Category Archives: Environment
Save the Bornish Eagles! Community Awareness Celebration – May 25th
Eagle Celebration flyer – print and distribute!
Date: Saturday, May 25
Time: 1:00-5:00PM
Place: West Williams Community Centre, 32217 Kerwood Road, Parkhill MAP (right beside the eagle nest)
NextEra vs Eagles Video
NextEra proud of removing American Bald Eagle Nest in Haldimand
Monte Sonnenberg, Simcoe Reformer
[excerpt] “This wasn’t something we at Nextera were happy about,” spokesperson Josie Hernandez said Friday. “But we had to remove the nest to preserve the eagles. We’re very pleased this has been a success. It’s something we’re very proud of.” Wind opponents reply that Nextera may be tooting its own horn prematurely. “Sure they’re proud of what they’ve done,” says Ernie King of Cayuga, chair of Haldimand Wind Concerns. “But when these blades start turning and an eagle gets cut in half, how much of a success story will it be then? Sure they can pat themselves on the back. But that doesn’t change that they took down a nest that a pair of eagles made themselves to make room for three turbines.”
Fred Ortt of Jarvis, also a member of Haldimand Wind Concerns, continues to question Nextera’s decision to remove the nest. Ortt says the company had ample room across the road where it could’ve situated the turbines. Ortt and others claim to know of another eagles’ nest that has yet to cross Nextera’s radar screen. “We’re not going to tell them where it is,” Ortt said. “The MNR will just give them permission to cut that one down too.”
Nextera speculated about the possibility of relocating the nest to another tree. It has decided against that because the nest is too fragile. The company has shown the nest to students in New Credit and plans to donate it to a school that can take care of it. Read article
Wind turbines blow and they suck!
Brian Keelan, First Monday
“You got to know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em, know when to walk away, know when to run.” That’s not just a cool line from an old Kenny Rogers song. It’s good advice and it has served me well over the years… in poker and in business. I see a lot of similarities between life and poker: you can win a lot and you can lose a lot but most of the time you just keep watching the ante go up while you wait for a good hand. If you’re smart, you learn how the game is played and you never, ever draw to an inside straight.
A few years ago, I was going for a walk along the old (original) Lakeshore road in Bright’s grove – a beautiful stretch from Brigden Road to Perch Creek. It was a sunny day and there was a north wind blowing so the sky was quite clear and visibility was good. That’s when I saw them; the colossal wind turbine machines up by Ipperwash. As the crow flies that’s eight and half miles or 13.6 kilometers from where I stood. They are highly visible in those conditions and now the Ontario Government want to add forty two more and they have plans for up to 500 more in this area.
Last year I drove up to Tobermory and drove past over a hundred of them. They are huge and they are everywhere, and I began to wonder how the people felt when they had one that close to their property. I wouldn’t want one in my back yard and I sure as heck wouldn’t want one in my neighbour’s backyard. I am quite sure that there is only one reason the neighbour would even tolerate one in his backyard and that (I am afraid) is money. Nobody that I have ever met wants one in their yard, not even if they think it is good for the environment… and I know that on paper you can prove it’s good for the environment… as long as the wind is blowing when you need the energy. You can’t store the stuff in giant batteries, you have to send it somewhere and use it as soon as you create it and therein lies a major problem; the ability to produce on demand. Read article
Paved paradise, put up a wind turbine….
NexTerror cut down one eagle nest in Ontario already this year, and are eying up another at the Bornish project that was just approved last week.
Please mark your calendar to join the Save the Bornish Eagles Gathering:
Date: Saturday, May 25
Time: 1:00-5:00PM
Place: West Williams Community Centre, 32217 Kerwood Road, Parkhill MAP (right beside the eagle nest)
Ontario government traded an active eagle nest for these 3 wind turbines
And here is why the active bald eagle nest was destroyed by Nextera, NexTerror, NextError, NestError…. What a @#$%ing disgrace!!
