Monthly Archives: March 2018

Adverse Health Effects, Direct Effects, ERT Appeal, legal challenges

Political manipulated law is a slippery slope

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slippery slope

Published: March 29, 2018|The Creemore Echo|Letters & Opinion By 

Editor:

It pains me to find that my faith in Ontario’s judicial system has turned into cynicism.

In the matter of appealing the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change approval for WPD Corporation to erect eight 475-ft high wind turbines bordering County Rd. 91, west of the 4th line, (Fairview Wind Farm) a long, thorough and expensive Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) Hearing was held in the summer of 2016

Two issues were addressed:

• Endangerment to human health, citing their proximity to the Collingwood Regional Airport and Kevin Elwood’s aerodrome.

• Irreparable harm to an endangered species, citing the impact on the habitat of little brown myotis bats.

The ERT found in favour of the appellants on both issues! That should have been the end of it, with the MOE approval revoked.

Notwithstanding WPD having every opportunity to present remedial arguments during the hearing, the MOE, being unhappy with the results of the hearing, provided WPD an additional month to provide a remedial argument. WPD failed to do so. The MOE then allowed WPD another week, with WPD failing again.

However, WPD did concede the ‘Danger to human health’ issue. Again, that should have been the end of it, with the MOE approval revoked.

In complete disregard of the Tribunal’s ruling and WPD’s conceding the health issue, the MOE invoked the necessity of a remedial hearing. In other words, give us the ruling we want. Since the MOE appoints the ERT and pays their salaries (a conflict of interest) they applied unusual pressure on the Tribunal.

In spite of MOE’s meddling, the ERT rose to the occasion and again found in favour of the appellants. The MOE’s approval was revoked. There will be no Fairview Wind Farm… YEA!

If this is a sample of what we can expect of government manipulating the wheels of justice to further their agendas, we can only become more cynical.

It’s a slippery slope!

John Wiggins,

Collingwood.

Adverse Health Effects, Destruction from turbines, Environment, Government Misrepresentation, Health

Life without clean water after the wind turbines came

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cropped-coffee-and-waterWhere We’ve Been, Where We’re Going

It’s been longer than I would have liked, to post another update.  That’s the funny thing…as the information changes quickly, its hard to stay ahead of it.

I want to give a bit of a back story.  We have been at this water protection thing for almost two years.  But our lack of water started in July, 2017.  In our case, pile driving for wind turbines near our house started on July 27, 2017.  By the end of the next day the water quit coming into the house in the middle of someone’s shower.

We found that the sediment traps we had installed to monitor our water quality ahead of the construction were clogged with sediment.  We had never seen this before…..

A new blog  coming from Ontario detailing the serious changes to daily life as a family struggles  every day with the loss of clean water  that occured after the wind turbines were built.  It highlights the lack of meaningful resolution not only by the wind industry and project operators but also the failures of the government to be protective and serve the people.

The View with Coffee
Our fight for clean water and quiet country living.

Adverse Health Effects, legal challenges, Stray Voltage

Public Information Event

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Special Public Information Event:

UNDERSTANDING STRAY VOLTAGE & INDUSTRIAL WIND TURBINES

Saturday April 21st 2018
1pm to 5pm -doors open @ 12:00pm
Covenant Christian School, 6470 Regional Rd 14, Smithville L0R 2A0
Free Event – Donations Graciously Accepted

Dine-With-Us Option: A full course, pay-per-plate offering is available for the evening portion of this event. Alan Whiteley will be our featured speaker.
Time: 6pm
Dinner Cost: $20/plate
Dinner Includes: Salad, Chicken (pancetta cream sauce), roasted potatoes, vegetables, dessert and tea/coffee.

Please email strayvoltagedinner@gmail.com or 905-562-7159 (Mary) to confirm your attendance for the Dine-With-Us paid dinner event.
Please RSVP by April 11, 2018

Wind Turbines, Stray Voltage & Harm Reduction

Speakers:
David Stetzer: IWT Fingerprint, Tuned Filters, IEEE Standards & Regulations, Hydro Regulations, How Stray Voltage Affects Us All.
Carmen Krogh: Preliminary Results: The Vacated Home Research Study
Interactive Panel Discussion with:
David Stetzer, Carmen Krogh, Alan Whiteley & Barb Ashbee
Dine-With-Us Option: A full course, pay-per-plate offering is available for the evening portion of this event. Lawyer Alan Whiteley will be our featured speaker.

