Tag Archives: infrasound wind turbines

Don’t look for ‘justice’ in wind turbine debate

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This commentary, written by a journalism prof, is an excellent summary of the issues around the wind power scandal in Ontario … and a question as to why the Ontario media in the main, doesn’t “get it.”

Check out the original here, and feel free to comment at The Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/04/09/dont_look_for_justice_in_ontarios_debate_on_wind_turbines.html

Don’t look for justice in Ontario’s ‘debate’ on wind turbines

It’s wealthy corporate behemoths supported by the government against vulnerable people with limited financial resources.
Don’t look for justice in Ontario’s ‘debate’ on wind turbines

David Cooper / TORONTO STAR

Anti-wind-turbine groups converged on the convention centre in downtown Toronto last week to protest wind farms, a story largely ignored by the mainstream media. (April 3, 2013)

By: Anne McNeilly Published on Tue Apr 09 2013

When there’s social injustice, you don’t expect large corporations, the provincial government and a union like the CAW to be climbing into bed together to ignore the problem. But slap a motherhood label on the issue, such as the so-called “Green Energy” Act, and all of a sudden it’s OK to ignore the very real hardships, both health and financial, happening to people in non-Liberal ridings.

What’s more surprising about the wind-turbine debacle, though, is the relatively low media profile that Ontario residents who are being negatively affected by the monster machines are receiving. News outlets and publications usually lap up stories of social injustice. The problems associated with lead paint, urea-formaldehyde foam insulation, asbestos and cigarettes are all famous for the media attention they received that led to change.

But it was difficult even to find news stories last week about the wind turbine protest at the energy conference in downtown Toronto. People from across the province pooled their resources to hire buses to come to the city to try to draw attention to their plight. If there was a broadcast or a print story, I didn’t hear or see it.

And despite public outrage and protests, the Canadian Auto Workers’ union last week started operating a monster wind turbine, built with government subsidies, in its Port Elgin convention centre parking lot that violates the 550-metre Ontario setback regulations. Residents, particularly children, are already experiencing the sleepless nights, anxiety and migraines being experienced by others around the province. Who cares? Certainly not CAW president Ken Lewenza, who has secured a seat on the province’s wind gravy train. When I recently suggested to a colleague who works on a documentary radio show in Toronto that the problems with turbines were worth a story, she responded: “I think they (wind turbines) are beautiful.” And that was that.

On one “side” of the wind-turbine debate are wealthy corporate behemoths supported by a government that removed the democratic rights of its citizens, without debate, to launch a misguided and ill-advised initiative that’s going to cost taxpayers’ into the billions. On the other “side,” you have vulnerable Ontario residents with limited financial resources who have had their democratic rights trampled and monster industrial monsters rammed down their throats.

Many are sick, although they are having trouble getting urban residents and to believe it, and many now own property where the value has been cut by as much as half. To ignore a situation where one “side” holds all the financial and political power while the other side struggles to make their voices heard, but not from lack of shouting and protesting, is a grave injustice.

So why are those who have found themselves living next to these industrial “farm” factories not getting more attention? Is it because of the greater good? If only that were true. Anyone who has done even five minutes of research knows that turbines are never going to solve the province’s or the world’s energy problems, despite the propaganda being spun by the wind companies and the province with its “Green Energy” Act, a brilliant piece of propaganda.

The fact is, is that the energy produced by turbines can’t be stored and they produce a fraction, (an estimated 20 per cent or less) of what they are capable of at times of the year when their energy is most needed, winter and summer. The auditor general outlined last year how the province “leapt before it looked” into this billion-dollar boondoggle that’s already costing taxpayers plenty.