NextEra Energy uses over 800 metric tons of concrete per wind turbine
Daily Commercial News
Ontario’s concrete industry has been enjoying the benefits of the province’s efforts to construct more wind energy and turbines. Concrete has been the material of choice to use as the foundation for wind towers, according the NextEra Energy, one of the largest wind and solar energy developers in North America.
“Given its durability, resilience and continuously improving environmental footprint, concrete can play an important role in building sustainable infrastructure,” said the Cement Association of Canada in a statement to the Daily Commercial News. “Enabling the deployment of sustainable energy by providing an important building material for wind turbines is one exciting example. Concrete also provides added economic benefits to communities where these turbines are built since concrete is always produced locally.”
NextEra Energy uses over 800 metric tons of concrete for each turbine they construct, with investments worth $1.7 billion and 8 wind projects in Ontario, also adding more jobs in the concrete industry. Read article
NextEra’s Next Nest – near Parkhill
I spy with my little eye something that will NEVER AGAIN be removed by a wind developer in Ontario. An eagle nest. Over my dead body, NexTerror.
When the community labels Nextera “NexTerror” and “NextError”, it isn’t for just any old reason. Perhaps parody is ingrained in Canadians, and this is why Nextera has earned itself yet another new name: NESTerror. We watched the take down of the eagle’s nest in Haldimand, and literally vowed never again.
So this weekend some pictures of two bald eaglea and their nest were sent to me by a local resident. This nest is in the Nextera Bornish Wind Project (@ Kerwood Rd & Elginfield Rd), close to wind turbines (634m), and very close (187m) to the massive switchyard for the Bornish, Adelaide, Jericho and Cedar Point Wind Projects— a total of 221 turbines for Middlesex and Lambton counties. The Bornish and Adelaide projects are scheduled to be approved by the MOE this month.
The Haldimand nest destruction was not a ‘one-off’, I’m sure of that, even though Nextera rep Tom Bird told us, “I absolutely don’t want to do that again.” Not even a month after they took down the nest in Haldimand county, they were eying up one in Middlesex county.
Looking through Nextera’s website I came across these recent addendums from February, 2013:
Sign petition to Wynne: Stop destruction of Tundra Swan migration habitat by wind turbines
Petition from the Friends of Tundra Swans – Please Sign Now!
To:
The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
The Honourable Jim Bradley, Minister of the Environment, Province of Ontario
Tom Mitchell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Power Generation
The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
The Honourable Jim Bradley, Minister of the Environment, Province of Ontario
Tom Mitchell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Power Generation
Please stop the multiple wind turbine projects that will spell the destruction of the Tundra Swan migration habitat on the Thedford Bog near Grand Bend on Lake Huron.
March 24 2013- Thedford Bog, Lambton Shores – Nextera Jericho and Goshen Projects (92+64 turbines) will surround the bog.
As you know, every March 10,000-15,000 Tundra Swans migrate from the eastern USA seaboard to the Arctic tundra of Canada and Alaska. On their epic 6,500-kilometer migration the swans stop to rest and feed on the Thedford Bog flats and environs near Grand Bend on Lake Huron. The Thedford Bog area is a unique habitat ideally suited specifically for the migrating Tundra Swans, with its wide expanse of flat fields that feature large areas of ice, water and snow in March, providing safety and undisturbed quiet for resting, and food in the surrounding agricultural corn stubble fields for building strength. Tourists, photographers, bird watchers and outdoor enthusiasts flock to marvel at the spectacle of this annual migration every year. Read and SIGN Petition
Greta Thompson writes to Premier, politicians
By Bob Boughner, Chatham Daily News
[Excerpt] “I know how many good people there are in our rural farm communities and I believe farmers do care about their neighbours,” she said. ‘We can do better together.” Thompson said she considered selling her home in south Chatham-Kent because of nearby turbines but has been told she would have to list it for 50 to 55% of her investment or 30 to 40% of replacement value.
Thompson has also asked the Power Authority and Ministry of Environment to not allow the two closet turbines to her home to be activated until there is proof they won’t interfere with her husband’s ICD heart implant and until her other concerns have been satisfactorily addressed and resolved.
