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Tag Archives: windmills

Wind farm construction may affect wells, says groundwater association

14 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

environmental damage wind turbines, Ontario Ground Water Association, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, Water Wells First, wind farm, wind turbines, windmills

A citizens’ group concerned about the effect of wind turbine construction and the vibration coming from operating turbines is calling for the resignation of the Ontario Minister of the Environment. The government’s response to the problem of damaged wells? Bottled water. Not so great for dairy herds…

Chatham Daily News, July 11, 2016

A citizens’ group worried about the potential impact on groundwater from wind turbine vibrations is calling for the provincial minister’s resignation.

Water Wells First placed protest signs on Monday at the Windsor, Sarnia and London offices of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, said group spokesman Kevin Jakubec in a media release..

“Water Wells First no longer sees the MOECC as credible stewards of the environment.

We are asking for the immediate resignation of Ontario’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray,” he said.

Last week, Water Wells First held a demonstration at a Chatham Township farm to show how difficult it would be logistically for farmers and their livestock to use bottled water, if it was required.

Jakubec said the management of the Renewable Energy Program could jeopardize the health and safety of Ontario’s livestock when “the MOECC put forward the impractical use of using bottled water to resupply livestock farms” that have lost their water wells due to wind farm construction and operation.

The proposed North Kent 1 Wind Project, which calls for 40 to 50 wind turbines to be constructed in the area, had some residents worried that the vibrations could result in dirty water.

“Water Wells First will protest the actions of the MOECC until the MOECC recognizes that groundwater must be protected as the first line of defense against climate change,” Jakubec said.

Last month, the group held an initial media conference to help raise awareness about the issue.

In an e-mail on Monday, the ministry stated that it was taking the necessary precautions.

“The MOECC takes all public concerns very seriously. That is why MOECC included an extremely stringent series of conditions on the proponent for the North Kent Renewable Energy Approval,” it stated. …

Read the full news story here.

See also a London Free Press editorial on this today, here.

Editor’s note: looking ahead, we would think this might be a concern for liability on the part of both the landowner leasing land for turbines and the wind power developer. Another reason to carefully examine the pro’s and cons of signing a lease agreement.

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Citizens, municipalities say thumbs down on IESO wind power contract process

04 Saturday Jun 2016

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bob Chiarelli, community opposition wind farms, IESO, Large Renewable Procurement, London Free Press, Ontario Liberal government, renewable energy, wind farm contracts, wind power bids, wind power contracts, wind power Ontario, wind turbines, windmills, Wynne government

‘Resounding condemnation’ of wind power bid process: WCO on comments to IESO

The IESO asked for comments on its Large Renewable Procurement process. Looks like nobody is happy, least of all Ontario citizens and the municipalities that would be forced to have the power projects.

Communities have valid reasons for objecting to huge power projects but government is not listening [Photo: Prince Edward County]
Communities have valid reasons for objecting to huge power projects but government is not listening [Photo: Prince Edward County]

London Free Press, June 3, 2016John Miner

The agency setting the ground rules for the next multi-billion-dollar round of wind farm development in Ontario says it can only go so far to meet demands for changes in its program to acquire more electricity.

Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), which picked the winners in the last round, asked residents, wind farm developers, municipalities and First Nations how the controversial program could be improved.

A persistent theme in the 120 pages of responses was a call for municipalities to be given a veto over developments, a power stripped away by the Liberal government — to the anger of many municipalities — when it launched its green energy program.

“Municipal support must be a mandatory requirement. There must be greater consideration given to the impact of the power projects on the community, and on the people who must live near them,” wrote one respondent.

But Adam Butterfield, IESO’s manager of renewable energy procurement, said such a decision would have to be made by the provincial government.

“The feedback we get will be communicated up to the Ministry of Energy for them to consider any related policy changes. We provide our advice, as we always do, on these aspects. But at the end of the day there are some policy ones, such as the veto aspect, that are in the government’s purview,” he said.

In Southwestern Ontario, home to the largest wind farms in the province and the most wind turbines, the Liberal government’s decision to take away local control over where the highrise-sized turbines can be built left many centres joining a movement of so-called “unwilling host” communities for energy projects.

Butterfield said he doesn’t know how the government will respond to the latest feedback.

“To date they have been pretty firm that renewable energy is a provincial issue and so they haven’t been amenable to considering a (local) veto. We will provide the feedback up and see where things go over the course of the summer.”

Jane Wilson, president of Wind Concerns Ontario, a provincial coalition opposed to wind farms, said the survey responses show the process doesn’t respect Ontarians and their wishes for how their communities develop.

