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Tag Archives: environmental damage wind farms

Amherst Island: the environmental treachery of Ontario’s wind power push

14 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Amherst Island, endangered species, environmental damage wind farms, Great Lakes, migratory birds, wind farms, wind power, Wynne government

The Wynne government has approved and upheld the approval of an invasive, destructive wind power project on tiny Amherst Island, in the path of migratory birds and home to endangered species. To say nothing of the impact on the 400 people who live there…

ToughonNature-smaller

The Times, August 12, 2016

From Amherst Island, you can see the Lennox gas-fired generating station sitting idle most days. The plant sits just across the narrow channel. It burns both oil and gas to produce steam that, in turn, drives generators to create electricity. The plant has the capacity to generate 2,100 MW of electricity—enough to power more than a million homes. But that electricity is rarely ever used. Over the last decade, the Lennox station has operated at less than three per cent of its capacity. That means it is idle much more often than it runs. Yet it earns more than $7 million each month—whether it runs or doesn’t. Such is Ontario’s hyperpoliticized energy regime.

Last Thursday was a warm day across Ontario— one of the warmest in a hot summer. With air conditioners humming, electricity demand across the province peaked at 22,312 MW. Meanwhile, Lennox sat idle all day. As it does most days.

So it seems odd that yet another gas-fired generating plant is emerging from the ground next to the mostly-idle Lennox station. It will add another 900 MW of generating capacity to a grid that clearly doesn’t need any more.

From Amherst Island, it must seem cruel. Within a couple of kilometres, there is enough unused power generating capacity to light millions of homes, yet island residents are being forced to give up their pastoral landscape— for the sake of an intermittent electricity source that nobody needs.

Last week, an Environmental Review Tribunal rejected an appeal by Amherst Island residents seeking to stop Windlectric, a wind energy developer, from covering their island home from end to end with industrial wind turbines, each one soaring 55 storeys into the sky.

Amherst Island is tiny. Just 20 kilometres long and 7 kilometres wide, there is no place, no horizon, no home that can avoid being transformed by this out-ofscale industrialization.

The treachery gets worse. Amherst Island is administered by a council that presides over the larger Loyalist Township from the mainland. Last year, council made a deal with the wind developer, agreeing to recieve a $500,000 payment each year the wind turbines spin. It is a lot of money for a municipality that operates on a $12-million budget annually.

But perhaps the most disappointing bit of this story is the damage that has been done to friendships and families on Amherst Island. Just 450 people live here. It swells to about 600 in the summer. It was a close community in the way island life tends to be.

Industrial wind energy has, however, ripped this community in two. Property owners hoping to share in the windfall from the development are on one side and those who must endure the blight on the landscape for a generation or more on the other.

Lifelong friends no longer speak to each other. At St. Paul’s Presbyterian service on Sunday mornings, the wind energy benefactors sit on one side of the church, the opponents on the other. A hard, angry line silently divides this community.

The Environmental Review Tribunal concluded not enough evidence was presented in the hearings to say the project will cause serious and irreversible harm to endangered species including the bobolink, Blanding’s turtle and little brown bat.

The decision underlines the terrible and oppressive cruelty of the Green Energy Act—that the only appeal allowed for opponents is whether the project will cause serious harm to human health or serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life or the natural environment. It is a profoundly unjust restriction on the right of people to challenge the policies and decisions of their government as they directly impact their lives.

The folks on Amherst Island weren’t permitted, for example, to argue that the power is unneeded— that this project is a grotesquely wasteful use of provincial tax dollars. Their neighbourhood already boasts enough electricity capacity to power a small country, yet it sits idle—at a cost of millions of dollars each month. It might have been a useful addition to the debate—but this evidence wasn’t permitted.

Nor were island residents allowed to appeal the fundamental alteration of their landscape. Nor the loss of property value. They can’t undo the broken friendships and the hollow feeling that hangs over the church suppers or the lonely trips across the channel.

Wide swathes of reason and logic have been excluded in the consideration of renewable energy projects in Ontario.

To the extent that urban folks are even aware of what green energy policies are doing to places like Amherst Island, they console themselves by believing it is the cost of a clean energy future—that diminishing the lives of some rural communities is an acceptable trade-off for the warm feeling of doing better by the planet.

Yet these folks need to explain to Amherst Island residents how decimating their landscape, risking the survival of endangered species and filling the pockets of a developer with taxpayer dollars for an expensive power supply that nobody needs makes Ontario greener.