Thompson said she is opposed to any cash payments to municipalities, local residents and community trust funds by wind turbine companies. “If they believe something has to be done to address identified or perceived adverse impacts and feel some obligation to do something, any money made available should be used for physical protection and enhancement of the rural environment and rural family heritage,” she said. Read article
Protesters say turbines will disrupt migratory patterns of swans near Grand Bend
London Free Press
GRAND BEND - With thousands of tundra swans honking in the background, dozens of anti-wind protesters rallied Sunday against plans for giant turbines in the area. “These companies have no concerns for nature. It is just sad,” said Dave Griffiths of Bluewater Against Turbines citizens group. The protesters harvested signatures from more than 50 carloads on a petition calling for a stop to plans to establish the wind farms in the area. The protesters maintain the turbines will disrupt the migratory patterns of the swans and other wildlife. NextEra Energy Canada, which is seeking government approval for the Goshen and Jericho wind farms, has said it will abide by any setbacks required to protect the swans. Read article
Anti-wind turbine group jumps to the defence of tundra swans and area rest stops they covet during migration
By John Miner, The London Free Press
After losing their battle to save a bald eagle nest from the chainsaw, anti-wind turbine activists are turning their fight to the tundra swan. “If we continue to allow industry to displace and destroy our habitat, we are really looking at an environmental disaster in the long run. It is not just the tundra swans, it is the geese, it is the eagles,” said Muriel Allingham of the Middlesex Lambton Wind Action Group.
An information rally is planned for 11 a.m. Sunday, south of Grand Bend at the Thedford Bog, where the swans stop to rest on their spring migration from the Chesapeake Bay area to nest on the Arctic coastline. The Grand Bend area, where thousands of the tundra swans can sometimes be viewed, also falls within two large wind farms planned by NextEra Energy, a subsidiary of U.S. energy giant NextEra, formerly known as Florida Light and Power.
At least one of the 80-metre-tall wind turbines is proposed to be sited within the bog area. Plans for the two wind farms — Jericho and Goshen — call for construction of 169 turbines. Allingham said the turbines will disrupt the swans’ migration route. “This Florida-based company is coming into our province and running roughshod over our wildlife,” Allingham said. Read article
Activists say turbines could impact swan migration
Tundra Swan vs Wind Turbines Info Rally
Date: Sun. March 24
Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm
Place: Greenway Rd, (Thedford Bog) Grand Bend MAP & map of viewing area
Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer
Tundra Swans fly over farm fields near the Lambton Heritage Museum earlier this month. The swans traditionally visit the area during their annual migration. Members of the Middlesex-Lambton Wind Action Group plan to rally Sunday. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., along Greenway Road in Lambton Shores to take their message to swan watchers.
Muriel Allingham, with the Middlesex-Lambton Wind Action Group, said some of its members will out along Greenway Road from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to pass along information to the public. The road, near the Lambton Heritage Museum, is a popular spot to view tundra swans stopping over in the Thedford bog during their annual migration. The wind action group is fighting plans to build wind farms in the area, and says turbines could impede the swan’s migration.
Nextera Energy Canada is seeking provincial approval to build as many as 154 wind turbines in the area with its Jericho and Goshen wind projects. “A lot of people believe wind power is green,” Allingham said. “They don’t understand how it affects the environment, the wildlife and people’s health.” Read article
Letters from MPP McNaughton
February 7, 2013: Letter from Minister of Natural Resources Michael Gravelle Regarding Bird and Bat Guidelines for Wind Power, January 25, 2013
- February 11, 2013: Letter from Monte to the North Middlesex Council regarding Wind Turbines
- November 13, 2012 Response letter to MPP McNaughton from the Ombudsman of Ontario regarding the Bornish Wind Project
- November 7, 2012: MPP McNaughton’s second letter to the Minister of the Environment about the Bornish Wind Project
- October 25, 2012: MPP Monte McNaughton’s letter to Andre Marin, Ombudsman of Ontario
- October 23, 2012: MPP McNaughton’s letter to the Minister of the Environment
Activist question why wind companies surveyed Rock Glen
Heather Wright, Sarnia-Lambton Independent
Muriel Allingham is questioning why the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority would allow wind energy companies to survey sensitive areas such as Rock Glen Conservation Area. Documents released by the authority released to Allingham, a member of Middlesex Lambton Wind Action, show a company called CanAcre, working for NextEra Energy on the Goshen and Jericho projects in Lambton and Middlesex, signed an agreement with the ABCA to have access to conservation land for field studies. Rock Glen Conservation Area in Arkona was among the nine tracts of land surveyed.
