Month: January 2012

 

Was Prowind Canada able to ease the concerns of the South Branch Wind Opposition Group (SBWOG)? Simply put, the answer is no.

January 10th, 2012 marked Prowind Canada’s final public meeting at Matilda Hall in Dixon’s Corners with respect to the proposed South Branch Wind Farm near Brinston.  

Although the meeting began with Prowind’s typical open-house style, the meeting’s main event came an hour into the night with a question and answer period lasting over two hours. 

Upwards of 70 people showed up for the forum, looking for an opportunity to ask questions, express their fears, and share their uneasiness about the big change. There were also a few people in attendance to applaud the wind energy initiative and the Prowind group.

Several South Dundas council members and a few township employees also attended the event. When asked for his general impression of the meeting, Mayor Steven Byvelds said, “I do feel that the meeting went well.” 

Members of SBWOG did not share the Mayor’s opinion. In a January 11th email, Bruce Albers, a representative for SBWOG, stated: “Suffice it to say that many of us found the answers given by Prowind to be slanted and in many cases simply untrue, to the extent that we will submit a formal complaint to the MOE (Ministry of the Environment.)”

On his own behalf, he said, “there are many issues I have with the answers that were provided by Prowind as well as the format.” Albers, and many other residents affected by the wind farm, felt that there should have been room for public rebuttal during the forum.

Another issue raised with the forum was the absence of any representatives from either the Ontario Health Unit (OHU) or MOE. 

Prowind’s forum panel consisted of four people: project manager Juan Anderson; President Jeffrey Segal; Rochelle Rumney who is in charge of environmental assessments; and, Dr. Loren Knopper, co-author of Health effects and wind turbines: A review of the literature. It was pointed out that Dr. Knopper is an academic doctor, not a medical doctor.

According to Anderson, other agencies like OHU or MOE were not invited because “that’s really not their role.”

When asked about statistics in reference to wind turbines on health, Knopper said there were none. What is known, he said, is that reports put it around the “10 per cent mark for people who may find it annoying.”

The audience followed up by asking why Prowind hasn’t gone ahead and done some studies of their own. Segal replied, “we’re not in the business of doing health studies.”

When asked if Prowind has petitioned the government for a third-party epidemiological study, Anderson answered: “No, that’s really not our role. We go on the existing research.”

Knopper was then asked if he had written a paper suggesting that more studies need to be done on the effects of wind turbines on health. In short, his answer was “yes.”

In terms of recourse, should residents experience adverse health effects, the audience was told that MOE has a hotline available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. “It’s up to them (MOE) to investigate,” he said. 

In any case, Knopper claimed, “there won’t be any adverse health effects based on the 550 metres and 40 decibels.” 

The province requires that all turbines be a minimum of 550 metres away from  residences. According to Knopper, with that distance, sound will not rise above 40 decibels.

It was suggested by both Anderson and Knopper that most health-related issues that arise in a wind farm area, do so indirectly and, most often, due to annoyance. Knopper pointed out that a person’s attitude and visual cues predict whether or not they might be annoyed. 

It was also pointed out by a few panel members that most people who complain of health-related issues are those who are not profiting from it.

Knopper interjected, saying, “if you read negative things, hear negative things, then you’re going to be worried and annoyed.”  He further pointed out that annoyance leads to stress and, stress can lead to health issues. 

In addition to health-related worries, the residents in the audience were also concerned with property values.

According to Segal, “impirical evidence in both Ontario and elsewhere is demonstrating that there is no property value loss.” In terms of backing this up, Segal said he had documentation he could send to anyone interested. 

An audience member introduced names of wind farm areas where substantial property value loss was experienced.  Segal denied knowledge of any such findings, but agreed to look into it further.

He pointed out that there are many other factors, other than the presence of a wind farm, that could play a part in why an area’s property values decline.

Speaking of money issues, members of the audience wanted to know how much profit Prowind would make from the South Branch Wind Farm. They also wanted to know what the actual landowners (the “participating” residents who will have turbines on their land) would be receiving in terms of compensation.

In terms of Prowind’s gross revenue, Anderson said, “those are private financial details of the project. It’s not something we can really comment on.”

In response to how much the participating landowners were making from the deal, he said, “that is private between landowners and Prowind.”

When asked about the cost of energy on the average Ontario tax-payer due to the FIT program, Anderson replied, “there’s a lot of political spin that gets put on that.”

