On Day 15 three experts testified at the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) that the White Pines wind project will cause serious and irreversible harm to birds and bats.  All had concerns with the project location on a migratory path on Lake Ontario’s shoreline.

Dr. Michael Hutchins, Director of the American Bird Conservancy’s Bird Smart Wind Energy Campaign, was qualified as a biologist with specialization in animal behaviour and with expertise in the impact of wind energy projects on birds and bats.  Hutchins told the ERT that one function of the Bird Smart Campaign is to educate decision-makers so turbines are properly sited.   White Pines is in a high-risk location.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends three-mile setbacks from the Great Lakes.

Hutchins cited a recent U.S. study showing significant displacement of breeding grassland birds in mid-western states after turbine construction.  White Pines will displace protected Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, and Eastern Whip-poor-will, and the impact could easily result in local extirpation.

Bill Evans has researched the impact of wind projects on birds and bats for 20 years.   Evans was qualified as an expert in avian acoustic monitoring and nocturnal bird migration.  He said that a number of species in Ontario, including the Purple Martin, have been in long-term decline, but Stantec did no surveys of Purple Martins during late summer when large numbers gather to roost.  Evans noted that Purple Martin collision fatalities are increasing at Ontario wind facilities and made up 6.09% of all bird fatalities in 2014, higher than in 2012. Continue reading Report on Environmental Review Tribunal Hearing on White Pines Wind Project‏‎ December 1 by Paula Peel, APPEC →

Report on Environmental Review Tribunal Hearing on White Pines Wind Project‏‎

November 30

by

Henri Garand, APPEC
 
On Day Fourteen the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) of the White Pines wind project heard the testimony of Kathleen Pitt and Dr. Brock Fenton.

Ms. Pitt, summoned by APPEC and qualified by the Tribunal as “a biologist,” has a B.A. in Environmental and Resource Studies and is a manager with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MNRF).  She was responsible chiefly for assessing the Species-at-Risk report for White Pines, recommending Endangered Species Act (ESA) permits for the bobolink, eastern meadowlark, and whip-poor-will, and deciding not to recommend a permit for the Blanding’s turtle.  She explained that ESA, or “overall benefit,” permits are issued when it is possible to compensate for harm through other activities like research or habitat restoration.  Permits are not issued when avoidance and mitigation measures are considered sufficient. Continue reading Report on Environmental Review Tribunal Hearing on White Pines Wind Project‏‎ November 30 →

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUDICIAL REVIEW OF WIND PROJECT APPROVAL PROCESS

PICTON, ONTARIO.  NOVEMBER 30, 2015.   At the Ottawa Divisional Court, CCSAGE Naturally Green (CCSAGE NG) has filed notice for a Judicial Review of the process by which on July 16^ththe Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change issued a Renewable Energy Approval for the White Pines wind energy project of 27, perhaps 29, turbines in Prince Edward County.  As part of this REA approval process, on September 11^th, 2015, the Minister of Natural Resources and Forests issued a permit for the project to kill, harm and harass endangered or threatened species at risk.  Citing institutional bias, lack of science-based studies, disallowance of municipal input, and denial of natural justice, CCSAGE NG has prepared affidavit evidence exceeding 1500 pages claiming that the Ontario government’s approval process has violated several constitutional rights of rural citizens and communities as well as international treaties and agreements.

CCSAGE NG is a federally incorporated not-for-profit corporation..  It works with citizens and other groups to ensure that “Green Energy” initiatives of governments and industry are safe and appropriate for the citizens, the wildlife and the natural and heritage environments of Prince Edward County.

CCSAGE NG continues to support other groups appealing two wind energy projects in the County.  However, Ontario’s Green Energy Act permits Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) appeals only on grounds of serious harm to humans or serious and irreversible harm to animal and/or plant life and to the natural environment.  That Act does not permit ERT appeals on any other grounds such as biased approval processes, denial of natural justice, violation of constitutional rights, harm to local economies, harm to tourism, harm to heritage assets, diminution of property values, or violation of international treaties and agreements.   CCSAGE NG has therefore filed its application for a Judicial Review of this project’s approval process, in an effort to restore equity, accountability and justice.