“The point is made repeatedly that the process for locating renewable power projects differs from any other sort of development — that there is little openness or transparency, and that municipalities ought to have real ‘say’ in where these power projects go,” Wilson wrote in an email.

“The comments are a resounding condemnation of the procurement process,” she added.

The IESO has been instructed by the government to procure another 600 megawatts of wind energy, with the contracts awarded by 2018.

The generating capacity is being added at a time when the IESO’s own forecasts project Ontario will remain in a surplus power position for at least a decade.

A report last year by Ontario’s auditor general concluded Ontarians paid $37  billion extra for power over the last eight years because of the government’s decisions to ignore its own planning process for new power generation projects.

Along with suggestions for a municipal veto, other respondents to the IESO survey called for more openness by companies about their plans and an end to non-disclosure agreements with property owners.

“Proponents intentionally misled, failed to follow the process (meeting and information distribution), and used other methods to ensure the community was misinformed and had little time to respond,” wrote one. …

Read the full news story here.

___________________________________

Ottawa Wind Concerns Editor’s NOTE: As of today, 73 Ontario municipalities (the majority of communities that would be vulnerable to wind power projects) have passed a resolution stating that municipal support MUST be a mandatory requirement in future wind power bids. That list includes Ottawa.

Want to do something?

Write to the IESO: LRP@IESO.ca and tell them you agree, municipal support MUST be a mandatory requirement. You deserve a say in where power projects go.

Write to the Energy Ministry. By email: http://www.energy.gov.on.ca/en/contact-us/

By post: Ministry of Energy
900 Bay Street, 4th Floor
Hearst Block
Toronto ON M7A 2E1
Canada

And thank your Ottawa councillor for voting in favour of the mandatory support motion.

NoMeansNo_FB

Wind power ‘tearing communities apart’ say farm owners

02 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Brinston, community opposition wind farms, Farmers Forum, leasing land for wind turbines, North Gower, South Branch wind farm, wind farm, wind power, wind turbines, windmills

Wind farms cause animosity in Ontario communities

3-MW wind turbine and house near Brinston: Ontario hasn't learned a thing. [Photo: Ray Pilon, Ottawa]
3-MW wind turbine and house near Brinston: communities “torn apart” by conflict. [Photo: Ray Pilon, Ottawa]

While the Wynne government claims to be “Building Ontario Up” the reality is different for rural communities where wind power developers offered leases to farmers, who then chose money over their neighbours and communityFarmers Forum, Eastern Ontario Edition, March 2016

TEARING US APART

Wounds not healing after wind turbines turned friends into bitter enemies

By Tom Collins

BRINSTON—Wind turbines tear apart communities and relationships, causing animosity that lingers for years, warn farmers who have lived through the ugly battles.

Don Winslow signed up almost immediately in 2013 when a wind company planned to build five turbines near Peterborough. Three months later, after immense public pressure and hostility, he couldn’t do it anymore.

“It relieved our stress tremendously [to cancel the contract],” the then-70-year-old Winslow told Farmers Forum after he cancelled his turbine. “We don’t have to sneak around the neighbours hoping not to run into them. There is always an element of society that is going to go overboard but people I respected were just as upset as the real radicals.”

There are only three wind turbine projects in Eastern Ontario – Brinston (10 turbines), Wolfe Island (86 turbines) and 5 turbines just west of Kingston, but there are more than 1,200 turbines in the province with another 1,500 on the way. The province is expected to announce new projects this month that could include another 98 turbines in Eastern and East-Central Ontario.

Most turbines are in Western Ontario where the stories are shocking.

They put their pocketbook ahead of the community

Time doesn’t heal all wounds, said Guelph-area dairy farmer Tim Martin. “There are people here that have absolute hatred for others. I have never seen anything so divisive in our community, ever, in my entire life. You try to say forgive and forget, but a lot of people say ‘We forgive them but we remember.’ They put their pocketbook ahead of our health and above the community’s well-being, and people don’t forget that.”

…

… But not everyone blames wind turbines. Some lay the blame on anti-wind protestors for stoking fears and fueling the fighting. Farmers with turbines have signed confidentiality agreements and won’t speak to news media. However, North Gower farmer Ed Schouten signed up for turbines on his dairy farm years ago but the project never went ahead. Although he is a strong supporter, Schouten said he would have to think long and hard about signing up again if the opportunity arose.

