Altamont Winds told the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service in an email Oct. 23 that it is ceasing operations as of Sunday.

The decision was applauded by environmental groups, which for years have been fighting to build awareness around the large numbers of golden eagles, raptors, burrowing owls and other birds that are killed by turbines.

“It’s a really big deal,” said Michael Lynes, director of public policy for Audubon California. “(Altamont Winds) is the second-largest operator in the Altamont, and they were doggedly continuing to use those old turbines that we know have a disproportionately high rate of mortality.”

Altamont Winds did not return calls for comment.

A turkey vulture flies among dormant wind turbines in the Altamont area of Contra Costa County on May 8, 2015. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

Altamont Winds Vice President Bill Damon wrote in the email to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service that “the reduction of avian impacts” was the primary reason for the company to discontinue its Altamont operations.

The shutdown was a surprise, as Altamont had earlier this year received an extension to operate until 2018, which frustrated environmentalists.

read more:  By Dan Lawton dlawton@bayareanewsgroup.com POSTED: 10/30/2015

October 30, 2015

Ostrander Point ERT in Demorestville Day 3

The ERT re-convened at 10 am today at Demorestville Town Hall.  After much procedural wrangling about the documents that were disclosed by Karen Bellamy finally Ms. Bellamy’s cross examination was begun in the late morning. There was a discussion about how to deal with the vast amount of material that had been disclosed.  Normally each item would be entered as an exhibit as it was discussed with the witness, but this was deemed to be a cumbersome method in this case.  It was decided to get started and see how things went.  Mr. Wright was quite insistent that it was necessary to get on with the cross examination. Eric Gillespie started through the 1500 documents that were disclosed.  Most of the information that Eric was taking Ms. Bellamy to was about the process of how the Endangered Species Act was to be implemented and the plans for the Impact Management Plan.  It became obvious that the approach of going through 1500 documents one by one was not a productive exercise.  Eric suggested – with the agreement of Ms. Davis and Ms. Kromkamp that the documents could be grouped into categories and that a representative document or two from each category would provide the information he wanted to relay to the Tribunal.  Over the lunch break we went through the three volumes of documents and categorized them into groups such as: articles that could be removed from the record; articles that had been previously referred to, and a broad category of newspaper articles, power points, draft ESA permits and EBR postings and a group of unclassified emails.

The gist of Eric Gillespie’s argument was that the documents showed clear indications that Ms. Bellamy’s role was to coordinate and promote the Ostrander Point development.  The written notes that were released through a freedom of information request included a communication between Ms. Bellamy and Mike Lord of Gilead regarding a CBC interview that took place in 2011.  It was revealed that the “House Notes” about Ostrander Point that were delivered to assistant deputy ministers and deputy ministers were reviewed and approved by her.  There were 31 newspaper articles in the released documents that showed that she was regularly receiving media stories about Ostrander Point.

The final argument was about which documents would be entered into the record as exhibits for the Tribunal to consider when making their decision on the case.  Ms Kromkamp continued to assert that none of the documents were relevant to the remedy case.  Eric Gillespie’s argument was that although some documents were not relevant most of them were and these documents went to the determination of credibility of Ms. Bellamy as a fact witness.  In his final submission’s he pointed out the lack of information about the Blanding’s Turtle in any of the documents.  The organization of documents that Eric Gillespie proposed was accepted because it allowed for the tribunal to have context of the arguments presented.  All the documents he proposed that the Tribunal accept as exhibits were accepted.

Two witnesses remain to be heard.  There will be a teleconference on Wednesday Nov 4 to determine further timing for the Ostrander Point Environmental Review Tribunal hearings.

