Tag Archives: North Gower wind farm

Wind power projects cause radar “dead zones”: report

13 Wednesday Nov 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Here from today’s Ottawa Citizen. (Note that no comments are being allowed these days for wind power stories. If there were, we would have added that wind power projects also limit access by air ambulance services to the communities forced to “host” them.)

Wind farms creating ‘dead zones’ for military radar, report warns

By DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN November 12, 2013
Wind farms creating ‘dead zones’ for military radar, report warns

Wind mills rise over Lake Erie on June 4, 2013 in Lackawanna, New York, near the U.S.-Canada border. Wind farms are sprouting up around the world, but aviation specialists are raising concerns that the giant turbines are creating blackout zones for air-traffic control radar.

Photograph by: John Moore , Getty Images

The construction of large wind farms could drive up the cost of air travel and cause delays in launching fighter aircraft on missions to protect Canada, Canadian Air Force officers are warning in a newly released report.

There are a number of proposals underway to build wind farms, including three near a military airbase in Bagotville, Que., five in Nova Scotia, two in Ontario and one in Saskatchewan, the report prepared in November 2012 for then-defence minister Peter MacKay pointed out.

Wind farms are sprouting up around the world, but aviation specialists are raising concerns that the giant turbines are creating blackout zones for air-traffic control radar. The spinning blades of the turbines are being detected by the radar, presenting false images or generating so much clutter on radar screens that controllers are losing track of airplanes as they fly near the wind farm sites.

The wind turbines can also interfere with weather radar, U.S. researchers have warned. The rotating blades can show up on radar as incoming weather, such as an area of precipitation.

“An entire farm will create areas where we cannot reliably observe or control military/civilian air traffic,” the briefing for MacKay, obtained through the Access to Information law, pointed out. “NORAD quick reaction aircraft would need to be rerouted or launch delayed if aircraft were known to be still flying through the dead zone.”

“Wind farms could be accepted if DND and NavCanada altered civilian and military air routes, airspace structure, and/or air traffic procedures, all of which will cause increases in fuel consumption, flight duration and cost of air travel,” it added.

Military officers say a proposed wind farm near North Gower isn’t an issue for the Royal Canadian Air Force. But a 175-turbine wind farm to be located in an area south of the Bagotville airport is a problem. The RCAF, which originally objected to the farm, is now trying to work with the developers to find ways around the issues.

RCAF spokesman Maj. Steve Neta said DND is supportive of the development of commercial wind farms and other sources of renewable energy that do not adversely impact military readiness or training.

“Commercial wind turbines in the vicinity of Canadian Forces bases and installations have the potential to pose a flight safety risk or otherwise impede flight operations and training,” he added in an email.

But Neta said the RCAF is confident it can deal with any effects on operations created by the proposed Bagotville wind farm. “Possible technical and operational mitigation measures are being assessed, and continue to be developed to alleviate the potential interference that wind farm projects may create,” he added.

The RCAF is looking at possible refinements to the current area surveillance radar facilities. “However we expect that new radars being developed will incorporate technologies that will enhance visibility around wind turbines,” Neta said.

In March, Canada awarded a contract to European defence firm Cassidian to equip RCAF airfields with latest-technology airport surveillance radar. The company noted that its radar system is equipped with specific data processing software so it is able to track air traffic even in wind farm shadows.

Last week the German Air Force announced it had completed successful testing of a new air defence radar installed at a site surrounded by a large wind farm.

Other federal departments have remained mostly silent on the Bagotville wind farm proposal, preferring that DND to take the lead, according to another 2012 briefing note for MacKay.

In late October, nearly 300 people came to a recreation centre in North Gower to oppose construction of eight to 10 wind turbines north and west of the village.

Opponents of wind farms say sound waves that are at too low a frequency for the human ear to hear can cause insomnia, dizziness, headaches and other health problems. The industry says there is no health impact. Construction could begin in the fall of 2014, but the proposal by Prowind Canada is on hold for now.

with files from Tom Spears

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Delivered!!!

12 Tuesday Nov 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

Our petition to the City of Ottawa, asking that North Gower be declared Not A Willing Host to a proposed wind power generation project, was delivered to the Clerk’s Office at the City of Ottawa at precisely 11 .am. today. The petition carried 1,228 signatures, which represents a clear majority of the voting population of the North Gower area.

We also carried out an online poll open to all residents of Ottawa; the results were that of 866 people responding, 94.56% said they do NOT support the wind power project.

Why are we doing this? Because the application process for large-scale power projects will be announced soon, and we expect that community support will be a key requirement for proponents of power projects. By expressing our deep concerns about the impact of this power project on our community with this petition, the City of Ottawa gets the message as to the level of support (none!) in the community that would actually have to live with it.

