC lawyer Eric Gillespie argued that reliance on the Erickson decision avoids an onerous and unmanageable process of re-litigation on matters already addressed by 25 expert witnesses. The present ERT has to consider the principal findings in Erickson because they relate to a wind project, like Ostrander Point, approved to operate with 40 dBA noise limits and 550-m setbacks.

Mr. Gillespie urged the ERT panel to accept the testimony of 11 witnesses who reported adverse health effects from living near currently-operating wind projects.  All of them have suffered a range of symptoms known to result from exposure to audible noise and low-frequency sound. Expert opinion has related these to the proximity of wind turbines as far as 2 km away.

Gilead’s and the MOE’s own witnesses, said Mr. Gillespie, have testified that there are always “some people,” or a “non-trivial percentage of the population,” affected by wind turbines. APPEC’s case has shown the probability, not just biological plausibility, of serious harm to human health.  There is enough evidence on the “balance of probabilities” for the ERT to make a decision.

 

“People are obviously suffering despite the MOE’s regulations,” said APPEC President Gord Gibbins. “There will be more victims if Ostrander Point and other wind projects go ahead.”

The ERT panel also questioned the location of the wind project on Crown land.  The public will have access to the site via 5.4 km of maintenance road and would be exposed to the risks of ice throw, blade breakage, nacelle fire, and tower collapse. 

“These concerns are another sign,” said Gord Gibbins, “that public health and safety appear to be secondary to wind power development.”

The ERT’s decision is due by July 10.

-30-

For more information, please contact:

Henri Garand, Chair, Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County, 613-476-4527, hgarand@xplornet.ca

Secret deals, no public process: wind power in Ontario

27 Monday May 2013

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

APPEC, CCSAGE, Dalton McGuinty, Gilead Power, Green Energy Act, honsety wind power developers, Northhumberland, Ostrander Point, prince Edward County, Quinte, Watershed, wind power developers marketing ploys, wpd

Here from the Spring edition of the beautiful Watershed magazine is a summary of how wind power development has been rolled out in Ontario under the McGuinty government and the Green Energy and Green Economy Act.

Outrageous loss of rights and freedoms.

Read the article here:

http://watershedmagazine.com/?p=2258

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com and please donate to help us with legal costs at PO Box 3 North Gower ON  K0A 2T0

The Ostrander Point power project appeal: winnable!

28 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

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Tags

Algonquin Power, Alliance to protect Prince Edward County, APPEC, Carlyn Moulton, CCSAGE, cost benefit wind power, County Coalition for Safe and Appropriate Green Energy, Environmental Review Tribunal Ontario, Gilead Power, health effects wind farms, health effects wind power, health effects wind turbine noise, infrasound wind turbines, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Ostrander Point, Paul Catling, PECFN, prince Edward County, Prince Edward County Field Naturalists, Regent Theatre Oicton, touism and wind power projects, tourism UK and wind power, White Pines wind power

As you know, two community groups have appeal the Ministry of the Environment’s approval of a wind power project on the South Shore of Prince Edward County at Ostrander Point. The Prince Edward County Field Naturalists (PECFN) and the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC) have both filed appeals, PECFN’s on the basis that the project will cause serious and irreversible harm to the natural environment, and APPEC on the basis of harm to human health. Wind Concerns Ontario was granted status as a participant and presented evidence on the potential harm to bats, and the resulting economic effects if this expensive and unnecessary power development were to be built. County Coalition for Safe Affordable Green Energy (CCSAGE)  is also assisting with fund-raising and other activities.

The Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) is continuing in the County and a great deal of evidence on the environment has already been presented.

Last week, the community groups hosted a fund-raiser Town Hall, which featured excellent speakers. Local humourist Steve Campbell was the MC for the event, a packed hall at the venerable Regent Theatre in Picton, said he regularly reads of strife for city dwellers in the form of crime, and gang wars, etc. “Here in the County,” he said, “we only have two enemies: the provincial government, and the federal government.”

For more details on the event, please read the story here (and note the new mascot Angry Bird!):  http://www.freewco.blogspot.ca/2013/04/ccsages-town-hall-event-on-wind-turbine.html

One of the most stunning pieces of information presented that evening was from business owner Carlyn Moulton who noted that the arts and services sectors bring in $400 million in revenue annually to the County while the proposed wind power development will bring–get this–$1-2 million in tax revenue. “Huh?” she said. “How does that make any sense?” Tourism to the County will be drastically affected by the Ostrander Point project, and another proposed wind power project the “White Pines.” A study done recently in the U.K., Moulton said, showed that 75% of the visitors to an area where wind turbines had been installed said they would “never come back.”

Among the handouts that evening (we were there) was a flyer on why the Ostrander Point ERT is “winnable.” The environmental testimony has been damning—botanist Paul Catling said the damage to the rare alvar environment will be irreversible and he scoffed at developer Gilead Power’s claim to be able to re-create the environment elsewhere—but this ERT is the first opportunity for a Tribunal to hear actual testimony from people already living with wind turbines and the environmental noise and infrasound they produce.

“APPEC’s appeal is the first in which Ontario wind victims will present evidence demonstrating that wind turbines cause serious harm.This proof meets the test required in order to WIN  and ERT appeal,” APPEC wrote in the flyer. “By invalidating 550-m setbacks the appeal will set a precedent that applies to every proposed industrial wind project. The Ministry of the Environment would have to determine a new standard to protect the health of Ontarians, and it could not continue to rubber-stamp projects in Ontario.”

Worth supporting, wouldn’t you say?

Go to www.appec.ca to donate or send a cheque to

APPEC Legal Fund

PO Box 173

Milford ON   K0K 2P0

If the government actually approves this wind power project in a “globally significant” important bird area, and where the destruction of a rare environment is assured, there is no hope of using the government’s process for any project.

FIGHT IT.

Ottawa Wind Concerns

p-o-bird-gb-pt-pec(A grey-blue gnat-catcher, photographed by a Prince Edward County resident)

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