More about:
David Stetzer
Dave Stetzer has been an electrician by training, education and experience for over 30 years. In 1975, Dave founded Stetzer Electric, Inc. and remains the president of the company to this day. Since the firm’s inception, Dave has specialized in power control in industry, municipalities, and motor control centers. For more than the past decade, Dave has focused more attention on power quality analysis and troubleshooting, which led to the founding of Stetzer Consulting. Dave Stetzer is a senior member of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electrical Engineers), an expert witness in litigation suits in ground currents and power quality, co-author of peer reviewed papers in journals, producer of the documentary ‘Beyond Coincidence: The Perils of Electrical Pollution’, consultant for Ministers of Health in Kazakhstan, Middle East and Government Health Officials in Russia. He continues to be a sought after, integral contributor in research projects around the world.
Carmen Krogh
Carmen M Krogh is a full time volunteer and published researcher regarding health effects and industrial wind energy facilities. She shares information with communities; individuals; federal, provincial and public health authorities, wind energy developers; the industry; and others. An author and a co-author of peer reviewed articles and conference papers presented at wind turbine noise scientific conferences. A retired pharmacist whose career includes: senior executive positions at a teaching hospital (Director of Pharmacy); a drug information researcher at another teaching hospital; a Director of a professional organization; a Consultant at the Bureau of Human Prescription Drugs (Health Canada); and a Director (A) at Health Canada (PMRA). She is the former Director of Publications and Editor in Chief of the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS), the book used by physicians, nurses, and health professionals for prescribing information in Canada.
Alan Whiteley
Alan J Whiteley has been an attorney for over 30 years, is accredited by the Upper Canada Law Society, and has a consistently high rating with the Martindale-Hubbell Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He has been the Editor of University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review, negotiated government defence contracts, and served as counsel to the Security Intelligence Review Committee (Canada). His experience includes serving as counsel for the arbitration of international commercial disputes as well as having served as counsel for internationally-based aerospace and airport organizations. He is legal counsel for the County Coalition for Safe and Appropriate Green Energy (CCSAGE) based in Prince Edward County, and in this capacity has undertaken to challenge various aspects of Ontario’s Green Energy Act via a Judicial Review. Mr Whiteley will be participating on the panel discussion and offering observations on the hurdles to be overcome to obtain legal remedy from experiencing negative effects of IWTs.
Barb Ashbee
Barb and her husband were happy and healthy before a wind turbine project started up around their home causing serious adverse health effects that drove them to leave. Testing in their home showed out of compliance noise, infrasound and electrical pollution. It was a battle to get any meaningful information or assistance from the government. After hiring a lawyer, they settled with the company, were able to relocate and their symptoms subsided after moving. Almost 10 years later, the anger and dismay at what the government is doing to citizens has not lessened as the toll rises. Barb continues to advocate for resolution for victims impacted by wind energy and has communicated with and attended countless government and community meetings over the years.

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Adverse Health Effects, Appeal NRWC Wind Project, Direct Effects, Fighting the NRWC Wind Project, Health

LIFE AMIDST THE TURBINES

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A Victim’s Voice of the Niagara Region Wind Farm

cryingMarch 15, 2018
Today is day number 4 that the NRWF project which became operational on November 1, 2016 has been shut down at the request of Hydro One for work at their substation in Hamilton.

This has given me an excellent  opportunity to assess the gradual symptoms or lack thereof that I have been experiencing.

I had waded into the  pool of depression gradually without identifying it as such.  There were frequent days when I did not have to put my P J’s on because I was still in them in the evening. I vaguely recognized the person staring back at me in the mirror. I had no interest in my appearance nor my attire. I no longer wanted to play cards with the seniors and  enjoy their camaraderie and competitiveness.

My head ached from internal pressure. I couldn’t focus on simple math. It was too challenging.  Some days I  abandoned reading articles. I wasn’t able to focus nor concentrate on them where before I relished reading them especially wind turbine related ones since I live in the epicentre of the turbines in our community.

Delayed Perception. Now that is an interesting term. Have you ever driven in the evening at night and seen what appeared to be huge red taillights ahead of you?

I wondered  why the red taillights I was seeing  were  so large only to discover moments later that they were the red traffic lights at the next intersection. This should have been an automatic observation. I am  having moments of delayed perception in other instances as well. I found myself making silly mistakes and then wondering why I had done that. I am struggling through the brain fog.

