Just another day at the wind farm
Category Archives: Health
Moving out: Anti-wind activist leaves Ontario worried for family’s health
April 25, 2014 – The Independent – Serving Petrolia & Central Lambton
Esther Wrightman feels like she is being evicted from her own home.
The woman who has been at the forefront of the anti-industrial wind turbine movement in Middlesex and Lambton County is moving to New Brunswick.
Wrightman, who heads up the Middlesex-Lambton Wind Concerns group and runs the Ontario Wind Resistance website, put up the for sale sign on her home Tuesday as workers from NextEra continue to put up wind turbines around her home just outside of Warwick. She says it was one of the toughest things she’s ever done. “You feel like you’ve been evicted,” says Wrightman who fears for the health of her family.
“I don’t think we had much of a choice here,” she says. “When you have people in your family with (pre-existing) health problems…you can’t risk it to stay…you have to leave.”
Wrightman has be in the forefront of the fight against a number of projects, including the Bornish and Adelaide projects by NextEra Energy which are right in her backyard. She went to the Ontario Energy Board to try to stop the company from building its transmission wires down the roads in her community, but lost. Now, crews are busy in the neighbourhood putting up one turbine after another.
“It really does make you want to throw up,” she says as she watches the turbines go up in the places which used to be dots on maps in NextEra’s plans. “I know these dots on these maps in my head now, after so many years now – where they are and who they effect …And then you see the dots ripped in the ground…yeah this is exactly what I had imagined. Somewhere in my mind there was a chance it wouldn’t happen…but now it’s holes and concrete… “This is what I thought would happen, but now its worse because it has happened.
“These companies have come in, they won’t be staying as people they’ll be staying as machines but you have to stay and suffer or you have to leave…That does make me angry.”
Wrightman says some of that anger has worn off as she plans to move her family to New Brunswick with her parents. New Brunswick isn’t pursuing wind energy so the family will take its nursery business to the province this summer and start again. The activist may have to return to Ontario. NextEra is suing Wrightman for libel after labeling the company as Next-Terror on line and on placards during some of the dozens of demonstrations she’s been part of. She’s not ready to walk away from that fight.
“They’ve taken my place, taken my home that I was so attached to, and five years of my life fighting,” she says. “I’m determined that they won’t take my right to speak out as a person. I’m determined they won’t take my happiness and they won’t take my health and the health of my family.”
But she admits they have taken away some very precious things – her sense of being rooted in a community and her faith in the political system. “I cannot put any faith in politicians at all…It’s a game and your pawns in their game,” says Wrightman who won’t stay in Ontario to see if an anticipated provincial election will change the situation.
Wrightman says she is concerned for the neighbours she leaves behind and the impression she may leave with others who are still fight projects in their neighbourhoods. “It does look somewhat that I’m pulling up stakes, leaving retreating. I don’t like how it looks. I’m sure the wind companies like it, “ she says. “Some people may say ‘you need to stay you have to stay and help,’ As much as I would like to stay and fight I can’t do that to my family.”
In the end, she says it is a personal choice to leave the province to protect the health of her family. “I’m a voice I’m a single person…this is what happens. We fought, we pushed them back,” she says adding she doesn’t know what to say to others continuing the fight. “When they ask, what could I do, I don’t even know what to tell them – fight government? Fight wind companies? I don’t know. Now, when the wind turbines are up its even harder – it’s almost impossible. They’re not coming down. “It’s a hard pill to swallow.”
See original article here: http://petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2014/04/25/moving-out-anti-wind-activist-leaves-ontario-worried-for-familys-health/
Turtles vs. turbines
A Blanding’s turtle roadside at Ostrander Point. Photo from Prince Edward County Field Naturalists.
The Ontario Divisional Court has ruled in favor of a wind turbine project that put groups with environmental interests at odds with each other.
On one side is an alternative energy project. On the other is protection of a threatened turtle species and fragile soil.
Prince Edward County Field Naturalists (PECFN) took Ostrander Point Gilead Power Inc. to court to challenge the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s “renewable energy approval” to build nine wind turbines near Lake Ontario in Prince Edward County.
The court decision – now on hold pending a further appeal — would allow Ostrander to start construction after the Environmental Review Tribunal revoked the Ministry’s approval.
PECFN relied on the Endangered Species Act to halt the project. The act requires proof of harm to human health, or serious and irreversible harm to plant…
View original post 670 more words
MONOPOLY: Ontario Liberal Party Version
With more and more families in Ontario entering Energy Poverty, thanks to the insane policies of the Liberal Party, families are now finding themselves sitting in the dark at night. This has spawned a resurgence in board games and the newest rage in board games is the Ontario Liberal Party version of Monopoly.
Click on game to enlarge slightly then use your browser button to zoom in to be able to see squares clearly.
Presentation: “Harm from Wind Turbines: What Has Been Known for Decades”
Speaker: Carmen Krogh
Date: Wed 7 May 2014. 3:30pm.