Visit Amherst Island. Soon.

Remember it as it is today. Mourn for its tomorrow.

 

rick@wellingtontimes.ca

Read the full story at The Times website here.

Seismic effects of wind turbines affecting wells “across Ontario” says groundwater association

16 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Carol Anne Meehan, Chatham-Kent, environmental damage wind farms, groundwater safety, MInistry of the Environment and Climate Change, MOECC, Nation Township, Ontario, Ottawa news 1310, Water Wells First, Wynne government

July 16, 2016

Here is a podcast from News 1310 Carol Anne Meehan show with an interview she did with Water Wells First Kevin Jakubec of Dover Township on the effect wind turbines have had on the groundwater and local wells for homes and farms.

His group is reacting to three years of disturbed wells, due to nearby wind turbines. The wind power developer has offered bottled water to residents … not much help for farm owners with livestock.

Water Wells First has demanded the resignation of the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Glen Murray.

http://www.1310news.com/audio/the-carol-anne-meehan-show/

Our question: what will be the effect of the vibrations from the construction and operation of wind turbines in Nation Township which everyone knows is sitting on Leda Clay?

Landowners need to consider this before signing any option or lease.

Wind farm will harm endangered wildlife, Ontario Tribunal finds

27 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Blandings trutle, endangered species Ontario, environmental damage wind farms, legal action wind farms, prince Edward County, South Shore Prince Edward County, White Pines wind power, wind farm, wind power, wind turbines

Wind farm will cause serious irreversible harm to wildlife, Tribunal finds

South Shore of Prince Edward County: [Photo Court Noxon, courtesy Point To Point Foundation]South Shore of Prince Edward County: [Photo Court Noxon, courtesy Point To Point Foundation]
The decision on the appeal of the White Pines wind power project in Prince Edward County was released yesterday: the Environmental Review Tribunal found for the appellant and the environment (in part), in that serious and irreversible harm would result to the endangered Blandings turtle and the little brown bat. The Tribunal also noted risk to migratory birds.This is a victory for a very hard-fought battle as members of this community fought to save the environment from Ontario’s own Ministry of the Environment.

See the decision in various formats here.

Statement from Orville Walsh, president of the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County:

We are pleased to announce that APPEC’s appeal of wpd’s White Pines Wind Project has been upheld in part.  The Tribunal has found that the White Pines project will cause serious and irreversible harm to Little Brown Bats and to the Blanding’s turtle.
The Tribunal did not find serious and irreversible harm to human health, to hydrology or to migratory birds. However in regards to the latter the Tribunal did note that this wind project presents a significant risk of serious harm to migrating birds and that the project site was poorly chosen from a migratory bird perspective.
We are cautiously elated!  The Tribunal acknowledges that engaging in this wind project in accordance with the REA (Renewable Energy Approval) will cause serious and irreversible harm to animal life.  Therefore wpd no longer has an REA to stand behind.
The ERT has ordered a hearing of submissions with respect to potential remedies.
The board will be studying the decision over the weekend and following consultation with our legal counsel Eric Gillespie, will have more information to give you next week.
Orville Walsh
President, APPEC
Please go to the Save the South Shore website for information on how to donate toward the legal costs of this fight for the environment. The work done by the community groups in Prince Edward County, Eric K. Gillespie’s legal team, and the witness statements benefit everyone in Ontario.
ToughonNature

EDITOR’S NOTE: Eric Gillespie is also legal counsel for Ottawa Wind Concerns.

Counties and Town join forces to find wind farm danger

27 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Collingwood, environmental damage wind farms, legal fights wind farms, wind farm, wind farm aviation safety, WPD Canada

Simcoe and Clearview Counties have announced they are joining forces with the Town of Collingwood to fight a proposed (and approved) wind “farm” that will be near the Collingwood airport.

Collingwood already had a consulting firm examine the economic impacts of the wind power project, which concluded the power development would “serve a narrow range of private interests,” not the public. Now, the counties and Town are concerned about the danger to pilots and passengers from the proximity of the turbines to the local airport.

See a CTV News report http://barrie.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=816331

Wind turbines have serious health, economic effects: eminent physician and lawyer speak out

09 Tuesday Feb 2016

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blanding's Turtle, Dr Robert McMurtry, endangered species Ontario, environmental damage wind farms, health effects wind turbines, migratory birds Ontario, Save The South Shore, wind energy, wind farm, wind farm noise, wind power, Wynne government

Community group Save The South Shore in Prince Edward County, which is battling two wind power projects that threaten the natural environment including the endangered Blandings turtle and migratory birds, and will affect every resident in the area, has released two more videos in its series The County Speaks Out.

