Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Madawaska Valley Council goes on Wind Tour
Posted By Douglas Gloin Barry's Bay "This Week"
The controversy over plans to build a series of wind turbine operations at sites across the region is set to brew up in the next fewdays.
Madawaska Valley councillors just returned last Friday “from a pretty substantive tour” of wind turbine sites in southwestern Ontario, Mayor John Hildebrandt told Monday night’s regular township council meeting.
A company named SkyPower has proposed to build six of the giant wind turbines at sites in the hills north of Wilno. Turbine farms are also being proposed in Bonnechere Valley, Madawaska, Whitney and several other areas.
The Madawaska Valley councillors took the tour to sound out opinions from people involved with, or living near, wind farm sites near the shores of Lake Huron. Councillor Shelley Maika made the contacts for the trip, “nobody else knew where we were going or who we were talking to,” she said.
Hildebrandt said councillors would condense their findings over the next week or so, and then put out a press release. Bonnechere Valley and other area politicians went on a similar trip to wind turbine operations near Sault Ste. Marie as well, and Hildebrandt said he would be comparing notes with them.
Council’s visit was timely. There are two public meetings on the wind farm issue set for this week. The first, organized by SOS, or Save Our Skyline, which is opposed to industrial wind operations in the area as they are currently proposed, is at St. Hedwig’s Church hall in Barry’s Bay on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.
SOS president Lou Eyamie of Wilno says the presentation will be about two hours and will run along the lines of a gathering held during the summer. That meeting featured presentations on reported impacts to health, the environment, wildlife, livestock and property values caused by industrial wind turbines, but did not include any representatives from the other side of the issue.
The second meeting in Whitney is on Saturday (Oct. 11), and concerns a proposal by RES Canada Inc. to build from 40 to 60 turbines near McCauley Lake, about 10 km. from the Algonquin Park border. The plan has particularly alarmed the people who own the 40 cottages on the quiet lake, which is largely undeveloped. In an interview last week, cottager Brent Peterson said the cottagers fear that because they are a small group, and because the proposed wind turbines would be located on Crown lands, they will be unable to stop the turbine operation from being approved.
But Eyamie says a considerable amount of opposition to the wind turbines is building in both Whitney and Madawaska and their views are certain to be represented at the meeting. It is to run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Martin of Tours hall on Post Street in Whitney.
At a minimum, Eyamie says, he would like to see a full Environmental Assessment done on all wind farm site proposals, including a study of their possible impact on the groundwater. The turbines also need to be built with adequate setbacks that keep them away from neighbouring homes and property.
But Eyamie also believes that the wind farm companies need to explain to citizens what sort of benefits would be forthcoming to the communities that allow them to set up shop.
In a related development, SkyPower sent a letter to Madawaska Valley Council saying they had tried twice to contact Eyamie twice through letters but had heard no response from him. But Eyamie, who was at Monday night’s council meeting, said the first letter arrived just after he left on a three-week trip, and that he has just received the second.
“We’re not ignoring them,” he said. “It’s just a timeline thing.”
Article ID# 1238370 http://www.barrysbaythisweek.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1238370
Councils and Newspaper Go on Wind Tour
Leader staff writer Neil Etienne,at the newspaper’s expense, accompanied three municipal councils and staff –
As wind power is such a contentious local issue and with the depth of the research conducted during the tour, the Leader will present its readers with several weeks of features.
We will take an in-depth look as the weeks progress in such areas as the city of Sault Ste. Marie and its longstanding relation to Brookfield, their experience with the process and feelings now the farm is in place. We will look at the local native influence and experience as well as
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Renfrew County unlikely to halt wind farms
Visneskie, who is also mayor of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards Township, was speaking during that council’s Sept. 16 regular meeting. During a short presentation to council from industrial wind farm opponent Brian Tyrrell, Visneskie briefly donned her warden’s hat.
“I’ll tell you that … the process of the county is that we do not interfere in a local issue,” Visneskie said, explaining that this is because the county’s 17 member municipalities fought long and hard for the right not to have county council overturn their decisions on issues facing their communities.
“So now, when there’s a controversial decision, the municipalities can’t argue that they want to pass the buck to the county,” Visneskie said. It is they who “are going to have to make those tough decisions” on issues such as whether wind farms should be allowed.
The mayor added that she would soon be making a stop at an industrial wind farm near Goderich, Ont. “just to have a look-see” at the operation.
