Emotions are running high at the opening day of an Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal hearing to determine the fate of wind turbine project by NextEra Energy in Lambton and Middlesex Counties.
Community members and the County of Lambton are facing off against the Ontario Environment Ministry and NextEra Energy over the Jericho Wind Energy Project, which would bring 92 turbines to the region.
An opening statement by resident Muriel Allingham, who is appealing the provincial ministry’s approval of the Jericho project alongside several other community members, attacked NextEra as greedy.
In order to overturn the province’s approval of the Jericho Wind Project, Allingham and the County of Lambton must prove it will cause severe harm to humans or the environment.
The first presenter of the day, Elizabeth Bellavance, a local community and social justice advocate, urged the tribunal to consider the injustice of the requirement.
In any project other than renewable energy where products like wind and vibration are released into the environment, showing “adverse effects” is enough to halt their use.
Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc. 