In the recent videos are Dr Robert McMurtry, former Dean of Medicine at Western University, a former assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Health Canada, and a member of the Order of Canada; and Garth Manning QC (retired).

Wolfe Island “most dangerous” wind farm in North America for birds, experts testify at appeal hearing

02 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

birds Ontario, endangered species Ontario, environmental damage wind farms, green energy, Ontario wildlife, wind farm, wind power, Wolfe Island, WPD Canada

South Shore Prince Edward County: how did a power plant get approved for this? [Photo Point 2 Point Foundation]

South Shore Prince Edward County: how did a power plant get approved for this? [Photo Point 2 Point Foundation]

This is a report from the appellant in the ongoing appeal of the 29-turbine White Pines project approved for Prince Edward County. Yesterday saw several avian experts testify, giving amazing testimony as to what damage could be done by turbines inside an Important Bird Area for migratory species.

Note the testimony about Wolfe Island (the turbines there are now relatively small compared to what is being built and planned) and how many birds are being killed; compare to the wind power developer’s consultant opinion. Not even close.

Report on Environmental Review Tribunal Hearing on White Pines Wind Project‏‎

December 1

by

Paula Peel, APPEC

 
On Day 15 three experts testified at the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) that the White Pines wind project will cause serious and irreversible harm to birds and bats.  All had concerns with the project location on a migratory path on Lake Ontario’s shoreline.
Dr. Michael Hutchins, Director of the American Bird Conservancy’s Bird Smart Wind Energy Campaign, was qualified as a biologist with specialization in animal behaviour and with expertise in the impact of wind energy projects on birds and bats.  Hutchins told the ERT that one function of the Bird Smart Campaign is to educate decision-makers so turbines are properly sited.   White Pines is in a high-risk location.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends three-mile setbacks from the Great Lakes.

​
​

Hutchins cited a recent U.S. study showing significant displacement of breeding grassland birds in mid-western states after turbine construction.  White Pines will displace protected Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, and Eastern Whip-poor-will, and the impact could easily result in local extirpation.

​
​

Bill Evans has researched the impact of wind projects on birds and bats for 20 years.   Evans was qualified as an expert in avian acoustic monitoring and nocturnal bird migration.  He said that a number of species in Ontario, including the Purple Martin, have been in long-term decline, but Stantec did no surveys of Purple Martins during late summer when large numbers gather to roost.  Evans noted that Purple Martin collision fatalities are increasing at Ontario wind facilities and made up 6.09% of all bird fatalities in 2014, higher than in 2012.

​
​

Dr. Shawn Smallwood was qualified as an ecologist with expertise in avian wildlife behaviour and conservation.   In addition to 70 peer-reviewed publications Smallwood has done research at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (WRA), a California wind project notorious for its high raptor mortality.

Smallwood told the ERT that impact monitoring at Wolfe Island indicates the highest avian fatality rates in North America other than at Altamont Pass WRA.   Based on methods commonly used across the rest of North America, Smallwood estimates that Wolfe Island kills 21.9 birds per turbine per year.  This is nearly twice the number reported by Stantec using searches only within a 50-foot radius, less than half of standard practice.  Smallwood considers Wolfe Island one of the most dangerous wind projects on the American continent.
Smallwood predicts similar or higher fatality rates at the White Pines project because the peninsula is targeted by migrating birds as a stopover site and because the project is surrounded by wetlands and woodlands intensively used by birds.  Moreover, many threatened and endangered species occur at the site.  Stantec surveys for White Pines foster a high level of uncertainty because 19 hours of field work is so minimal that it’s impossible to know much about the large project area, and no surveys were done for migratory bats.

​
​

Smallwood recommends that serious and irreversible harm be assessed from a biological perspective, not from population analyses.   Fatalities cause harm not only to the individuals killed but also to mates, dependent young, and social connections.  Serious and irreversible harm should not be based only on body counts.

The ERT resumes Thursday, December 3, 10 a.m., at the Prince Edward Community Centre, 375 Main St., Picton.