Conservation Authority General Manager Tom Proutt says the agreements were signed two-years ago, before there was wide-spread concern for the project. He says the company offered to survey the land and do an inventory of the plants and wildlife. “The agreements that wind energy companies had asked us for were part of their environmental studies they were doing,” says Proutt. “They were looking at our properties in terms of what was there and that was information that we would find useful because we don’t have the time or money to inventory our lands.”
But Allingham says the conservation authority should have known the companies were looking to use the lands – a use she says would not be appropriate. “Conservation lands are just that and it (wind energy projects) displaces wildlife and their mandate is to protect land and wildlife. Read article
MNR: Wind Turbines kill raptors… So, easy fix: chop down their nests
“However, biologists are also concerned that leaving the nest in this location may have led to adult eagles being killed or injured due to the proximity of the nest to wind turbines.”
Letter from Minister of Natural Resources:
Thank you for your e-mail to my predecessor the Honourable Michael Gravelle about the removal of the bald eagles’ nest in Haldimand County. I appreciate that you took the time to share your views, and I am pleased to respond.
Expanding clean and renewable sources of energy is key to the government’s plan to phase out coal-fired generation, mitigate climate change, create green jobs and support technological innovation in renewable energy.
The Summerhaven Wind Energy Centre, located in Haldimand County, is expected to produce enough energy for approximately 32,000 homes in Ontario. This project is contributing to the development of clean renewable sources of energy so Ontarians will have a sustainable supply of power now and in the future.
This project has been awarded a Feed-in-Tariff contract by the Ontario Power Authority. It has also received the Renewable Energy Approval from the Ministry of the Environment and an approved Natural Heritage Assessment (NHA) from the Ministry of Natural Resources. No Significant Wildlife Habitat was identified at this location during the preparation of the NHA. Read the rest of this entry
Southern Ontario Tundra Swan Spring Migration through wind projects
Ontario Wind Resistance – Tundra Swan 2013 Spring Migration
Are you watching the annual spring migration of the tundra swans? Are they flying over areas that will be proposed wind developments, or landing in fields that will soon have turbines? Send your observations and pictures to Ontario Wind Resistance onwindresist@gmail.com to create a visual to illustrate this amazing journey of these birds as they rest and forage on the shores before moving onto their summer nesting grounds in the high Arctic. Displacement of these swans is a serious concern that is being ignored by the wind developers and our provincial government. View all images and reports here
Opponents say wind company donations to conservation authority “a violation of public trust”
Heather Wright, Sarnia-Lambton Independent
A donation to a conservation authority by one of the wind energy companies planning a massive project in the Grand Bend area is “a violation of public trust” according to anti-wind activist. And officials with the conservation authority which accepted it say it may be time to create a sponsorship policy.
For the past six years, the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority has held a golf tournament to raise money to maintain trails in a memorial park in Exeter. Last year, NextEra Energy was one of sponsors of the event. In an interview with QMI Agency, NextEra officials say they have a long history of backing community initiatives and they make the contributions “because it is the right thing to do.”
But the sponsorship drawn the ire of anti-wind activists who say the conservation authority has to approve the projects and should not be accepting money from the companies.
Marcelle Brooks of the Middlesex Lambton Wind Concern isn’t surprised NextEra is passing out cash in the community. “They are specifically aligning themselves with community and environmental organizations in order to appear sensitive,” she says. “Fortunately, residents know all about NextEra and that they are neither environmentally sensitive nor sensitive to the needs of the community.