A roundup of peer-reviewed health research, which is difficult to link to due to academic pay walls, from a variety of medical and science researchers can be found in the August 2011, 31(4) issue of the Bulletin of Science, Technology and SocietyAugust 2011, 31(4) issue of the Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, and is easily available at any public or university library. In addition, the medical officer of health in Grey Bruce, Dr. Hazel Lynn, submitted a report to the Ministry Health in February that found that there is, indeed, a link between health and wind turbines. Hard data on how property values have been cut by as much as half can be found in a report done by Lansink property and appraisals here: http://mlwindaction.org/2012/10/04/new-ontario-wind-turbine-property-value-analysis-ben-lansink-aaci-p-app-mrcs)http://mlwindaction.org/2012/10/04/new-ontario-wind-turbine-property-value-analysis-ben-lansink-aaci-p-app-mrcs)

Curiously, or maybe not, is that when energy issues arise in Liberal ridings — a planned natural gas plant, for example, in Oakville, or offshore Toronto turbines that would have obstructed “the view” of Scarborough Liberals — the projects are quickly quashed. So far, Premier Kathleen Wynne, nicknamed McWynnty by those in turbine-infested locales, has had little to say beyond acknowledging, sort of, that there’s maybe a problem and that municipalities should be more involved in the siting process for wind turbines. Well, yes.

Let’s be clear. People forced to live beside wind turbines are emphatically not anti “green” energy — what they are opposed to are industrial machines that are ruining their lives, while the government, and the media, turn a blind eye to the problem.

Anne McNeilly is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at Ryerson University who likes to vacation in Bruce County, at a place that is more than 550 metres from the nearest turbine.

 

Ottawa NOT a ‘willing host’ event Saturday April 6th

05 Friday Apr 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Print

NORTH GOWER-RICHMOND-BRINSTON NOT A “WILLING HOST” to giant wind power generation project.

News conference and peaceable demonstration Saturday April 6th, Ottawa City Hall, 2 PM, corner Elgin and Lisgar Streets, Human Rights monument

Speakers: Lisa MacLeod MPP, energy economist Bob Lyman, Wind Concerns Ontario president Jane Wilson

Organized by: Ottawa Wind Concerns, Wind Concerns Ontario, South Branch Wind Opposition Group

Medical Officer of Health: NO studies showed NO association

22 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We are reminded today of the “health” study–really just a review paper–sponsored by the wind power corporate lobby group CanWEA, which concluded that not only was there any proof of any association between industrial wind turbine noise (the word infrasound was not uttered in those days) and health impacts, in fact, the research team said, there is so little evidence of anything that we recommend no more money be spent on research. At all.

Appalling in the world of scientific research, to make a statement like that.

Now today, Grey Bruce Medical Officer of Health Hazel Lynn and colleague Dr Ian Arra, released the results of their own review and said, there are NO studies in the world that prove there is NO association at all between turbine noise and health impacts. In other words, the studies that CanWEA loves to trot out saying they are proof of no problems at all, are not valid.

At present, Dr Lynn and Arra said, the associations are weak, but not absent, and more research is needed they concluded.

Meanwhile, the wind power lobby group and corporations go around telling people that anyone complaining about wind turbine noise and health effects needs some kind of therapy, or an injection in their wallet–if either one of these things happens, their health problems will go away.

In the Ontario Farmer recently, farm owner Harvey Wrightman of Adelaide-Metcalfe, quoted Dr Michael Nissenbaum (whose study of turbine noise at Mars Hill indicated health effects as far away as three MILES): “If someone came into a doctor’s office and said they have chest pain and the physician said, ‘It’s all in your head,’ without investigating, that would be malpractice. It’s the same thing if patients are complaining of sleep disturbances and other ill effects, and off the top of your head you claim they’re making it up and it’s about the way the turbines look, especially when there’s a known, plausible mechanism for why people could be affected. There’s nothing magical about the effect that people are sleeping poorly due to the noise. There’s nothing difficult to understand or fantastical.”

“This whole issue has always been about ethics,” Wrightman continues, “and what the application of the practical limits are of harm, i.e., what you can reasonably accept in the way of harm of the rural population….Why are there increasing reports of vertigo and nausea with the latest projects?