What’s next? Councillor Scott Moffatt intends to put forward a Notice of Motion at tomorrow’s Council meeting, for a motion to be heard November 27th, asking the province to give municipalities a greater/substantive role in determining the location for such power plants; the North Gower Not A Willing Host clause is included in the preamble to the motion. (The motion is not, however, a Not A Willing Host motion for the City of Ottawa.)

What you can do now: talk about this with your friends, family and co-workers. Ask them to vote FOR the motion that asks for a return of local land use planning powers, that were removed by the Green Energy Act. If people don’t know who their councillor is, send them to ottawa.ca for the list.

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Donations needed to help with this fight: PO Box 3, North Gower ON  K0A 2T0

Why we are doing the Not A Willing Host campaign

08 Friday Nov 2013

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

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Apparently, there are some people (not many; very few in fact) who question working toward declaring North Gower and the parts of Richmond that would be affected by the proposed wind power project Not A Willing Host.

It is a valid question and here are some points.

Q:Is the Not A Willing Host action simply a symbol? There is nothing in the Green Energy Act that says it will do anything.

A: That’s right BUT if we all simply sit quietly by and do nothing, nothing will happen. The fact is, the 73 Not A Willing Host communities represent a significant portion of the Ontario communities that are vulnerable to wind power development. The changes to the government’s stance on how much “say” communities have is directly related to these actions by municipalities, in their resolutions and motions at Council, their meetings, work through the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and more. The result of doing nothing is to get nothing.

Q: The North Gower project has been on the books for years and has never gotten anywhere; why think it will now?

A: We have written confirmation from Prowind that they fully intend to apply once the subsidy program application process reopens, if they are able to meet the requirements. The new process has not been revealed, but we believe that key components of it will be community support, and community ownership. To demonstrate as best we can the lack of community support can be effective.

To quote the lawyer for the couple in France whose legal action against a wind power project that caused noise and visual pollution,

“Today we are saying no: justice has been done and this shows all those who suffer wind farms with a sense of powerlessness that the fight is not in vain, that one can have one’s life respected–one’s right to peace.”

Democracy doesn’t just happen: we have to make it work.

Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

 

November 5 update: What YOU can do today

06 Wednesday Nov 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Our volunteer canvassers are out EVERY NIGHT and we are delivering paper petitions daily to the citizens of the North Gower area who will be affected by the proposed wind power generation project, should it be approved and constructed.

STATUS of the project: all large wind power project applications are on hold until Energy Minister Chiarelli announces the new application process, expected to be January. Prowind has told us they plan to reapply, once they’ve seen the new requirements.

KEY: community ownership and approval will be a factor. That’s why our Not A Willing Host effort has meaning: we will show that this is NOT a “willing host” community for very good reasons. We must speak up and take action: doing nothing results in nothing.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

-attend the last public signing of the petition Saturday November 9, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre

-download the petition here NG-PETITION-final

The petition MUST have your signature on an actual paper document, and be witnessed; return it to us at PO Box 3 North Gower ON  K0A 2TO or email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com for pickup

-email us for a petition to be delivered to you

-plan to attend the Not A Willing Host event in Toronto at Queen’s Park later this month, details to follow

-our online poll is still active for another day or two. Please have residents of Ottawa go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LZSDL9N

The petition will be taken IN PERSON to the City Clerk at the City of Ottawa.

 

5 days til our petition event!

21 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , ,

North Gower launches our Not a Willing Host legal petition on Saturday October 26th at the Alfred Taylor Centre on Community Way.

Can’t make it on the 26th?

email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com and we will get a petition to you, RIGHT NOW if you wish

OR

come to the Alfred Taylor Centre on November 9 between 11 and 1, to “vote” and sign the petition.

Your friends and neighbours are signing already—let’s get the message out to Ottawa and the provincial government:

North Gower is NOT A WILLING HOST to a huge wind power project!

Print

 

North Gower plans to be “Not a Willing Host”

16 Wednesday Oct 2013

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

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

When Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne held her first interviews after being elected the Ontario Liberal Party leader, and thus, Premier, she was asked about the controversy over wind power projects in Ontario. She said, her government would not be forcing the power projects on communities that were not “willing hosts.”

Today, 72 Ontario municipalities have declared themselves to be “Not a Willing Host” ( see windconcernsontario.ca Not a Willing Host tab for the list of communities).

North Gower is not a legal municipality since amalgamation with the City of Ottawa, but residents plan to be declared Not a Willing Host by using a legal petition to the City of Ottawa.

“This petition is a legal document, signed and witnessed by members of our community,” says Ottawa Wind Concerns chair Jane Wilson. “We will take this petition to the City of Ottawa and make sure the City overall knows that there is no support here for a wind power generation utility so close to homes, and our school.”