Several companies have proposed a series of industrial wind turbine projects for locations across the Madawaska Valley/Bonnechere Valley region. In the Township of Madawaska Valley, one proposal by SkyPower would see six of the massive turbines built in the hills north of Wilno.
Opponents of the projects, organized under the banner of Save Our Skyline, warn the turbines will cause health and environmental damage if politicians allow them to be built.
While as yet there are no wind turbine projects proposed for within the borders of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards, both council and citizens are concerned what sort of impact wind turbine construction will have on township roads and other infrastructure.
Visneskie, stressing that no proposal for road use by wind farm operators has come before her council yet, said the council has not made any decision either for or against wind farms, but councillors nonetheless will be vigilant.
“Our concern is the protection of our roads,” she said. “As a municipality, I will offer to you that we will do everything in our power to protect our roads because we owe that to our taxpayers.”
Tyrrell, who presented council with a study of the Point Petre wind power project, asked council that it ensure that any tour of wind farms by local politicians be independent, not one guided by wind power companies, and that councillors meet with people affected by the projects.
“That’s sort of what we intended to do,” Mayor Visneskie said.
Several municipal councils, including Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards and the Township of Madawaska Valley, are considering a joint tour of wind farms near Sault Ste. Marie.
Tyrrell also read to councillors from a passionate letter by a woman whose home was hard-hit by a massive wind turbine project at Mars Hill, Maine.
Meanwhile, SkyPower Corp., which is involved in several industrial wind farm projects proposed for the Bonnechere/Madawaska Valley region, including the Wilno Hills proposal, put out a news release last week saying it was not involved in the massive bankruptcy process at Lehman Brothers Holdings in the United States.
Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy laws. Barclays Bank in Britain has since announced that it will buy up some of Lehman Brothers U.S. businesses.
SkyPower bills itself as a Lehman Brothers company and has several Lehman executives on its board of directors. However, in a news release on Sept. 17, the company said it “remains focused on its business plan and committed to pursuing the renewable energy projects in its Canadian and international portfolios.”
Also last week, area newspapers including Barry’s Bay This Week published a required notice of an environmental review for SkyPower’s “Hardwood Hills Wind Project” near Eganville.
The notice says the corporation is proposing “the development of a wind energy project southwest of Eganville.” The Bonnechere Valley project would be located near Highway 60 east of Highway 515 and south of Clear Lake.
The company says an environmental screening of the project under the province’s Electricity Projects Regulation has commenced. Under the regulation, SkyPower is required to have a screening of the project and then, if appropriate, a more detailed environmental review. However, SkyPower says that it will undertake an environmental review right from the start. It adds that, “SkyPower is also consulting with federal agencies to determine whether the environmental review will follow the screening requirements of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.”
SOS and other wind farm opponents – citing bird kills, loss of wildlife habitat, harmful low-intensity noise, visual pollution and a host of other environmental impacts linked to the massive industrial wind turbines – have called for a complete federal environmental assessment, not just a provincial review, for any and all proposed wind farm projects in the area.
By Douglas Gloin
Barry’s Bay This Week
24 September 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Know your rights regarding Enevironmental Screening Process
You Have the Right to Ask questions and to be Informed about the Wind Project Proposed for Your Community
Special Thanks to Frank Entwistle and Allen Lewis
This is intended to give some insight into the public’s right to participate in the environmental assessment process regarding this project. Our intention is to respond to an overwhelming number of requests from Ontario rural residents on this subject. Only the original document should be considered correct and complete. It is available on the internet at Guide to Environmental Assessment Requirements for Electricity Projects
http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/gp/4021e.pdf
This document contains part only of the 84 page Guide to Environmental Assessment Requirements for Electricity Projects March 2001 Ministry of the Environment Part A – Overview. It was created by computer Cut & Paste, along with our edits, insertions and comments for clarification. The authors do not assure accuracy or correctness.
WHAT IS CONSIDERED THE ENVIRONMENT UNDER THE ACT?
In the Act, “environment” means,
(a) air, land or water,
(b) plant and animal life, including human life,
(c) the social, economic and cultural conditions that influence the life of humans or a community,
(d) any building, structure, machine or other device or thing made by humans,
(e) any solid, liquid, gas, odour, heat, sound, vibration or radiation resulting directly or indirectly from human activities, or
(f) any part or combination of the foregoing and the interrelationships between any two or more of them,
in or of Ontario
WHY DOES THE PROPONENT (THE DEVELOPER) HAVE TO MAKE AN EFFORT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?