CCSAGE NG Chair Anne Dumbrille observed that, at an ERT, it is difficult for citizens to get a fair hearing of their grievances against government-approved wind projects because the ERT process is heavily biased in favour of the wind energy developer and the government ministries that approve its projects.  “ERTs are government-appointed tribunals that follow government rules and use taxpayer-funded lawyers to permit destruction of environmentally sensitive areas and to deny natural justice to local citizens who have constitutionally assured rights and freedoms.  Our only recourse is to Canada’s courts, where rules of equitable justice prevail,” she said.

In preparing the Application, CCSAGE NG has had the benefit of considerable research contributed by five students from the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.

— *** —

For information contact:

Anne Dumbrille (613-476-5363), email annedumbrille@fastrackconsulting.co

Garth Manning (613-399-5109), e-mail gmanning@xplornet.com

https://ccsage.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/ccsage-attacks-the-green-energy-act-head-on/

Removing some of the best agricultural lands out of production and as well the project is encroaching on Provincially significant wetlands and woodlands.   20 of the 77 turbines are located in Blanding’s turtles habitat and includes other species at risk.

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Ostrander Point:  All the witnesses have been heard

Today was the end of a long and exhausting journey for the members of PECFN, the supporters of our fight to Save Ostrander Point, our legal team and probably the opposing lawyers and the tribunal panel as well.  The last of the witnesses was heard this morning.  Shawn Taylor, a witness for the approval holder (Gilead) gave testimony about his success in aquatic and terrestrial rehabilitation projects.  In some projects, apparently, he was involved in creating artificial nesting sites for Blanding’s Turtles.  There did not seem to be any evidence; however, that the turtles actually used these artificial sites. Most of Mr. Taylor’s work seems to have been in restoration of wetland habitat for road construction.

The second witness for the day was to have been Mike Lord, president of Gilead.  After the lunch break the Gilead lawyers came back and announced that Mike Lord would not be giving testimony.

Everyone in the room gave a huge sigh of relief – we could not believe it was finally over.

Before January 15, the legal teams will be submitting written briefs and replies summing up the case. On the 15^th final oral submissions will be presented in Toronto and then the ERT panel will deliberate and write their final decision.

Meanwhile, PECFN continues raising funds.  On January 16 we present Winter Wonderland Walk.  This 3 km walk will proceed along Hilltop Rd and up Brewers Rd to Long Dog winery.  Long Dog has graciously agreed to provide mulled wine for the walkers and we will make sure there is also hot spiced cider.  We will also provide rides back to your car parked at the side of Hilltop Rd.  All you have to do is register for the walk and get a few people to sponsor you.  It should be a fun afternoon and we will raise some much needed money for the cause of keeping our South Shore Turbine free.

Register for Winter Wonderland Walk by contacting Cheryl Anderson at cherylanderson23@sympatico.ca

ON A BREEZY, sunny day in north-east Germany it seems as though the world is running on renewable energy. Near Altentreptow 50-odd giant wind turbines, the tallest 200 metres high, spin above a potato field, making a gentle swishing sound. The hum from the base of each turbine is the sound of electricity being generated, much of it bound for Berlin. The view from the wind farm, across flat fields, is of another wind farm.

Sadly, this is not how the world’s power is generated. In truth, the view from Altentreptow does not even properly reflect how Germany’s power is generated. The battle to drive carbon dioxide out of the world energy system, which accounts for about two-thirds of human greenhouse-gas emissions, has seen some heartening and visible advances. But clean energy is still being soundly thrashed by the dirty sort.