As for long-term jobs produced by the farm? Anderson revealed that due to a “higher amount of maintenance in the beginning, (there will be) 10 permanent jobs.” However; “ongoing, long-term there will be two to three.” 

Nearing the end of the forum, the panel was asked the crucial question of whether any of them live within one kilometre of a wind farm. The answer for each of the panel members was ‘no’.

As stated earlier, one of the issues SBWOG had with the forum was the lack of any representation from governmental or environmental authorities. The Leader was able to contact the South Nation Conservation Authority (SNC) as well as the Ministry of the Environment (MOE).

On January 12th, Geoff Owens from the Planning and Engineering department of SNC spoke with The Leader. He revealed that under the Conservation Authority Act, “our rights are not superceded by the Green Energy Act.”

He said that Prowind’s project’s “natural hazards have to comply with our regulations before they get a permit from us.”

The SNC deals only with the environmental factors, however; everything else would fall under the jurisdiction of the MOE or the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

On January 13th, The Leader received an email from MOE. Kate Jordan from the Communications Branch of MOE reported that “the ministry has not received an application for a renewable energy approval for the Prowind Canada project.”

“It is our understanding,” she continued, “that the company is going through the needed public consultation work required under the renewable energy approval process.”

“Public involvement and participation is a significant part of the approval process. Developers are required to hold at least two public meetings and all comments received through public consultation must be documented and reported to the ministry as part of the application. We review all comments submitted carefully as part of our review of the application.”

Jordan also stated: “We also post complete applications on the environmental registry site for the public to review and comment on before we make any approval decisions.”

She went on to say that “our priority is that renewable energy is developed in a way that protects human health and the environment. The stringent Renewable Energy Approval process ensures that protection.”

“We have taken a cautious approach when setting standards for wind setbacks and noise limits to protect Ontarians. Ontario is a leader in establishing clear setbacks that are protective of human health and the environment.” 

“Developers must demonstrate that projects will meet the ministry’s 40 decibel noise guideline – the sound in a library – to protect the surrounding community. The World Health Organization says this level is protective of human health.”

“The Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) and Ontario Superior Court have also ruled in favour of our protective renewable energy framework. The ERT upheld our approval and ruled that it is fully protective of human health and the surrounding community.”

While Prowind Canada moves slowly and steadily ahead with their project, the South Branch Wind Opposition Group is still working hard to have their demands addressed.

The SBWOG executive met on January 12th to discuss strategies and options moving forward. Next up is the South Dundas council meeting on January 17th. 

South Dundas council intends to discuss the requests made by the South Branch Wind Opposition group made earlier, in December. 

The January 17th South Dundas council meeting took place after The Leader’s Tuesday press deadline and news from the event will be covered in the January 25th edition. Check back then for more news on the subject.

[…]

 

It’s taken model railroader, Sheldon Oglestone, close to 10 years to bring his beloved Ontario North to Morrisburg, and he now wants to share it with the public.

Oglestone has re-constructed the place of his childhood and early years in Northeastern Ontario in his basement using his love of trains and model railroading as a base. The extensive layout features Oglestone’s home community of Temagami (60 miles north of North Bay) and the Ontario Northland train system which connects communities from North Bay to Moosonee to James Bay. 

A locomotive engineer, Oglestone was employed by Ontario Northland before he began a 14 year career in the Canadian Military.

He never lost his love for trains nor the area he grew up in, and so, 25 years ago, he turned his memories towards model railroading.

After retiring from the military, he and his wife Florence moved to Morrisburg (Florence has roots here), from Osgoode, where he left behind a model railroad layout “that was pretty much wall to wall in an 18 by 18 foot room.”

A year after he settled into his Morrisburg home, a new layout was started, and now he says, it is “99 per cent finished.”

For that reason, he has decided to open it as “The Ontario Northland Museum” to the public, by appointment only, starting this Saturday, January 14, from 2-4 p.m. Although there will be no admission charge, donations will be accepted and these donations will be given to the Dundas County Food Bank.

Visitors to the Museum can expect to immediately feel Oglestone’s love for the railroad, model railroading and his home community. 

“I still go up once a year and run the real ones (trains). They still let me play with them. I do a little fishing. I speak Cree, and I have a lot of friends up there.”

Oglestone also has a lot of friends in the Morrisburg area, and many of them are fellow model railroaders. Shortly after he arrived in town, he was tracked down by fellow model railroader Steve Skerry and together they formed the Seaway Model Railroaders club which meets regularly at the McIntosh Inn and now has 28 members.