“It is an absolute conflict of interest to accept any money from a company exploiting its land holdings…NextEra needs to get across the Ausable River (which is under the jurisdiction of the conservation authority). It is a violation of a public trust.” Read article
McGuinty’s legacy is a green nightmare
Margaret Wente, The Globe and Mail
On the morning of Jan. 5, workers with a fleet of heavy equipment mounted a stealth assault on a bald eagle’s nest near the shore of Lake Erie. Their mission was to remove the nest – one of only a few dozen bald eagle nests in Southern Ontario – to make way for an access road to the site of a new industrial wind turbine. As a pair of eagles looked on from a nearby tree, the workers sawed off the limb with the giant nest and took it away to parts unknown.
Ontario’s environmental regulations would usually make this illegal. But the wind company, NextEra Energy, one of the biggest operators in the province, had obtained special dispensation.
Wind power is supposed to be environmentally friendly. But a lot of environmentalists don’t think so. “People couldn’t believe it happened,” says Scott Petrie, a waterfowl ecologist and executive director of Long Point Waterfowl, a conservation group. “Cutting down bald eagle nests flies in the face of anything you would call green energy.”
Wind turbines have invaded many of Ontario’s most scenic and ecologically rich areas. They’re invading coastal wetlands and spreading along major migratory flyways – up the Bruce Peninsula, west to Lake Huron, south to Lake Erie, and east to Prince Edward County, where environmental groups are fighting a major wind development in Ostrander Point, an important bird area. “We have no idea whatsoever of the cumulative impact of these things,” says Dr. Petrie. Turbines chew up birds and other flying things, and they disrupt wildlife habitats. Read article
Documentary airing Feb. 7 on CBC: Wind Rush
By Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer
Making the television documentary, Wind Rush, changed filmmaker Andrew Gregg’s point of view about Ontario’s leap into wind energy.
The film, narrated by Doc Zone host Ann-Marie MacDonald, airs Feb. 7 on CBC.
Gregg, a veteran documentary writer, director and producer, spent two years working on Wind Rush after the CBC brought the subject to the production company he works with.
“There was so much in the media a few years ago about opposition to what looked like such a benign and green form of energy,” Gregg said.
Gregg said he started out skeptical of health claims being made by wind turbine opponents.
Plus, he said he grew up on a farm and could see how lease income from turbines could help farmers out.
“There seemed to be a lot of pluses and not a lot of negatives.”
And then, the filmmakers began looking more closely at the issue and found the complaints they were hearing “were surprisingly consistent,” Gregg said.
They also talked to specialists and scientists, including Hazel Lynn, the Grey Bruce medical officer of health.
“She didn’t have a dog in this fight, one way or another,” he said.
But, Lynn saw how consistent symptoms some residents living near turbines were reporting “and then started to think, ‘OK, we’ve got a problem here,’” Gregg said.
“It was a very rational way of looking at things.” Read the rest of this entry
Bureaucrats ignored advice from biologist to leave eagle’s nest and move wind turbine in Haldimand County
By Jonathan Sher, The London Free Press
He’s the leading expert on bald eagles in southern Ontario, someone Ontario bureaucrats call on for guidance — most recently, when a relatively rare eagle nest was found near the site of a planned wind turbine.
But when biologist Jody Allair told bureaucrats to protect the nest and move the turbine, they did the opposite, defending their stance on what Allmair says are shaky grounds.
“I was surprised and disappointed,” said Allair, who heads the Southern Ontario Bald Eagle Monitoring Program for Bird Studies Canada.
The nest in Fisherville, in Haldimand County, was suspected as far back as the summer but it was early November, after leaves fell, that residents began phoning and the Natural Resources Ministry asked Allair to confirm it was an active nest — and it was.
The nest, just 20 metres from the planned turbine, was likely hundreds of pounds — a bald eagle’s nest can be as big as 3 tonnes.