“The first step to getting those answers is a moratorium on construction of projects. That would be a real show of understanding and respect for rural Ontario.”

We would add that there is more than ethics at play here, we would suggest that at this point, if the government has the slightest clue what it is doing could be wrong and could be harming people, there will be legal liability. The wind power companies, too. And the people who have leased their land for the turbines without thought for their neighbours and communities.

 

Contact us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Throne speech from the Wynne government: “willing hosts”

19 Tuesday Feb 2013

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

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

So, the Throne Speech was delivered today from the “new” government, headed by brand new Premier Kathleen Wynne.

We are not much heartened by its content.

The only part that had anything to do with wind power generation projects, which Wynne has acknowledged is a very sore point with Ontario’s rural and small urban communities, is this:

Your government intends to work with municipalities on other issues, too.
Because communities must be involved and connected to one another.
They must have a voice in their future and a say in their integrated, regional development.
So that local populations are involved from the beginning if there is going to be a gas plant or a casino or a wind plant or a quarry in their hometown.
Because our economy can benefit from these things, but only if we have willing hosts.

We’re not sure what being “involved from the beginning” of a process to establish a wind power plant might look like, but when they put having a “voice” in the context of “integrated, regional development” that might just mean the small communities that are part of larger municipalities–like Ottawa, like West Lincoln–can “voice” their concerns all they want but the people in the larger community, who will never have to live next to a 626-foot, 2.5 Megawatt power generator, will drown those voices out. How will the government determine what is a “willing host”?

And what has happened to the “voice” already? Before the Green Energy Act was passed, dozens of communities complained about the loss of local land use planning powers, and they have continued to do so. Communities like North Perth, Picton and others have actually held their own referenda on wind power projects —didn’t amount to a hill of beans with the McGuinty government. McGuinty’s so-called point system, which was crafted to make it look like there was community involvement, meant that communities could go up on the list of power plants to be approved, but they could never get off.

Small urban and rural communities need to see more than this. Right now, people are being made ill by the environmental noise and vibration, homes are being left vacant, community social fabric being ripped apart…and the promise today is a “voice.”

We want more.

Let’s start with a HALT to all approvals until Ontario has done a proper cost-benefit analysis of wind power projects (that INCLUDES the effects on property values to neighbouring properties within 2-3 km) and the economics of wind power generation; and a HALT to the Feed In tariff subsidy program; and REPEAL of the Green Energy Act. Let’s get serious about measuring the noise from existing wind power projects. Let’s help the people who are sick now, and whose homes are worth nothing. And let’s wait until the health studies are actually done before we keep putting more of these things up.

 

Pro-wind group claims they are on the “right” side of history

15 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Friends of Wind, a wind biz lobby group funded organization, has been lauded by CanWEA’s VP of Communications Chris Forrest as being on the “right” side of history, in the fight against the “devastating” effects of the use of fossil fuels for power.

Applauding the volunteer efforts of its members, Forrest claims that while others languish, these solid citizens are spending volunteer hours working hard to get their message out. http://friendsofwind.ca/here-on-the-right-side-of-history/

So are we, Mr Forrest, so are we.

There are legions of people in Ontario–doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, safety experts, acousticians, and others from all spheres–who are working tirelessly to protect the health and safety of people in this province, to say nothing of Ontario’s natural environment and word-renowned beautiful landscapes.

We believe that sources of power ought to be safe for everyone, not benefit just a few. We believe that the Ontario government’s green energy program ought to have been based on a proper cost-benefit analysis–it wasn’t (the Auditor-General says so). We believe the setbacks based on noise modelling ought to have been based on science–they weren’t. And as a result, hundreds of people across Ontario are now ill from exposure to the environmental noise and vibration produced by these huge power plants.

What does the wind industry say about the people reporting ill health effects? It’s all in their heads, they could benefit from therapy, if they got a bit of money their objections would go away … etc etc. This is just like the tobacco industry which maintained for years that not only were cigarettes not harmful, they were actually good for you.