I have a frequent companion named Dizziness. Some days are worse than others. I now always hit the pause button before I take the first step from a rising position and I am especially careful in rising from a prone position. This dizziness I first began to experience last summer.

On day number 3 of the shut down of the project I noticed that my depression had lifted. I felt energetic and did some household chores which had been neglected for quite some  time. I did not have the energy nor the motivation to do them before.

I had a feeling of  enthusiasm  and normalcy that had become a stranger to me in the past months.

The brain fog has lifted and I am able to concentrate at the moment. The dizziness has  abated and I do not have to hit the pause button before rising.

Some verbs I’ve used in the past tense knowing full well that all the symptoms will revisit me once again when the project becomes operational  again.

It is my wish that relating my experiences will perhaps help someone else identify their symptoms if they are living amidst turbines but not making the connection. Symptoms will vary from person to person and the listing of health impacts is more comprehensive so please do the research if you suspect that your symptoms could be turbine related.

Adverse Health Effects, Appeal NRWC Wind Project, Children Affected, Health

Lights Out for Niagara Wind

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This slideshow requires JavaScript.

With the NRWF project down for days, our community is reminded of the pure, nature’s darkness of our night skies.

The stars are bright and the neighbourhood is silent.

(Transformer 2 of Niagara Region wind was being worked on while the shut down had been at the request of Hydro One for work on another transformer station in Hamilton.)

“I took pictures on my way home tonight and fought tears as I recall how much I loved my home and quiet remote community.

I quickly turned those tears into motivation; we will get our health, skies and communities restored.

Normally red flashing lights! But no power to the turbines so the aviation lights are dying and dead!”

“I wonder whether anyone is noticing changes in their health status now that the turbines have not been operational since early Monday and making the connection? What an opportunity to self assess the symptoms that are not present.

I now recognize that depression has been one of my symptoms. Today for the first time in months I have felt motivated. My frequent companion dizziness has decreased so much. I have not felt the achy head pressure and my concentration is back once more.

Two more days of reprieve.”

“The heavy blanket has been lifted. You know those blankets we wear at x-ray time to protect our thyroid etc? That’s how I feel I am each day – everything is a chore.

The haze – the dense cloud I have been living in is gone. The clarity present yesterday and today is remarkable.

I had a herbal tea on the deck at 10pm, wrapped in a blanket and just soaked in my natural environment. It was quiet, the sky was dark and a great reminder of what we fight so hard for. Glorious!”

“Delayed Perception. Now that is an interesting term. Have you ever driven in the evening at night and seen what appeared to be huge red taillights ahead of you? I wondered why the red taillights I was seeing were so large only to discover moments later that they were the red traffic lights at the next intersection. This should have been an automatic observation. I am having moments of delayed perception in other instances as well. I found myself making silly mistakes and then wondering why I had done that. I am struggling through the brain fog.
I have a frequent companion named Dizziness. Some days are worse than others. I now always hit the pause button before I take the first step from a rising position and I am especially careful in rising from a prone position. This dizziness I first began to experience last summer.
On day number 3 of the shut down of the project I noticed that my depression had lifted. I felt energetic and did some household chores which had been neglected for quite some time. I did not have the energy nor the motivation to do them before. I had a feeling of enthusiasm and normalcy that had become a stranger to me in the past months.
The brain fog has lifted and I am able to concentrate at the moment. The dizziness has abated and I do not have to hit the pause button before rising.
Some verbs I’ve used in the past tense knowing full well that all the symptoms will revisit me once again when the project becomes operational again.
It is my wish that relating my experiences will perhaps help someone else identify their symptoms if they are living amidst turbines but not making the connection. Symptoms will vary from person to person and the listing of health impacts is more comprehensive so please do the research if you suspect that your symptoms could be turbine related.”

“Darn it!!! It’s so quiet and the night sky is completely dark. I will enjoy it for one more night I guess.”

Niagara Region Wind Farm (NRWF)

Contracts Cancelled, Cost Benefit, Green Energy, Ontario Wind

Could Ontario cancel the wind contracts?

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Cancelling Contracts: The Power of Governments to Unilaterally Alter Agreements

By: Bruce Pardy| Fraser Institute| Published on October 22, 2014

Government contracts are indeed contracts. In the normal course of events, their terms may be enforced and the Crown held liable for a breach. However, government contracts are not the ironclad agreements they appear to be because governments may change or cancel them by enacting legislation. This paper discusses the means by which governments can make unilateral changes to contracts by statutory enactment.