Place: DC1302 (Davis Center), University of Waterloo
Abstract:
The topic of adverse health effects associated with wind facilities is globally debated. It is acknowledged that if placed too close to residents, industrial wind turbines can negatively affect the physical, mental and social well-being of some. In addition to the general population, at risk are the vulnerable such as fetuses, babies, children, elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions. There is published research on the effects of Low Frequency/Infrasound (LFI) on people and animals dating back several decades. This presentation will provide some of the available evidence drawn from peer reviewed literature, authoritative references, and other sources. It is proposed that known risk of harm can be avoided by siting wind facilities a protective distance from residents.
Bio:
Carmen Krogh is published in peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals and has presented papers at scientific noise conferences. She is an independent, full time volunteer and for almost 6 years has researched health and other effects associated with industrial wind energy facilities and shares information with individuals, communities, authorities, wind energy developers, industry and others. Krogh’s background in health care, vigilance monitoring, editing and publishing helps inform her work. She held senior positions at a major teaching hospital; as a drug information researcher; a professional association and the Health Protection Branch of Health Canada (PMRA). She is a 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 on prescription medication in Canada. Her goal is evidence-based siting of IWTs that protects human health.
Not a Good Week to be in the Wind Industry
A Superior Court decision orders wind project to comply with existing regulations and in another development, the Senate passes a Bill creating more stringent siting standards for wind turbines.
Save Ostrander Point Gala Dinner-SOLD OUT
PECFN Field naturalists confirm they’ll go back to court
March 11,2014
The Prince Edward County Field Naturalists (PECFN) gave notice to Gilead and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) of its intention to request leave from the Ontario Court of Appeal to appeal the Divisional Court ruling that overturned the Environmental Review Tribunal success.
PECFN’s Chery Anderson said the Appeal Court registrar is to receive PECFN’s notice of intention Wednesday, March. 12.
“Over the next month PECFN will be preparing our legal arguments in consultation with other environmental groups. By mid May all parties will be submitting their motions to the Appeal Court for consideration,” Anderson said. “Three judges of the Appeal Court will then consider whether to allow our appeal. That consideration could take several weeks. If and when leave to appeal is given, a court date will be established and that, again, will be sometime in the indeterminate future.”
Lawyers assembled in Osgoode Hall Jan. 21-23 to hear the arguments of the Ministry of the Environment and Gilead Power against the Environmental Review Tribunal ruling that revoked the minister’s approval of the nine turbine project planned for Ostrander Point, on the south shore of Prince Edward County.
The decision of the Divisional Court received Thursday Feb. 20 was that the tribunal erred in its ruling.
Unless appealed, the decision will result in the industrial development of Ostrander Point Crown Land Block on the South Shore of Prince Edward County.
Prince Edward County Field Naturalists are disappointed with the ruling of the Divisional Court and do not agree that the Environmental Review Tribunal was wrong. Read rest of article here.
OEH Seminar: Wind turbines and human health
Thursday March 20, 2014 from 8 am to 9 am Toronto, Ontario
Emotional public objection, scientific and government publications, and legal proceedings all play into the debate around the issue of wind turbines and human health. While some argue that electromagnetic fields, shadow flicker, and audible/inaudible noise from operational wind turbines are related to self-reported health effects, others suggest that subjective variables like visual cue, attitude, personality, and expectations related to media, rather than turbine-specific variables, are linked to reported effects. In his presentation, Dr. Loren Knopper will highlight his experience in the field, the most prominent information found in the popular literature, the state of scientific/medical knowledge on the issue, and provide a weight-of-evidence conclusion on this debate.
Presenter: Dr. Loren Knopper
Dr. Knopper is an internationally recognized environmental health scientist at Intrinsik Environmental Sciences. Dr. Knopper’s career has focused on human health and ecological risk assessment, human and ecological toxicology and health, public communication, and scientific training. He has been involved in risk/scientific communication with a number of stakeholders including government and regulatory officials, industry representatives, aboriginal councils, and the general public. He maintains an active academic practice and holds adjunct professor appointments at the University of Waterloo, the Royal Military College of Canada, and the University of Guelph. Dr. Knopper was recently nominated for the prestigious Eni Award, which recognizes researchers who have achieved internationally significant results in the field of human activity and the natural environment.
Please note: This is an open invitation, and may be forwarded to interested parties. Attendees may join in person or via webinar.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of Public Health Ontario, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by Public Health Ontario.
For Seminar/Webinar details please read here.
Join Us for the Spring Fling!
Mothers Against Wind Turbines invites you to our upcoming community event….our Spring Fling!
Friday April 11 @ 7 pm at Wellandport Hall.
Admission is $1o.oo per person
Please invite your friends and neighbours to attend this event. Its going to be a lot of good fun and fellowship.
We are planning lots of food & drink, including coffee, tea, wine, beer, pop, water and a light lunch. We have something for everyone, including card games, games of chance, and other fund raising games. We look forward to awesome door prizes, raffles and a silent auction.
We are planning lots of food & drink, including coffee, tea, wine, beer, pop, water and a light lunch. We have something for everyone, including card games, games of chance, and other fund raising games. We look forward to awesome door prizes, raffles and a silent auction.
MAWT is dedicated to the legal fight against the Niagara Region Wind Corporation Wind Turbines
*Ticket Pre-Sales available at shelliecorreia@ gmail.com, or call 905-386-0765 Remaining tickets will be sold at the door!
Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc. 