Under The Environmental Assessment Act it is the proponent’s (developer’s) responsibility to design and implement an appropriate consultation program for the project. The consultation program must provide appropriate opportunities and forums for the public to participate in the screening process. Failure to carry out adequate public consultation or to address public issues or concerns may result in requests to elevate the project (see Elevation Requests below).
WHEN DOES THE PROPONENT (THE DEVELOPER) HAVE TO INFORM YOU?
Proponents (developers) are required to prepare a Notice of Commencement at the beginning of a Screening to formally announce the project is subject to the Environmental Screening Process and is commencing. The Notice of Commencement must provide basic information on the project including a description of the project (proponents must include all phases and components of the project), including construction, turbines, transmission lines, outbuildings, roads, etc., the proposed locations, the proponent’s (developer’s) name and a contact name, address and phone number, the operation, and retirement of the project (the specifics are described in Part B of the Guide).
It is inappropriate for proponents to break up or “piecemeal” a larger project into separate components or phases, with each part addressed as a separate project.
WHO MUST BE INFORMED BY THE PROPONENT (THE DEVELOPER)?
All notices must be mailed or delivered to households in the immediate vicinity of the project and to affected government agencies. The notices should also be mailed or delivered to other potentially interested parties. The proponent (developer) should also mail or deliver the notices to other potentially affected agencies, municipalities, First Nations and other Aboriginal communities, landowners, residents, businesses, and local interest groups, even if they have not previously expressed an interest.
HOW DOES THE PROPONENT (DEVELOPER) SEND YOU INFORMATION?
The proponent is required to mail or deliver all notices to all who have expressed an interest in the project. For this purpose, the proponent (developer) is required to maintain throughout the screening process a mailing list of all persons and agencies that provide comment and input to the process or otherwise express an interest in the project. Proponents (developers) must make supporting information and copies of all correspondence related to the Environmental Screening Process available for public or agency review if requested.
HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?
Conducting a Screening - The proponent (developer) then applies the screening criteria (found in Appendix C of the Guide) to the project as it has been described in the project description outlined above. This involves answering a series of questions, based on the screening criteria, to identify the potential for any negative effects on the environment. The screening criteria are presented in the form of a checklist with the option of a “Yes” or “No” response. The completed Appendix C will form part of the final Screening Report and will be available for public review. Extensive studies and reports must be completed to prove and mitigate all identified potential negative environmental effects.
Public Consultation - The purpose of public consultation in the Environmental Screening Process is to allow the proponent (developer) to identify and address public concerns and issues and to provide the public with an opportunity to receive information about and make meaningful input into the project review and development.
Consultation is necessary for the proponent (developer) to:
- properly notify potentially interested and affected stakeholders;
- identify and assess the range of environmental and socio-economic effects of the project; and
- address the concerns of adjacent property owners, interest groups, First Nations and other Aboriginal communities, and members of the public that may be directly affected by some aspect of the project.
The applicant’s (developer’s) public consultation program should:
- identify potentially affected stakeholders;
- describe how the project may affect the environment;
- provide appropriate notification to identified stakeholders;
- inform the public where, when and how they can be involved;
- identify public concerns and issues related to the project;
- address public concerns and issues raised during the program; and
- document how public input is taken into account in the screening process and in the project planning and development.
THE FINAL NOTIFICATION
Upon completion of a Screening, the proponent (developer) must prepare and distribute a Notice of Completion. This notice is intended to inform public, First Nations and other Aboriginal communities, and agency stakeholders that the proponent (developer) has completed a Screening under the Environmental Screening Process and that the minimum 30-Day Review Period is commencing. The notice must also indicate where copies of the Screening Reports can be obtained or reviewed during the 30-Day Review Period. The notice must be placed in a local newspaper with circulation in the vicinity of the project (or an appropriate equivalent means of notifying the public where no such newspaper exists). THIS IS THE PUBLIC’S OPPORTUNITY TO POINT OUT DEFICIENCIES AND TO INSIST ON CREDIBLE ANSWERS USING ELEVATION REQUESTS.