Even as the wind turbines and solar panels began to spread across the fields of Europe, an ancient black fuel was making a comeback (see chart). In 2000 the world’s coal-fired power stations were capable of producing 1,132 gigawatts of electricity between them, according to Enerdata, a Paris-based research firm. By 2014 so many new power stations had been built that they could put out 1,980 gigawatts. Coal, which is about twice as polluting as natural gas, now supplies 41% of the world’s electricity and 30% of its overall energy needs.

read more: The Economist, Nov 28 2015

Report on Environmental Review Tribunal Hearing on White Pines Wind Project

November 23

by

Henri Garand, APPEC

On Day Twelve the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) on the White Pines wind project heard Dr. Cornelia Baines, witness for the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC).

After confirming the credentials and lengthy research experience of Dr. Baines, MOECC counsel Sylvia Davis asked her to respond to Dr. Hanning’s observations of bias in her witness statement.  She said that the negative phrases were taken from the papers she had referenced and her focus was on following a good scientific approach in research.  The Tribunal qualified Dr. Baines, MD, as a “physician and epidemiologist with special expertise in design, measurement, and evaluation of research studies.”

Dr.  Baines reviewed the hierarchy of research design from the lowest quality (case series and case reports) to the highest (cohort and randomized control studies).  She said that “compelling evidence” of adverse health effects would require that “complaints are specific to wind turbines,” “symptoms would be more frequent and severe than in the general population,” and a “biologically plausible mechanism” would be identified. Continue reading Day 12: Report on ERT on White Pines Wind Project →

Even on paper, it was a wonder: Three expansive circles of shining mirrors supplicating three glowing 500-foot-tall towers, each engineered to turn the sun’s heat into electricity in the otherwise godforsaken Mojave Desert. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System offered a sparkling vision of our nature-powered future, whose every gigawatt would keep tons of coal’s heat-trapping pollutants out of the atmosphere.

BrightSource Inc., a company based in Oakland, Calif., would design it. Construction giant Bechtel would build it on 4,000 acres near the California-Nevada border. It would supply clean electricity to 140,000 homes.

In 2010, when Bechtel broke ground on Ivanpah, it held such promise that President Barack Obama worked it into a speech on the nation’s energy. “With projects like this one,” he declared, “we are staking our claim to continued leadership in the new global economy.”

As its miles of glinting glass and radiant columns rose on the landscape, tourists from China and India came on buses to marvel. It attracted a $168 million investment from high-tech giant Google; the U.S. Energy Department backed its $1.6 billion in construction loans. For many energy speculators, environmentalists and green-energy proponents, a long-held dream was finally coming true. “The wasteland of the Mojave Desert,” as one Los Angeles-based energy guru put it, was on its way to becoming the “goldmine of our future energy needs.”

read more: By Judith Lewis Mernit High Country News POSTED: 11/21/2015

During a community liaison meeting in Seaforth at Huron East’s town hall, an engineer who works on several turbines in St. Columban admitted to the public that most statements made by consultants that residents will “never hear” the large fans are dishonesties.

It was a full community conference with almost every chair filled in the council chambers joined by the HEAT group, Veresen Inc., Huron East council members and a few locals. For all those who came, coffee, donuts and a fruit tray were available free of charge. The voice of the HEAT, Jeanne Melady and Gerry Ryan were front-row ready with pens and paper. The two have been present at three out of the last four Huron East council meeting. They expressed their needs to the political gang numerous times, a primary concern was that HEAT did not know who to call. Today was the day to move forward and be heard by the wind turbine company. At a previous council meeting, Huron East was optimistic and sure several questions would be answered at this function.

Dennis Mueller, a representative for the community liaison committee started the two-hour session by directing questions and complaints from members of 14 households that live near these wind turbines. These inquiries were aimed at Veresen Inc. and the senior engineer. Mueller put all these objections on a screen so the public could view these alleged accusations.

“Personally I was appalled when these reports began to come in as I knew there were health problems but had no idea to this severity,” said Mueller.

“The fact that there are also children being affected by this project, I have a huge problem with that as a parent.”

read more: By Shaun Gregory, Huron Expositor Monday, November 23, 2015