Wilson notes that Ontario often has a surplus of power and has sold excess for a loss to neighbouring jurisdictions such as Michigan or New York State, and that the Ontario government recently announced it is paying wind power companies NOT to add power to the grid. “So why build another one?” she asks. “Why subject yet another Ontario community to the dramatic impact of a wind power project it it’s not even needed?”

The proposed 20-megawatt wind power project will be within 3.5 km of more than 1,000 homes, Wilson explained. A conservative estimate of the average property value loss is over $130 million.

MPP Lisa MacLeod, now energy critic for the opposition has often spoken against the wind power project; MP Pierre Poilievre has said it makes no sense financially, and commissioned a Library of Parliament study to show that subsidies for the project from Ontario taxpayers would be about $4.8 million per year.

The petition-signing debut for North Gower residents is Saturday October 26th at 10 a.m. at the Alfred Taylor Centre on Community Way. Special guest Parker Gallant, frequent contributor to the Financial Post series “Ontario’s Power Trip,” will deliver a presentation “What’s in your electricity bill?” by videolink at the event.

Residents who are unable to attend will be able to sign the petition when volunteer canvassers come to their door, or on a special “voting day” at the Alfred Taylor Centre on Saturday November 9 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

For more information, email Ottawa Wind Concerns at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

New map shows potential impact of North Gower wind power project

13 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

turbine and houseCloseWith new research on both health impacts and property value loss surfacing, we decided to update our maps on the sphere of influence of the proposed wind power generation project in North Gower and Richmond.

It is staggering. With health problems due to the environmental noise being reported as far away as 5 km in other jurisdictions (10 km reported in Australia) and property value loss substantial within 2 miles (US study from Clarkson University), our map depicts the influence on residents living within 3.5 km.

See the map HERE NG wind turbines – 3500m- 20131012

Where is YOUR home?

And what can you do? Tell the City of Ottawa that the residents of the North Gower area are NOT a “willing host” to this wind power project.

Come sign the legal petition Saturday October 26th at 10 AM at the Alfred Taylor Centre, and help get the word out to your North Gower friends and neighbours.

Alternate signing day will be Saturday November 9th from 11 AM to 1 PM. Volunteers will also be going door-to-door in the weeks after the petition launch; you may also email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com to have a copy brought to you.

Each signature will be witnessed: this is a LEGAL DOCUMENT that will go to Ottawa City Council.

Donations welcome: PO Box 3, North Gower ON  K0A 2T0

Ottawa Wind Concerns

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

Property values “plummet” near wind power, says US appraiser

16 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

Here from Wind Wise Massachusetts:

Studies Show Land-Based Wind Turbines Cause Property Values to Plummet; Wind Wise Massachusetts Claims Study Showing Otherwise is Misleading

Published Monday, Sep. 16, 2013

 

FALMOUTH, Mass., Sept. 16, 2013 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A national study that claims there is “no statistical evidence” that real estate prices near wind turbines are negatively impacted is misleading because it lumps homes close to the turbines with those miles away, according to Wind Wise Massachusetts (WWMA).

“The report’s own data found that homes located within one mile to the turbines decreased in value by 28 percent compared to homes located within 3 to 10 miles from the turbines,” according to Virginia Irvine, president of WWMA (windwisema.org), a statewide alliance of grassroots environmental groups and individuals.

“The study’s authors are just perpetuating the myth that wind turbines are not responsible for significant property losses,” she said.

“The report is also comparing apples with oranges as less than 2.5 percent of the more than 50,000 home sales analyzed in recently released Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study were within one mile of the turbines and some were as far as 10 miles away,” Irvine said.

In the widely publicized report, the authors stated in the abstract that “…we find no statistical evidence that home values near turbines were affected in the post-construction or post-announcement/pre-construction periods.”

The report -– A Spatial Hedonic Analysis of the Effects of Wind Energy Facilities on Surrounding Property Values in the United States –- was published by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in August.

Irvine said independent, comprehensive appraisals have found that land-based wind turbines can cause property values to plummet within two miles by 15 percent to 40 percent.

“There is a major difference between turbines in a power plant 10 miles from homes in the country to those that are less than one mile from homes in residential communities,” Irvine said.

“But the sad fact is that whether a wind turbine is near a solo home in the country or in a more heavily populated area, the homeowner is going to see a significant loss in the value of his home,” she added.

“Wind turbines near residential areas are devastating to home values,” according to Michael McCann, president of McCann Appraisal of Chicago.

He said his paired study analysis of homes near wind turbines in more than two dozen communities throughout the country “consistently have found homes losing 25 to 40 per cent of their value.

Contact:  Barry Wanger for Wind Wise Massachusetts, Wanger Associates, 617-965-6469, Barry@WangerAssociates.com

SOURCE Wind Wise Massachusetts

Prowind: we want you to be “comfortable”

19 Friday Jul 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

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

In the article on the proposed wind power project for North Gower-Richmond appearing in today’s Ottawa Citizen (http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Wind+power+projects+harmful+cancelled+plants+critic+contends/8678755/story.html), wind power developer Prowind (based in Germany) representative Rochelle Rumney says the project is “on hold” until the new application process is announced by the Government of Ontario.