YOU HAVE THE LEGISLATED RIGHT RECEIVE CREDIBLE ANSWERS
ELEVATION REQUESTS
Members of the public, First Nations and other Aboriginal communities, or agencies with outstanding environmental concerns regarding a project undergoing the screening process should bring their concerns to the attention of the proponent (developer) as early in the process as possible. If concerns are not resolved, the concerned party can ask the proponent (developer) to voluntarily elevate the project, either before or during the 30-Day Review Period. If the proponent (developer) declines to voluntarily elevate the project during the 30-Day Review Period, the party may write to the Director of the EAAB to request that the project be elevated.
If one or more requests for elevation of the project are received within the 30-Day Review Period by the Director of the Environmental Assessment & Approvals Branch (EAAB) of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, the project cannot proceed until the Director makes a decision on the request(s) for elevation.
- Director, Certificates of Approvals - Environmental Assessment & Approvals Branch is Doris Dumais: doris.dumais@ontario.ca
- Director (Acting) - Environmental Assessment & Approvals Branch is Agatha Garcia-Wright: agatha.garciawright@ontario.ca
- Ontario Minister of the Environment: John Gerretsen: jgerretsen.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Abandoned Farms and Hydro Upgrades
"A few weeks ago a friend of mine and I went out to take photos of the new wind turbines put up by Enbridge in Bruce Township, near Kincardine. It was the first time we had been back to his old neighbourhood and he kept remarking on the drastic change to the landscape. We visited a number of his old neighbours who now live beside turbines. Everyone will recall how nobly, and a great expense to themselves, some of the people of this township fought at the public MOD hearing where they were ridiculed and belittled by the Enbridge lawyer and obviously ignored by the chairman.
The photos are revealing in that they demonstrate the enormous number of transmission lines that have been added to these quiet country roads. The photo of the transformer station illustrates the huge footprint taken up by a wind turbine development on the landscape. With its interconnecting transmission lines, it fragments the natural habitat.
The photo from the screen door is taken at the house of a farmer who was forced to sell his farm at a considerable discount because of the arrival of the wind turbines. He feels fortunate, however, to have sold it at all. Many other houses in the district have been for sale without buyers for many months."
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Madawaska Valley Council addressed by S.O.S.
On Monday night, Genevieve Jones of the group Save Our Skylines (SOS) attended the Madawaska Valley council meeting with a list of questions submitted to SOS. Council has indicated it planned to visit a wind farm in the near future and Jones asked that members consider her questions while on the excursion.
“We’re concerned that wind companies are not giving full side of the story,” Jones said.
One question dealt with long-term effects of the wind farms on property values, health, tourism and the environment.
Councillor Phil Conway, who chaired the meeting, said he’d heard at the SOS public information meeting that property values would be lowered, but said he’d also heard that the lands where turbines are installed are often of low value anyway. Councillor Bonnie Mask said she had heard concerns about noise from the turbines and about the deer hunt.
Jones wondered about the safety of groundwater.
“We’ve heard that they will have to do blasting to put the foundations for the turbines in,” she said. “How will that impact groundwater and wells?’
Conway stated the township “has an agreement with these people that they can’t do anything until they report back to this council. That hasn’t happened yet.”
Councillor Sylvie Yantha said council would be better able to answer Jones’ questions after the wind farm tour. Jones asked if the community of Kincardine is on the tour.
The council’s original plans were to visit Shelburne; Councillor Shelley Maika asked why Jones mentioned Kincardine.
“We’ve heard of people who have had to leave their homes” because of the turbines, Jones responded.
CAO/Clerk Pat Pilgrim advised those at the table that the township has been invited to join other municipalities in a bus trip to the Prince Wind Farm near Sault Ste. Marie.
“Bonnechere Valley is organizing this trip; the consensus is that the terrain in that area is similar to ours,” she said.
In a telephone conversation with Bonnechere Valley CAO/Clerk Bryan Martin Tuesday morning, he said it made sense for the municipalities to combine forces.
“Several municipalities have been talking individually about visiting wind farms, so why not save money and go together?” he said.
“There is no sense looking at a wind farm in open farm land in southern Ontario,” he added. “The terrain in the Soo is similar to here.”
Martin said he is hoping those taking the trip will be able to talk to people who live close to the wind farm as well as see the turbines in action. The trip is expected to take place early in October. Madawaska Valley Township has yet to confirm whether it will join the trip to the Soo or visit the Shelburne area on its own.
By Heather Kendall
Barry’s Bay This Week
17 September 2008