Many of the members enjoy visits to Oglestone’s basement where, “I invite the guys over, and we play with it. It’s sort of a game.”

Oglestone has 18 trains, (not all run at the same time) which have all the bells and whistles…sounds and lights. 

He has passenger and freight trains running through Temagami, Moosonee, Cobalt and Cochrane and, from memory and extensive research, he has constructed a number of buildings located in each of these communities in the years from 1955 to 1975.

The first step was to lay out the track, followed by the landscaping which includes hills, ponds and bush lots. There are both lumber and mining camps and farms and farmlands. 

He even constructed a Tim Hortons at Cochrane, which, he points out, is the birthplace of Tim Horton.  Ironically, Cochrane didn’t get “a Tim Hortons until 1995.”

There is an actual model of the Latchford Bridge over the Montreal River and the now closed iron ore “Sherman Mine’ at Temagami. Also featured is the famous “old Cochrane Train Station.”

In nearby Temagami is located the ‘actual’ Busy Bee Restaurant and Grant’s Home Hardware.

From his imagination, Oglestone has added some fun setups, such as a car crash, where, “the guy wasn’t hurt bad enough, so I broke his leg.”

In another spot, bears are climbing over a vehicle stopped along a roadway and nearby, police have a motorist stopped and the SWAT team is out in full force.

Reimer Express Line and Coca Cola trucks are all making their deliveries.

“It’s mostly been from memories, all compressed of course. I’ve actually had people come up from New York to see it. A lady came with her son from New Hampshire and he didn’t want to leave. Everyone who sees it is thrilled.”

“It’s a hobby. It’s a relaxing thing to putter about and now that it’s 99 per cent finished I want to share it.”

Those wishing to visit the Ontario Northland Museum located in Sheldon’s home at 28 Blake Crescent in Morrisburg, are invited to call 613-543-2445 or e-mail snoglestone@yahoo.ca. It will be open, by appointment only, on Saturday afternoons.

[…]

 

“I want to be fair to both sides. I advise council that you read both sides of the story,” said South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds at the December 6th, 2011 council meeting. 

Byvelds was referring to a request for help earlier in the night from the South Branch Wind Opposition Group (SBWOG), a group formed in late 2011 and composed of several residents living in close proximity to Prowind Canada’s planned South Branch Wind Farm  near Brinston.

On January 10th, Prowind Canada held their final public meeting at Matilda Hall in Dixon’s Corners, giving all sides the opportunity to ask questions, get answers, and voice concerns.

The meeting took place after The Leader’s Tuesday press deadline and news from the event will be covered in the January 18th edition. 

For now, however, it may help to get an idea of where things stand on both sides of the proverbial fence. Unfortunately, there seems to be an abundance of conflicting information floating around telling two completely different versions of the same story, each with its own ‘evidence’ for support.

Without getting caught up in this debate over verifiable facts, the more pertinent question seems to be: What does the South Branch Wind Opposition Group want to achieve? The Leader spoke with a representative for the opposition group, Bruce Albers, on January 6th.

According to Albers, SBWOG wants “a halt to all projects until a third party epidemiological study proves they are safe.”

“There is no compromise when it comes to the health of my family and livestock,” he added.

From the research he has done, Albers believes that the construction of wind farms “causes harm to residents, decreases property values, does not decrease GHGs (green house gas emissions), is inefficient and expensive.”

If that is true, then why are wind farms becoming so prevalent in Ontario? According to Jane Wilson of Wind Concerns Ontario, a friend of SBWOG, “its all about that subsidy. They’re here for the money and that’s it.”

The subsidy Wilson is talking about is covered under the Liberal government’s Feed-in tariff (FIT) Program, enabled by the Green Energy and Green Economy Act of 2009. 

According to their own literature, the FIT program is a “guaranteed pricing structure for renewable electricity production. Prices are designed to cover project costs and allow for a reasonable return on investment over the contract term.”

The companies producing the wind farms can expect 13.5 cents per kilowatt return. Wilson pointed out that Quebec is selling hydro power for a mere six cents per kilowatt, leaving Ontarians paying 7.5 cents per kilowatt too much.

She also said that the South Branch Wind Farm project will include 626 foot tall turbines, making them “among the largest in North America.”

The reason for the increased height of the South Branch turbines, according to Wilson, is to compensate for the fact that there is little wind in the area and, so, the turbines need to be taller to pick up the increased winds at a higher altitude.