Photos show wind farm devastation of Algoma

30 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Algoma Region, Bow Lake, Bow Lake wind farm, environmental damage wind farms, Lake Superior, Ontario, Ontario scenery, Ontario wildnerness, wind farm, wind mills, wind turbines

Wind Concerns Ontario, July 30, 2015

Toronto photographer documents wind farm destruction in Ontario’s North

Wind is green, wind is good: photo shows blasting for access roads and turbine foundations in Algoma Highlands Photo: Gord Benner
Wind is green, wind is good: photo shows blasting for access roads and turbine foundations in Algoma Highlands Photo: Gord Benner

Toronto area resident and photographer Gord Benner took a circle tour of Lake Superior this summer and was astonished to see the damage being done by wind “farm” construction in Ontario’s formerly pristine North, especially the iconic Algoma region which was so often the subject of paintings done by the Group of Seven. The Algoma region attracts visitors from around the world.

Today, Benner says, they will see roads and transmission lines, and turbines to generate power where before there was Nature.

Benner writes:

“We started the Lake Superior Circle Tour at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and proceeded clockwise through Wisconsin and Minnesota. Didn’t see any wind turbines until after we entered Ontario. The IWTs [industrial wind turbines] installed near Dorion were not visible from the highway, but sure enough, there they were along the most scenic section of the Trans Canada Highway 17, from Lake Superior Provincial Park south to Sault Ste. Marie. Cottages and camps that we visited at Bow, Negick and Trim Lakes were surrounded by these huge machines.

“Sadly, nature, tourism and Group of Seven landscapes are taking a real beating.”

With woodlands cut away, and hilltops blasted flat, the damage caused by wind “farm” construction will be irreversible.

windconcerns@gmail.com

Huge turbines dwarf the landscape; here, a truck travels over a new road built for the power project in Algoma
Huge turbines dwarf the landscape; here, a truck travels over a new road built for the power project in Algoma

 

Conservation area within North Stormont wind farm

13 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

at-risk species, bird deaths wind farms, bird species, birds Ontario, Conservation Area, Crysler, EDP Renewables, endangered species Ontario, environmental damage wind farms, North Stormont, South Nation, Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry, wind farm, wind turbines

The Bobolink is an at-risk species in Ontario

The Bobolink is an at-risk species in Ontario

More than 100 bird species will be at risk from wind turbines

 

When multi-national wind power developer EDP Renewables revealed the project map at its Open House in Crysler last week, many attending were surprised to note that the project area covers and includes the Reveler Conservation Area.

The conservation area shelters more than 100 species of birds and offers a place for them to rest on their migrations twice a year. The spot is popular with bird enthusiasts and others who enjoy Nature.

Wind turbines are known for killing birds and bats, both of which are necessary parts of the eco-system. The wind “farm” at Wolfe Island is responsible for “shockingly high” numbers of bird deaths, said a report in the Globe and Mail.

The wetlands and woodlands of the South Nation watershed attract many species of wildlife.

EDP plans to erect 30-50 wind turbines in Stormont Dundas and Glengarry.

Wind developers typically claim that cats kill more birds than wind turbines, but the fact is that wind turbines are responsible for the death of many raptor species such as hawks and eagles, who are unlikely to be preyed upon by cats.

Ontario citizens expect environment to be protected

25 Tuesday Feb 2014

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Blanding's Turtle, Bobolink, endangered species Ontario, environmental damage wind farms, James Bradley Environment, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, wind power and environment

Ontario citizens want wildlife protected from wind power plants

Monday, Feb 24, 2014

TORONTO, Feb. 20, 2014 /CNW/ – Ontario citizens expect government to protect wildlife, according to a recent poll. Results of an online public poll hosted by Wind Concerns Ontario showed that 97.38 percent of the more than 1,300 people responding said they did not support the killing of birds and animals for wind power development.

“We think Ontario citizens are unaware of the government’s policy on wildlife, even endangered species, and wind power,” said Jane Wilson, president, Wind Concerns Ontario. “They don’t know that wind power developers are allowed to show that the ‘overall benefit’ of their projects trumps the need to protect birds and animals.”

At the Ostrander Point wind power project to be built on Crown land, the developer proposed to build a “compensation area” for endangered Blanding’s turtles, Wilson said. “We’re not sure how the turtles were going to get the message about that,” Wilson said. “The real message is, this government supports wind power developers, no matter what the cost.”

SOURCE Wind Concerns Ontario

windconcerns@gmail.com

NOTE: the South Branch wind power plant, which is about to begin operations soon just south of Ottawa, received a permit to kill, harm or harass the protected Bobolink.

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