“You’ve got to be careful today because people are jealous and they’ll get back at you,” he said. “We have a lot to lose here. They can easily sabotage something on you. There’s all kinds of crazy people out there today.”*

Schouten credited anti-wind groups for doing a good job of fear-mongering and, while they are a minority, get people riled up.

The anti-wind protestors “say [turbines] tear up the communities. They’re the people that tore up the communities, not the turbines. They say [wind turbines] pit neighbor against neighbor and all this stuff because they want another reason to get rid of them.”

See an excerpt of this article here: Farmers ForumMarch2016-Tearing UsApart

To see the full article, go the FarmersForum.com next week or call 613-247-1334 to purchase a copy.

*Ottawa Wind Concerns Editor note: during the time of community action to oppose the proposed North Gower-Richmond wind power project, there was NEVER any threats of violence or civil disobedience. As to the comments about the opposition being a “minority,” readers will recall that a petition to the City of Ottawa requesting that North Gower be Not A Willing Host to the wind power project garnered signatures from 1,400 residents— almost every taxpayer in Ward 21. The petition was accepted and a motion of support passed unanimously at Ottawa City Council.

All residents in Prince Edward County turbine zone will be affected: acoustics expert

24 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Health, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

infrasound wind farms, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, White Pines appeal, wind energy, wind farm, wind farm noise, wind power, wind turbines, windmills

All residents in White Pines project area will be affected by noise: top acoustician testimony

Report on Environmental Review Tribunal Hearing on White Pines Wind Project

November 20, 2015

by

 Paula Peel, Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC)

APPEC’s health appeal continued on Day 10 with expert witness Dr. Paul Schomer testifying before the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) on the White Pines wind project.  The remainder of the day was spent making adjustments to the schedule following WPD’s abrupt announcement that it was dropping an appeal of the disallowance of two turbines (T7 and T11) by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC).

Dr. Schomer, a former Standards Director of the Acoustical Society of America with 48 years’ experience in noise measurement, was qualified by the ERT as an expert in acoustics.  He told the Tribunal that all residents in the White Pines project area will be affected by audible and inaudible sound and a number of residents will be seriously affected.  The effects reported by people living near wind projects are similar in nature to the effects experienced by participants in a 1985 University of Toronto study on infrasound.  At lower levels and at higher levels of pure tone some participants experienced nausea and dizziness.  However, when overtones were added at higher levels, participants experienced headaches and fatigue.

Dr. Schomer considers that internationally-accepted noise standards and protocols are being flouted in Ontario.  For example, A-weighting is not supposed to be relied on when sounds have low-frequency content such as those emitted by industrial wind turbines.  Canada is one of the countries that voted for this rule.  He also calls for changes in current Ontario regulations to adjust up to 10 db(A) for wind turbine noise in rural areas.  Other suggested adjustments include up to 3 db(A) for weather conditions and 3 to 4 db(A) for locations downwind of turbines.   Dr. Schomer is highly critical of WPD’s current predicted average sound as it merely indicates that 50% of the time 50% of the residents will be exposed to sound above or below the limit.  The wind industry should be held to a higher level of accountability: db(A) limits should be met 95% of the time.

Dr. Schomer pointed to a very important figure in the Health Canada Report.  Only 1% of people are shown to be highly annoyed at 30 – 35 db(A) sound levels.  However, at 35 – 40 db(A) the number jumps to 40%.  Dr. Schomer sees this as evidence of a community response to wind turbine noise, and that what Health Canada says, what independent acoustic experts say, and what communities say should carry weight in Ontario.

Through experience Dr. Schomer has found that when community responses disagree with the physics, the physics is usually wrong.  This has been confirmed by his involvement in six studies of wind farms, including the 8-turbine Shirley Wind Farm in Wisconsin where three families abandoned their homes and about 60 other people reported adverse health effects.

The ERT continues next week. 

Power developer records citizens at community event

29 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alliance to protect Prince Edward County, community opposition wind farms, prince Edward County, White Pines wind farm, wind developer intimidation, wind farm, wind power, windmills, WPD Canada

Reposted from WindConcernsOntario.ca

Wind power developer records protesters in Prince Edward County

WPD’s slogan: “Wind has no limits.” Apparently, greed doesn’t either. 

MILFORD Ont., September 28, 2015—

As more than 300 residents of Prince Edward County gathered on Sunday to protest the assault on their community and the environment by two wind power projects (Ostrander Point and White Pines, both being appealed) Germany-based wind power developer wpd Canada recorded the event, including speeches given by various presenters.