We know who was on the “right” side of history there.

The “right” side now, is the side that stands up for health, the environment, and change that truly benefits the economy of Ontario … not a rush toward invasive, low-benefit, intermittent and unreliable wind power that benefits a few at the expense of many.

Cancel the Feed In Tariff program, repeal the Green Energy Act, hold the wind power plants compliant to noise regulations, and compensate those who have lost their health and property values…these are the right things to do.

Province knew about health effects in 2008

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

At this point, no one is surprised that the Government of Ontario knew there was a potential for health impacts from wind turbine noise … but went ahead with its Green Energy and Green Economy Act anyway, which stripped away municipalities’ rights to plan local land use where “renewable” energy projects are concerned, and ride roughshod over the rights of citizens.

Here is an article from this week’s Niagara This Week which puts it all together.

The link is: http://www.niagarathisweek.com/

Province knew about health effects from turbines

Released documents show ministry aware of concerns as far back as 2006

 

Province knew about health effects from turbines. Documents released through a Freedom of Information request reveal the government was aware of adverse health effects caused by industrial wind turbines as far back as 2006. Toronto Star file photo

Documents released through a Freedom of Information request from an Orangeville resident reveal the government was aware of adverse health effects caused by industrial wind turbines as far back as 2006.

While Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak says he is not shocked to learn the government kept this information from the public in relation to the 200-megaWatt Melancthon EcoPower Centre (located in Amaranth and Melancthon Township, near Shelburne, Ont.), he says he is disappointed.

“I wasn’t surprised. Concerns have been raised across Ontario and in other jurisdictions,” says Hudak, whose own riding of Niagara West-Glanbrook is poised for the installation of several industrial wind turbines.

“What it is, is disappointing. It appears as through they were trying to cover something up.”

In the released document, ministry officials report “complaints of adverse health effects by area residents are for the most part justified.

“MOE Provincial Officers have attended at several of the complainant’s [sic] residences and have confirmed that despite the noise emissions apparently complying with the applicable standard … that the noise emissions are in fact causing material discomfort to the residents in and around their homes,” reads the document, written by provincial officer Gary Tomlinson.

According to the ministry, to develop the guidelines for noise limits, ministry scientists and engineers consulted with local community members and noise experts including representatives from major acoustical consulting firms. At the time of the Melancthon project, there were no minimum setback distances, only a provincial noise guideline of 40 decibels, which was maintained in the Act.

The documents state that “at least two families have moved out of their homes due to noise impacts” and that the MOE was aware of “at least six cases where the wind developer bought out resident’s [sic] homes to address and silence their ongoing concerns.”

Tomlinson writes, “reasonable people do not leave their homes to sleep elsewhere for frivolous reasons.”

Melancthon is Canada’s largest wind energy installation to date. Construction on phase one began in 2005, and phase two was completed in 2007. The project has a capacity close to 200 megawatts — roughly 30 megawatts less than the largest project proposed for West Lincoln by Niagara Region Wind Corp.

The Melancthon EcoPower Centre, made up of 133 turbines, was approved before the province passed its controversial Green Energy Act. The Act established a minimum setback distance of 550 metres between residential dwellings and turbines, which is 100 metres more than the minimum setback distance used in the Melancthon project.

Projects approved prior to the passing of the GEA had to meet provincial noise guidelines but the setback distance was to be negotiated between the developer and municipality.

The Melancthon turbines, however, are much smaller than those proposed for parts of West Lincoln. NRWC is proposing to erect 77, three-megaWatt turbines designed by Japanese manufacturer Enercon, which is building facilities in Niagara to manufacture both the towers and electrical components. Fourty-four of those turbines will be built in West Lincoln, three in Wainfleet and 31 in nearby Haldimand County. The concrete towers of these turbines measure to a maximum of 145 metres to the hub, about the length of 13 school buses stacked bumper to bumper. The blades stretch close to 50 metres, roughly another five school buses across.