Click to access untitled-attachment-00004.pdf

Date/Time: September 21, 2015 / 5:30 – 8:30pm Place: Wellandport Community Centre – 5042 Canborough Road Attendees: CLC Members: Jordan Fois, Community Member Gerry Veluhuszen, Community Member John Sikkens, Community Member Brian Staff, Community Member Kris Franklin, Haldimand County FWRN LP: Adam Rosso, Boralex, Director of Development Bill Somerville, Enercon, Director of Construction Stantec: Krista Walkey, CLC Chair & Facilitator Jennifer Mondell, Planner Absentees: Irene Kerkhovent, Community Member Drew Cherry, GRCA Distribution: All Attendees, Absentees & FWRN Website

follow link to read meeting notes: Untitled attachment 00004

“In Quebec and the rest of Canada, the almost total absence of wind-farm accident reports over the last 15 years suggests a lack of monitoring and accident reporting,”

Canada’s wind-energy sector, when compared to Europe’s, is an infant. But at just a few decades old, this nascent renewable energy resource is clearly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Wind turbines operate in every province, as well as the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. Wind energy accounts for nearly five per cent of domestic energy demand — enough power to meet the needs of more than three million homes each year.

Between 2010 and 2014, Canada’s wind power grew by a whopping average of 24 per cent year over year. With the commissioning of the K2 Wind Power Project in southwestern Ontario in June, Canada has become the seventh country in the world to surpass 10,000 megawatts of installed wind-energy capacity — a move that, supporters say, positions the country to continue its rapid growth as a mainstream contributor to the supply of electricity.

As wind turbines are relatively new on the Canadian power-generation scene, the work conditions in these installations have been, until recently, largely unexamined. But a team of researchers in Quebec, who conducted a review of the occupational health and safety risks associated with working in the wind-energy sector, has shed some light on the issue. Their 66-page report, Wind Energy Sector — Occupational Health and Safety Risks and Accident Prevention Strategies, was released in March by the Montreal-based Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST). This first study of Quebec’s wind-energy sector assesses the industry’s workplace-safety practices and the hazards to which its workers are exposed.

“Working in a wind turbine is not at all like working in a conventional factory,” says Jean-Louise Chaumel, Ph.D., professor at the Université du Québec à Rimouski and co-author of the IRSST report.

The exploratory study concludes that the main hazards of working at wind turbines are falls from heights, the remote locations of wind farms and contact with high-voltage electricity and moving parts in a cramped space. The unique conditions of working at wind turbines in Quebec, including weather and isolation, also increase job risks. But accident-prevention programs do not take these specific conditions sufficiently into account, because these plans are based on documentation produced by wind-turbine manufacturers — most of which are European.

read more: http://www.ohscanada.com/features/shifting-winds/

NextEra Energy acknowledged Wednesday that it shut down some of its Ontario turbines and warned landowners after it was discovered a part on spinning blades could fly off.

NextEra said the potential problem was with “a small thin plastic attachment” on the turbine blades that could separate while in operation.

“No injuries or property damage occurred as a result of this situation and we are working aggressively to develop a long-term solution,” NextEra spokesperson Joselen Bird said in an e-mail.

Some wind turbines, particularly those near roadways or other public access areas were temporarily shut down. After the plastic part was removed from the blades, the turbines were restarted, Bird said.

Bird emphasized that affected landowners were notified and the company shared with them the actions being taken.

The issue was raised in the Ontario Legislature Tuesday by Huron-Bruce Conservative MPP Lisa Thompson, who demanded a safety audit of industrial wind turbines across the province because of the risk of falling debris. She asked the government to shut down any turbines found unsafe.

Thompson said farmers in the Municipality of Bluewater north of London had been told by the wind farm company to stay a minimum of 300 metres away from the turbines when harvesting their crops.

read more:  By John Miner, The London Free Press Wednesday, October 21, 2015

First Ontario….and now the Country.

Renewable energy

Trudeau has a particularly ambitious plan for renewable energy projects, with a promise to commit nearly $6 billion in green spending over a four-year period and ramping that up to nearly $20 billion over 10 years. The Liberals will also incorporate climate impact analysis into federal contracting, which could get further money flowing into the green space.

All of that will be welcome news for Canada’s renewable energy companies, especially as the previous government focused investment on the oil and gas sector.