“Shame on them,” says Paula Peel, secretary for the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC).

If the power developer’s presence recording people was meant as an intimidation tactic, it didn’t work, Peel says.

The organizers did a brisk business selling T-shirts and protest signs, she says. “If you didn’t come to the rally with a T-shirt or sign, it’s likely you left with one.”

“The one thing wpd will take away from our rally is that the fight is only just beginning.”

 

Contact APPEC and read more here.

Fixing a bad law: lawyers collaborate to fight Green Energy Act

24 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Environmental Review Tribunal, Green Energy Act, legal action wind farms, opposition to wind farms, prince Edward County, Renewable Energy Approvals Ontario, wind farms, wind power, wind power developer profits, windmills, WPD Canada

 

Wellington Times, September 23, 2015

Legal minds collaborate to restore rights and safeguards diminished by the Green Energy Act

The Green Energy Act (GEA) is the target of a proposed judicial review to be launched this fall. CCSAGE Naturally Green, a not-for-profit public interest corporation led by its directors Anne Dumbrille, Alison Walker and Garth Manning, believe the GEA is a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation. They argue the GEA tramples rights and freedoms, punishes rural Ontarians, contravenes statutes and conventions the province is bound to uphold, and, at its core, is fundamentally unjust.

One example: Currently, wind developer wpd Canada is appealing a decision, made under the provisions of the GEA, permitting it to build 27 of 29 industrial wind turbines it proposes in South Marysburgh. In making this appeal, the developer is allowed to make a wide range of arguments and present evidence in its favour. It will certainly argue that the decision will impair its ability to make money from the project. It may argue that the heritage value of the nearby properties has been overstated. It is likely to argue many things. Because it can.

Meanwhile, opponents of the project are permitted only to object on the basis that the project will cause serious harm to humans or serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life or the natural environment.

The developer is granted unlimited scope to argue in favour of its profit, while residents are restricted to just two near-impossible tests. The province designed the GEA this way.

Alan Whiteley, a lawyer acting for CCSAGE, considers the GEA a fundamental assault on the rights, freedoms and statutes that have been constructed to protect citizens and the environment from this kind of overreach by government. It is something, he argues, we must all resist.

Specifically he is asking the courts to examine the process by which the province reviewed and ultimately granted the renewable energy approval (REA) to wpd Canada for its White Pines project in South Marysburgh.

“We believe there is a reasonable apprehension of bias in the process,” said Whiteley. “The GEA has created a minority—residents of rural Ontario—and has taken away our right to object except for the narrowest of grounds.”

He argues that the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT), as the sole appeal mechanism of an REA is a product of this bias.

He explains that under administrative law, the Ministry of Environment’s director plays a quasijudicial role—examining and weighing evidence and reaching a decision, for example, to grant a wind developer an approval, which could include a permit to “harm, harass and kill” an endangered species. But as citizens, we are precluded from knowing how that decision was reached— or whether it was fair.

To assist CCSAGE scale this legal mountain, the group has enlisted the assistance of York University professor Stepan Wood and five of his law students at Osgoode Hall Law School. Together, they are working to accumulate evidence and legal arguments to buttress the group’s claim that the GEA violates natural justice, prevailing statutes and individual rights in at least two dozen ways.

PREJUDICIAL AND UNFAIR
Whiteley returns to the inequity of the ERT appeal mechanism that enables the developer a wide scope of arguments, but restricts opponents to just two—human health and animals, plants and habitat destruction.

“Only the proponent may argue matters of heritage, economics or property rights,” explained Whiteley. “We are precluded by the act from showing how this project will impact heritage, the local tourism economy or property values. The ERT is part of the unfairness.”

He points to the divide created by the GEA in Ontario between rural and urban communities.

“In Toronto, you can rely on your official plan to protect you from industrial wind turbines from diminishing the value of your property,” said Whiteley. “In rural Ontario, local decisionmaking has been taken away. Our mayor has said clearly that this community is not a willing host to these projects. Yet the GEA permits it over the objections of the community.

“The GEA has created a minority in rural Ontario and taken away our right to object to development that fundamentally alters our landscape, economic prospects and heritage value—with no recourse,” said Whiteley. “This is prejudicial and unfair.”

He says the province is signatory to statutes and memorandums of understanding with other governments to protect endangered species and species at risk. Yet it grants wind and solar developers permits to ‘harm, harass and kill’ these animals and destroy habitat— without knowing how, or on what evidence, the province reached its conclusion.