The turbines used in the Melancthon project are 1.5 megawatts and are manufactured by GE. They measure 80 metres in height, with blades nearly 40 metres long.

While some local residents claim Enercon suggests a greater setback distance for the model being used by NRWC, a company spokesperson said she was unaware of it.

“Enercon has to sign off on everything we put forward,” said Randi Rahamim. “They have signed off on the full design.”

Hudak’s colleague, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson, wants to know why the government moved ahead with the Green Energy Act when it was aware of health concerns.

“I’m absolutely disgusted,” said Thompson, who is the PC energy critic. “It’s sad, because, at the end of the day, it hurts that the Liberal government chose to play word games with people’s health. It comes back to my point of how and why did this Liberal government become so arrogant that they can blatantly play with people’s health just to further their own agenda.”

Thompson was further disappointed with the response from Ontario’s environment minister, St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley, to a letter she sent to him Jan. 9 in light of the FOI information.

“His response was that there is no direct impact,” said Thompson. “Of course, the odds of a blade falling off and hitting someone are rare. But too many people have come forward with concerns, and their complaints have gone nowhere.

“This further emphasizes the need for a moratorium, which I have tabled twice now,” said the MPP whose own riding not only includes the Bruce Power nuclear energy plant but is poised to see 1,700-1,800 wind turbines primarily along the shoreline of Lake Huron.

Thompson said her office is getting ready to table a motion when the house resumes Feb. 19.

“I will continue to put forward efforts to make this government accountable,” said Thompson. “I am not going to let go of these redacted documents… They point to a larger problem of this Liberal government: it doesn’t matter who is in charge, hiding things and driving its own agenda on the taxpayer’s back. It’s got to stop.”

Despite several attempts to reach Bradley, he did not provide comment on the recently revealed document. His press secretary did provide the following: “The ministry is aware of health concerns and has reviewed literature on the potential impacts of wind turbines, including the 2010 report from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health which found there is no scientific evidence of a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects.

“The ministry will continue to review emerging scientific and engineering studies to ensure Ontario’s requirements remain in line with the best available science.”

The FOI documents pertain to an abatement plan the ministry put in place in relation to the Melancthon project. The ministry worked with both the municipality and wind developer to address concerns which resulted in several turbines being shut off at night and sound barriers being built around a transformer.

Hudak says it appeared ministry staff were trying to be forthcoming in their reports but that the government withheld that information.

“We need a moratorium on these projects,” said Hudak. “It’s been a position that I took up shortly after I became leader in 2009 for a number of reasons.”

Hudak’s issues with the Green Energy Act range from “expensive studies which fail basic economic sense” to how it strips away the decision-making powers of local governments.

Hudak and his PC government have called for several moratoriums on wind projects. In April 2010, at Queen’s Park, Hudak brought forward a bill to halt industrial wind turbine development. In March 2011, he was joined by West Lincoln Mayor Doug Joyner and Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs at West Lincoln township hall to renew that call. This past June he was joined by his federal counterpart in the riding, MP Dean Allison, in demanding an immediate moratorium on industrial wind turbine development until a federal health study is complete.

Several other PC MPPs, including Thompson, have tabled similar motions.

The PC party will be introducing another motion when legislature resumes, both Hudak and Thompson confirmed.

“Lisa Thompson, in her capacity, brought forward motions in legislature for a moratorium. We will do that again, now that the house is back in after four months of inaction,” said Hudak, who has met with new Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.

“We discussed ideas for job creation and balancing the books. One recommendation I made was a moratorium on these types of projects,” Hudak said. “I’ve brought it to the premier, I hope she takes my advice.

“I’m not going to give up,” said Hudak. “I’m going to keep fighting for what I think is the right thing to do.”

…..

Note that in the North Gower-Richmond area (which is only the beginning if this project were to proceed, as one of the landowners has land from Richmond to Osgoode) more than 450 homes would be within the 2-km Turbine Zone.