Taking a cue from the province, which is making lots of noise about “community engagement” while still NOT returning local land-use planning powers removed by the Green Energy Act, Rumney told the Citizen writer that Prowind wants to work with the community to “try to have everybody be comfortable with the project.”

Comfortable.

Really.

How do we get “comfortable” with the fact that Prowind has concealed the true locations of the turbines and to this date, does not depict the turbines just north-west of a housing subdivision on its website?

How do we get “comfortable” with the fact that by conservative estimates (and this has been accepted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice) property values could decline by 22-50% ?

How do we get “comfortable” with the fact that, again by conservative estimates, if only 10% of the residents within 3 km of the turbines were to experience sleep disturbance and other health problems, that would mean over 100 people could be affected?

How do we get “comfortable” with the fact that a few people who live here can do this to the rest of their community?

This community has options, none of them comfortable, but they will be pursued.

Just a reminder of who we’re dealing with, here again is the photo of Prowind’s stunning Head Office in Hamilton, Ontario.

Prowind HQ-Hamilton

Donations welcome to cover costs including legal fees: PO Box 3, North Gower ON   K0A 2T0

Ottawa Wind Concerns Inc. is a corporate member of Wind Concerns Ontario.

Wind power project siting process needs to be replaced, says Ottawa Wind Concerns

18 Thursday Jul 2013

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

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

Posted by the Ottawa Citizen:

Wind-power projects as harmful as cancelled gas plants, critic contends

By Elizabeth Payne, OTTAWA CITIZEN July 18, 2013 6:04 PM
 OTTAWA —The same process that led to Ontario’s “gas plant fiasco” is being used for wind-generation projects with disastrous results, says the head of a group concerned about a proposed wind farm in rural southern Ottawa.

“The gas plants got all the attention, but the wind-power projects are more widespread — and causing real problems for communities in terms of health problems, social disruption, lost property value and harm to the natural environment,” wrote Jane Wilson in a submission to the Ontario Power Generation and the Independent Energy System Operator as part of a “dialogue” about the way the province locates large power projects.

The consultation process stemmed from the political controversy around the location, and cancellation, of planned gas plants in southern Ontario. The Liberal government’s handling of the costly gas plant issue is the subject of an inquiry and a criminal investigation.

Ottawa Wind Concerns, which Wilson heads (in addition to Wind Concerns Ontario) wants a new system for planning and siting all large energy projects, including wind, that gives local communities more control. The Liberal government’s Green Energy Act gave the province control over location of wind energy projects. In May, the provincial government announced changes that will make developers work more closely with municipalities.

Ottawa Wind Concerns says, however, that the province needs to go further and give municipalities full control over projects as well as treating them the same way an industrial project would be treated. So far 60 municipalities across the province have declared themselves not willing hosts to wind power projects.

“Local land use planning needs to be returned to communities as a start and power projects should be treated as any other sort of infrastructure, with residents having full input to decisions that will affect their community, their financial futures and their health.”

Although many people living near wind turbines complain about health effects, research into the issue is limited. Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, in a 2010 report, concluded that “the scientific evidence available to date does not demonstrate a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects.” It also concluded that sound from wind turbines with common setbacks is not sufficient to cause hearing problems, although people might find it annoying. It also said there is no scientific evidence that vibrations from low-frequency wind turbine noise causes health issues. The report also said that “community engagement at the outset of planning for wind turbines is important and may alleviate health concerns.”

Health Canada has launched a major study into the effect of wind turbines on health. Meanwhile, federal cabinet minister Pierre Poilievre and Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod, both of whom represent the riding where the project is planned, are calling for a moratorium on the North Gower project until the Health Canada study is completed.

A spokesman for the company that is proposing to build the project, Prowind Canada Inc., said it is temporarily on hold until the province determines what the new process for awarding wind power contracts will look like.

Rochelle Rumney, environmental co-ordinator with the company, said — environmental coordinator said Prowind would “like to work with the community and try to have everybody be comfortable with the project.”

Meanwhile, during an ongoing July heat wave that has strained the power grid, wind power contributed less than one per cent to Ontario’s power needs this week, something that Wilson says underlines the need for a cost-benefit analysis of wind-power projects.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
OWC notes: despite community opposition, and opposition from elected representatives, despite clear evidence this project will cost taxpayers/ratepayers $4.8 million a year for power we don’t need, it looks like Prowind is still prepared to proceed with the North Gower-Richmond project…or sell it to someone who is. That means, we need even more help and especially funds for legal counsel. Donations welcome at PO Box 3, North Gower ON   K0A 2T0 Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com