“It is fair to assume that the sector will be a big net winner under this government, as they have carved out specific spending in their infrastructure outlays for green energy,” said BMO’s Porter. “Beyond direct spending on the sector, it’s also safe to assume that the government will support the sector heavily through direct measures.”

Canada is set to head in a new economic direction with the election of Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party to a majority government. Trudeau will have four years to implement his electoral platform, which includes billions of dollars in new infrastructure spending and tax cuts aimed at the middle class. Here is how economists expect the new government will affect five key areas.

The loonie

Following the victory, the Canadian dollar rose 0.2 per cent after shedding 0.8 per cent Monday in the lead-up to election night.

In the coming months, however, the loonie could see some weakness as the currency is hit with an “uncertainty premium,” notes David Tulk, head of global macro strategy at TD Securities. “As observed with prior changes in government, we anticipate the outcome to be modestly USDCAD positive.”

The loonie could also see longer-term weakness, as Trudeau has pledged to run a deficit for the next three years in order to spur economic growth.

“Longer term, more government debt will drag on the Canadian dollar and will make interest payments an increasingly large portion of the government budget,” said Darren Sissons, managing director and portfolio manager at Portfolio Management Corp. “This will ultimately decrease policy flexibility in future years.”

Financial Post, John Shmuel | October 20, 2015

Queen’s Park– In the House this morning, MPP Lisa Thompson (Huron-Bruce) asked the Liberal Minister for Environment and Climate Change to commit to conducting thorough, routine safety inspections on Industrial Wind Turbines (IWTs) after it has been reported that harmful direct impacts could be realized due to debris falling off.‎

It has been reported that farmers in the Municipality of Bluewater were being told to keep back 300 meters from IWTs due to potential direct harmful impacts, and to notify the wind farm operators when they are harvesting their crops near a turbine so that the blade rotation could be slowed.

“Not only has this Liberal government forced unwilling communities to host these expensive, unwanted turbines, they are now putting the safety of these communities at risk,” said Thompson. “Safety audits and standards should be routine in any large-scale industrial project, and failing apply them to IWTs is negligent”.

In his response, Minister Glen Murray did not commit to immediately conducting a safety audit of the wind farm in question through an impartial third party.

You can view Lisa’s question below:

http://lisathompsonmpp.ca/2015/10/20/mpp-thompson-demands-safety-audits-and-standards-for-ontario-wind-turbines/

If you thought the carry-on and underhand tactics by the wind companies in Ireland was something to believe, feel relieved that you are not being threatened by the Turkish wind industry (probably owned by the same crowd?), who seem to be well in control of local government and the district courts.

The environmentalist Esen Fatma Kabadayi Whiting has been conducting a brave struggle against the energy company ABK Çeşme RES Enerji Elektrik Üretim A.Ş since 2013 February. She has been resisting the building of wind farms close to residential properties and has also been highlighting the devastation caused to protected areas of conservation and to agricultural land..

The energy company responded to this campaign by making a complaint of criminal slander against Ms Whiting, but she denied the charge as bogus in the Çeşme 1st Criminal Court. The company representative who made the complaint did not bother to appear, but despite his non-appearance in court to pursue his complaint, the case was adjourned to 18 December, rather than being dismissed.

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Ms Whiting has often spoken out against the compulsory appropriation of land under the Emergency Nationalization procedure and the environmental damage caused by the Çeşme WPP company. She vowed not to give up and promised that the struggle would continue against the Çeşme WPP as she predicted: “One day the wind will turn.”
“I didn’t slander anyone. If I had said those words to him there I would say them to him again in this courtroom. I’m not one to be merciful with my words,” said Ms Whiting.

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The case was postponed to allow the complainant to give his evidence in furtherance of the charge of criminal slander.

“As always the project manager makes the accusation and one of the company employees is the witness. In two years we have made many complaints against the irregular activities of the company. But we were not allowed to complain when we were threatened by their people or their bulldozers. Our struggle is a social struggle. This case against me is a case against the whole of Çeşme,” said Ms Whiting.

read more: on October 20, 2015