Join our email list! ottawawindconcerns@yahoo.ca

MP demands halt to local wind project, says science lacking in decision

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre rose in the House of Commons yesterday to present a petition to the House on behalf of residents of North Gower and Richmond (communities within the City of Ottawa) where a 20-megawatt wind power project is proposed.

Poilievre’s petition demands a halt to the wind power generation project until the results of the Health Canada study on noise and infrasound has been completed, anticipated for the end of 2014. “Decisions must be science-based,” he told the House.

He noted that Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq announced the revised study design February 10th.

Ottawa Wind Concerns is grateful for the MP’s support on this issue, and for bringing forward a solid foundation for the community’s concerns about this project, which will expose the people living in 450 homes to noise and vibration. In 2010, Rogers TV host Mark Sutcliffe asked then-company representative Bart Geleynse Jr whether the turbines in North Gower-Richmond area project would make noise. “Of course they will,” said Geleynse, “they’re power plants!”

Indeed.

And they don’t belong so close to families.

The wind power development lobby group CanWEA this week put out a news release saying that a survey showed 80% of the residents of Denmark questioned about wind power said they were not bothered by the wind turbines. In fact, 17% of the respondents said they were disturbed, with about 4% saying they were disturbed to a “major extent” and 5% “moderately” disturbed. In other words, almost 10% had their lives disrupted and their health affected by wind turbines.

“North Gower and Richmond are quiet communities that don’t deserve to be turned into a wind power factory,” says Jane Wilson, chair of Ottawa Wind Concerns. “The community doesn’t want this, our MP and MPP supports us and so do many on Council. It’s a completely inappropriate land use.”

Last year, MP Poilievre asked the Library of Parliament to look at the cost to taxpayers of the North Gower-Richmond power project, and discovered the cost in subsidies to ratepayers would be $4.8 million per year (a conservative estimate, we’re told).

In fact, subsidies to the wind power developers run $500,000 per turbine per year. Worse, Ontario doesn’t need any more power, and the intermittent nature of power produced by wind turbines is having a destabilizing effect on the grid, say Ontario’s electrical engineers, in their 2011 report.

The video of Pierre Poilievre’s statement in the House is here: http://www.pierremp.ca/petition-calls-for-a-moratorium-on-local-wind-project/

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@yahoo.ca

 

A word about our photo

24 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Health, Ottawa, Wind power

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

The rather elegant photo of Ottawa in our header needs an explanation: if there were a wind turbine in it, of the scale being proposed for south Ottawa, it is so tall you wouldn’t be able to see the nacelle or hub of it …. that is exactly how big these machines are. And of course, what they look like isn’t the issue, it’s the noise and the vibration they produce.

But, we need people to understand the scale of these power generating machines. Now, imagine TEN of these machines in the background of our photo…or 20 or 40 or 60 or—as in the Enbridge project near Kincardine, 120, or as in what Samsung is doing in Haldimand-Norfolk and Chatham-Kent, FIVE HUNDRED turbines…and you get an idea of what we mean when we say wind power projects are industrializing the small communities of Ontario.

It is expropriation with compensation. It is sacrificing the quality of life in our communities, reducing property values and harming health…all for an ideology for which there is no evidence of benefits.

We repeat a comment from then sales rep for Prowind, headquartered in Germany, who is behind the project in Richmond-North Gower and South Dundas. When asked by Mark Sutcliffe whether the wind turbines make noise (Talk Ottawa, April 2010) he said, “Of course they do! They’re power plants!”

What we need is a safe reliable power source that does not sacrifice anyone’s health or quality of life.

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@yahoo.ca and please consider donating toward our legal and other costs. We accept PayPal or cheques at PO Box 3 North Gower On  K0A 2T0 Ottawa Wind Concerns is a corporate member of Wind Concerns Ontario http://www.windconcernsontario.ca

What kind of person…?