This is a particularly acute question since a ministry expert on turtles testified earlier this month in an ERT hearing in Demorestville that he recommended against granting a developer the permit to ‘harm, harass and kill’ the Blanding’s turtle.

The group hopes to commence court proceedings shortly after Thanksgiving. They expect muscular response from the Ontario government and from the developer and the Canadian wind industry. If successful, they expect, the decision will be appealed—likely landing at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Another measure of the significance of the challenge is the participation by the Osgoode Law School’s Wood and students Stephen Gray, Sabrina Molinari, Timon Sisic, Amanda Spitzig and Imelda Lo.

“Each of them comes to the project with a remarkable CV,” noted Garth Manning. “They have taken to this challenge like ducks to water. It is such an important issue, with a great many powerful adversaries. We are fortunate to have them working with us.”

Manning notes that a judicial review is being funded initially by the group internally. Much of the legal work will be done on a pro bono basis by Whiteley and the law school students, with research and evidence-gathering assisted by Anne Dumbrille and Allison Walker among others. He notes as well that this effort is not meant to conflict or compete with other appeals— but rather it is a parallel examination of the impact the GEA has had in upending justice, diminishing basic rights and contravening statutes the province is obligated to uphold.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
The Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC) is hosting a major rally in Milford on Sunday, which they hope will be a large and impressive statement about the prospect of as many as 29 50-storey industrial wind turbines erected around that community.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Milford Fairground, there will be music, food and inspiring words. Participants are encouraged to don their anti-wind turbine kit. At 12:30 p.m. participants will be asked to join hands to form a protective circle around Mount Tabor.

“We encourage everyone from across the County to join together to say that this is the wrong place for industrial wind turbines,” said Gord Gibbins, APPEC chair.

Nation residents to fight wind farms

08 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by ottawawindconcerns in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

community opposition wind farms, EDF, Grant Crack MPP, green energy, Leda Clay, Nation River, Nation Township, Ontario, Ontario economy, Sauvons La Nation, Save The Nation, United Counties Prescott Russell, wind farm, wind power, wind turbine, wind turbines, windmills

500 residents crowd community centre: “this will destroy The Nation”

"Save The Nation" banner says it all [Photo: Wind Concerns Ontario]
“Save The Nation” banner says it all [Photo: Wind Concerns Ontario]

More than 500 residents of the municipality of Nation, about 45 minutes east of Ottawa, met on Wednesday night to learn more, and discuss action on two wind power proposals for their community: a 150-megawatt project by EDF, and a 75-MW project by Leader Resources.Among the speakers was Carmen Krogh, known internationally for her research on the impacts of wind turbine noise emissions on human health. A particular concern for Krogh, she expressed that evening, is the effect of the wind turbine emissions on children. Despite clear guidance from the World Health Organization and other bodies in public health about exposing children to possible harm, Ontario has proceeded to build wind power projects in communities close to homes.

Other speakers detailed the environmental impacts of the proposed wind turbine arrays, and commented on the degree of impact on the community for very little benefit.

Organizer Julie Leroux commented that the public was left out of a decision by council to support wind power; after signing an agreement to be an unwilling host as a member of the United Counties of Prescott-Russell, Nation then approved a motion of support for a wind power project by Sierra Nevada, in 2013. Nation’s mayor has gone on record in the agricultural media as saying he supported the current EDF proposal, and that Nation is a “willing host.”

We are not, said Leroux.

The community group Save The Nation requested time to make a presentation to Council but was not scheduled to do so now until August 31st; the deadline for wind power proposals under the new process is September 1st, the next day.

Questions and comments afterward were a clear demonstration not only that the community is already well informed on this issue, they are passionate about protecting their way of life, the social fabric of Nation, and the agricultural economic base.

“This will destroy the Nation, if it happens,” said one gentleman.

Another, who had travelled to Wolfe Island to see turbines to educate himself (Note: a better trip would be to Brinston, south of Ottawa, where EDP is operating 3-MW turbines in the South Branch power project), said he was shocked at the environmental impact of the wind power machines. “The foundations for these things are huge,” he said, “and they will never go away.”

If the wind power projects are approved said one young farmer, who said he was speaking for others in his demographic of 20s and 30s, it will destroy the local economy and way of life in Nation. “We’re leaving,” he said simply.

Organizers for the event and members of Save The Nation  said that no members of Nation council attended the meeting as far as they knew but MPP Grant Crack’s executive assistant was there.

Breaking News: Wind Concerns Ontario has learned that Nation Council will be discussing the community reaction to the wind power proposals on Monday, August 10.

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