On the other side of the fence, however, Prowind Canada maintains their good intentions. In October 2011, Cathy Weston, former Managing Director of Prowind Canada, said the South Branch Wind Farm is “a great step forward in renewable energy.”

She maintained that the company is open and honest with the public in an effort to be responsible and transparent.

In a phone interview on January 9th, Jeffrey Segal, Weston’s recent replacement at Prowind Canada, voiced the same message saying that Prowind is available and listening to concerns from the public and, in fact, have already taken some concerns under advisement and made changes.

Segal pointed out that minimum government requirement for distance between homes and turbines is 550 metres. Prowind’s turbines average over 700 metres, he said. 

In October, Weston told The Leader that only two houses come within 600 metres of a turbine and the rest are at least one kilometre (1,000 metres) away.

In response to the height of the wind turbines, Segal informed that “no turbines have been selected” as of yet.

He acknowledged that there are bits of “misinformation” out there that have “gotten blown out of proportion from reality.” He reminded that the final meeting, in addition to the several meetings leading up to this, is an opportunity for “anyone with concerns over the project” to ask questions.

The point of the meeting, he said, is to ensure that “people who have genuine concerns have a forum.”

Segal admitted to not having heard of the South Branch Wind Opposition Group before the January 9th interview.

In response to what Prowind Canada would do should issues arise for residents after the wind farm goes into operation, Segal said, the issues will be “dealt with in a structured and transparent way.”

He pointed out that there are mandatory protocols in place for possible issues. 

Prowind Canada, as Weston pointed out in October, “wants to do things properly.” 

“We don’t want to have issues,” said Segal.  In an effort to avoid them, he claims Prowind Canada is doing things properly from the start.

In an effort to be transparent, at each of their public meetings, Prowind Canada has provided  ‘unbiased’ reports, displays, and documents for anyone to peruse.

In fact, for the question and answer period of the January 10th meeting, as advertised, the panel featured Dr. Loren Knopper, co-author of Health effects and wind turbines: A review of the literature.

In an interesting twist, both Wilson and Albers pointed to the Prowind Canada expert as proof of their conviction that wind farms are harmful to health. They supplied a now-public document written by Eric Gillespie of Eric K. Gillespie Professional Corporation, Barristers & Solicitors: “The conclusion of Knopper and Ollson (2011) acknowledges the existence of ‘trade-offs’ between ‘mental and social well-being’ of some individuals exposed to wind turbines ‘against the larger demand for energy and its source.’”

In addition to supplying their own proof, each side, it would seem, is also providing their own interpretation of that proof in an effort to support their own agenda. Disregarding the proof and its various interpretations, the question remains: what will happen with the South Branch project?

At the end of 2011, the South Branch Wind Opposition Group met with the ‘affected’ township councils and asked for help. According to Albers, “so far Edwardsburgh/Cardinal has refused to do anything about the issue, even after providing two presentations that included sufficient documentation to indicate the significant risks to the local population, and Jim McDonell has not returned my email asking for a meeting about the issue, nor did he show up to our information session.”

Jim McDonell, MPP for Stormont, Dundas, and South Glengarry, contacted The Leader on January 9th in response to the South Branch Wind Farm project.

McDonell attended the last Prowind public meeting in October, where he said, “I didn’t get any feedback at that time that anyone in the community was upset.” 

McDonell spoke out against the Liberal party’s Green Energy Act, pointing out that it has even been “condemned by the Auditor General as not being affordable.”

In addition, he reminded, that the Auditor General also found that for every job created by the Green Energy Act, three to four are lost. “It really doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “They’re blindly moving ahead with it.”

McDonell agreed that “the logic of generating green energy is great,” but “to have the government guarantee a 25 per cent return is absolutely crazy. The government of Ontario can’t afford it.”

As for Prowind’s final public meeting on January 10th, McDonell was unsure at press time whether he would be able to attend the event due to a previously-booked commitment.

Right now, McDonell said, he and his cohorts are still “trying to return the decisions to the local level” via a petition. They want the Premier to “listen to what the residents are saying.”

The SBWOG is still waiting on the decision of the South Dundas council as to whether they will lend their support.

Without support of some kind, it appears unlikely that SBWOG will be successful in their current endeavour.

Albers remarked that “the majority of the population live in cities where they simply don’t care about what happens in the rural areas. Out of sight, out of mind.”

Will Prowind Canada be able to ease the concerns of the South Branch Wind Opposition Group? Check back next week for a follow-up to the January 10th public meeting.

[…]