13 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in Health, Ottawa, Wind power

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

We’re not sure who “Andy Braid” of Kars is, nor do we get why Mr Braid seems to have letters published with regularity in The Manotick Messenger (3 weeks in a row, by our count) but at least our response to his recent letter about the wind power project was published, yesterday.

Here is the letter.

Mr Braid claims that MP Pierre Poilievre hasn’t got his facts straight in asking for a moratorium on the proposed wind power project for our community. It is Mr. Braid who is in error.

Ontario uses coal power for less than three percent of its electricity needs, and could shut them off altogether for seven months of the year when they are not needed for spikes in demand due to hot weather. The truth is, Ontario’s pollution comes from cars and trucks, and from industry south of the border.

Most worrying, however, is his objection to Health Canada spending time studying the noise problem. What kind of person does not want more information on a public health issue, and is in fact willing to sacrifice the health of his neighbours in North Gower, Richmond and Manotick?

Wind power has not been proven to reduce greenhouse gases anywhere in the world.

Jane Wilson

Ottawa Wind Concerns

Mr Braid’s comments, it might also be noted, come right out of the wind power developers’ lobby group playbook. They don’t want Health Canada to study the turbine noise and infrasound. If the study is done right–and many are commenting on the current proposed study design (it has flaws) to improve it–it will show that there are questions about setbacks and nighttime noise.

Ontario could end up with 2-km setbacks (minimum in the view of the World Health organization and the Society for Wind Vigilance) and perhaps also having the turbines turned off at night, as they are now doing in some areas of France. That means less profit in the form of taxpayer subsidy for the big companies.

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@yahoo.ca and donate to PO Box 3, North Gower ON   K0A 2T0

Landowner with turbine lease: “I wouldn’t sign now”

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Health, Ottawa, Wind power

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

One of the things we have heard from a number of communities is that landowners who signed options and then those options turned into leases for industrial-scale wind turbines, is that they wish they had learned more about the whole issue before they signed.

A lawyer told our community group, If landowners had had a lawyer read over some of those contracts, the advice would have been NOT to sign.

The reasons are several: you virtually give away all rights to your own land for 20 years and at the end of that time there is a first right of refusal. In the United States for example, the leases are written in such a way that they are really 60-year leases, not 20.

But what happens quickly is the community reaction when a landowner decides to put money first and sign on the dotted line. Neighbours of the leased property tend to object when they learn that their property values are going to plummet (this is true regardless of what the wind power industry claims), their community industrialized and, worst of all, they are at risk of being made ill by the environmental noise and infrasound.

Here is an account of one farm owner’s statements from the dairy-rich Listowel area of Ontario. Note that the farm-owner now believes he was misled by the wind power developer (Invenergy in this case).

A link to the full story follows.

Doug Hoshel, the Britton landowner who leased the three turbines in question, said his feelings towards wind turbines have certainly changed since he signed the contract with Invenergy last October.

“I would never sign one now, mainly because of what it’s done to the community,” Hoshel said. “There’s so many unanswered questions I wasn’t aware of when I signed.”

 The draft site plan also conflicts with Hoshel’s understanding of the project, which was described by Invenergy Canada as a low-density project with one turbine every 100 acres and no more than three turbines per rural block. The draft site plan now shows Hoshel with three turbines on his 100 acres farm, leaving him feeling like he was misled.

 “The last thing I want is for someone to get sick because of something that’s on my property,” Hoshel said. “I love this community, and I’m concerned about it.”

http://www.southwesternontario.ca/uncategorized/welfare-of-children-at-risk-due-to-wind-turbines-parents-say/

****PLEASE be sure to sign the petition put forward by Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre, asking the Ontario government not to approve the North Gower-Richmond area of Ottawa wind power project, while the Health Canada study is ongoing. A copy of it is on this website under documents, or you can go to Mr Poilievre’s office at 250B Greenbank Rd and sign there.