Legislative supremacy is a central feature of the Canadian system of government. The federal Parliament and provincial legislatures may pass laws of any kind, including laws that change or cancel legally binding agreements, and even if the enactment has the effect of expropriating property or causing hardship to innocent parties who negotiated with government in good faith in entering into the contract in the first place. The powers of legislatures are limited only by the bounds of their constitutional jurisdiction and the existence of constitutional rights. In Canada, there is no constitutional right to compensation for expropriated property.

Just because legislatures can enact an end to a contract does not mean that they should. Using that power erodes confidence in doing business with government, and thus impairs the credit of the Crown and economic conditions in the jurisdiction. On the other hand, if democratically elected governments are to establish their own policies, they require the ability to make unilateral changes to agreements made by previous governments. If they cannot legitimately do so, then their predecessors can control policy decisions beyond the terms of their democratic mandates….

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Cancelling Contracts: The Power of Governments to Unilaterally Alter Agreements:
(full report)

cancelled

Destruction from turbines, Environment, German Wind, Green Energy

Blighted Landscape

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Wind energy is destroying the country more than any other industry.

wind-farm-germany

Blighted landscape…everything “blinking and rotating”

Read article (in German):  Windkraft zerstört das Land mehr als jede Industrie

Wind’s False Promise Of Energy Purity Now An Environmental Hell

“Public opinion of wind energy in Germany, once unanimously high, has eroded considerably over the past years as more people begin to realize that the country’s once-idyllic countryside is turning into a blighted industrial landscape”

Read article: Wind’s False Promise Of Energy Purity Now An Environmental Hell

Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Health, legal challenges, Property Rights

Niagara Wind facing lawsuit

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“Two families are taking legal action related to a plume of construction dust from a Niagara Region Wind Farm construction site in 2015 that they say has left them with physical and mental health issues, as well as property damage and monetary losses.”

WL_AUG06_turbine_dust1_am___Gallery
Dust spreading from the construction site in 2015 of one of  the 77 Enercon wind turbines that make up the Niagara Region Wind Farm. Photo: Stefanos Karatopis

Scott Rosts|Grimbsy Lincoln News|March 7, 2018

Local families take legal action after turbine construction incident

Claims relate to construction dust in summer of 2015

Two families are taking legal action related to a plume of construction dust from a Niagara Region Wind Farm construction site in 2015 that they say has left them with physical and mental health issues, as well as property damage and monetary losses.

Raymond Sherman and Alexandra Karatopis Sherman, along with their three children, and Stefanos Karatopis — the brother of Alexandra — are named as plaintiffs in court documents that were originally filed last summer, about two years after the July 23, 2015 incident. A list of 25 defendants, including 10 individuals whose identities are unknown, are named in the notice, ranging from stakeholders in the Niagara Region Wind Farm, to construction companies and employees to the Township of West Lincoln and Region of Niagara.

In court documents, the plaintiffs allege workers at the wind farm on Regional Road 20 in West Lincoln were discharging a construction dust which made its way into the house. While the parents were not home, the Sherman children were and the documents allege they had difficulty breathing and their eyes were burning.

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Adverse Health Effects, ERT Appeal, fighting big wind., Government Misrepresentation, legal challenges

Taxpayers pay proving government compromised safety

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“As the community proved at the ERT hearing, this project should not have been approved in the first place,” he said. “It’s outrageous the government could be so negligent, making it necessary for the citizens to protect the public, then hide behind flawed legislation that robs the tribunal appointed by them in overlooking their bad decisions to award costs to the citizens who successfully proved the government compromised people’s safety.”

STA_winddecision02_au24_ia_Super_Portrait
Clearview Township councillor Kevin Elwood. – Metroland file photo

ERT rules no cost relief to challenge Clearview wind turbine decision

By Ian Adams|Wasaga Sun | Feb 27, 2018

Local taxpayers will be on the hook for the successful challenge to a plan to erect eight turbines in Clearview Township.

The same goes for Kevin and Gail Elwood, John Wiggins, and the residents’ group Preserve Clearview, after the Environmental Review Tribunal dismissed an application for costs related to their appeal of a decision to grant WPD a renewable energy application for the Fairview Wind Project.

The tribunal ultimately ruled last August to revoke that approval on the basis the planned 500-foot-tall turbines presented a serious risk to human health because of the proximity of the project to the Collingwood Regional Airport and the Clearview Aerodrome owned by the Elwoods.

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