“Any time there’s a new nest, that’s a cause for celebration,” Allair said. “I recommended strongly that the nest needed be left alone, the turbine needed to be moved and a buffer had to be created.”
But while Allair thought the nest would be saved and the planned turbine moved from plans that placed it 20 m away, the ministry decided otherwise, issuing behind closed doors a permit Dec. 31 to allow NextEra Canada to remove it to build a 56-turbine wind farm that will produce enough electricity to power 32,000 homes.
Four days later — and just one day before the nest was removed — the ministry reported the permits and the reasons for issuing it on Ontario’s environmental registry.
The ministry wrote it was important to expand clean and renewable sources of energy — subsidized by taxpayers — and that the eagles could relocate in time to nest and law eggs — something Allair says is far from certain.
“It’s possible the nesting season is lost,” he said. Read article
Wind turbine company Nextera & MNR destroy Bald Eagle Nest & habitat
Fisherville, Haldimand Cty, Ontario:
Saturday January 5th, at approximately 10:30am, Florida based wind company Nextera Energy chainsawed down the tree limb (large cottonwood) holding a beautiful, active, bald eagle nest (species of Special Concern in Ontario).
How is this possible? Yesterday at 5:00pm the MNR gave a permit to this corporation to destroy this eagle pairs nest, and cut down the tree— as long as they were able to do it by January 6th -the next day.
In typical cold government language, it is justified that the tree and nest should be removed as it was “scheduled to be removed for the construction of a road, and within 20 metres of the blade sweep of a proposed turbine“. The MNR was not at the tree/nest removal site to see that it was done properly. Nextera’s construction company “Whites” did the removal. I asked the police officer, who seemed to trust that these guys were ‘moving’ the nest, not just making a kindling pile, “If there are only 57 bald eagle nest in Ontario, what are the chances that ANY of these workers has ever removed an eagle nest before?”. Slim. And that is why they had to go through pans A, B, C, D etc to figure out how to lower it onto some straw bales….. they clearly didn’t have a clue what they were doing. and the MNR remained out of sight, as if they had nothing to do with it.
More famous quotes from the MNR:
“By removing the nest before January 6th it is anticipated they will find another suitable nest location and will avoid disturbing them during their critical nesting period…….Removing the nest will reduce the risk of eagle mortality at the site.“
Outrage in Haldimand over bald eagle nest removal
By Monte Sonnenberg, Simcoe Reformer
FISHERVILLE - Wind turbine opponents in Haldimand are expressing outrage after a tree with a bald eagle’s nest was removed near Fisherville Saturday morning. The tree was cut down to make way for an access road for the Summerhaven wind turbine project. The Ministry of Natural Resources gave permission for the removal Dec. 31.
Until recently, the bald eagle was deemed a species-at-risk. It has since been upgraded to “a species of special concern” due to the growing number of nesting pairs along the north shore of Lake Erie. The nest destroyed on the weekend was one of 57 identified in southern Ontario in 2011.
“I was there and I witnessed it,” Ernie King of Cayuga, vice president of Haldimand Wind Concerns, said Monday. “The MNR is supposed to be protecting nature and enforcing the regulations that are in place. Are we trying to put the eagle back on the endangered list? We can’t be playing God with nature.”
Wind opponents and others are upset with the process leading to the tree’s removal. The permit was issued Dec. 31 with the proviso that the tree would be removed by Sunday. The MNR decision wasn’t posted on the Internet until after 5 p.m. Friday. This left no time for anyone to object.
The Summerhaven project is an undertaking of NextEra Energy Canada. Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal green-lighted the project last fall following a month-long hearing in Hagersville. At issue was the project’s potential impact on the environment in west Haldimand. Officials told King and others at the scene that removing the cottonwood tree at this time of year was the least disruptive option. There were concerns that the three wind turbines slated for the area posed a threat to the breeding pair and their young.
Spectators watching from the road were told the displaced eagles were not in the neighbourhood. However, the homeless pair were spotted in the area on the weekend, as were 16 bald eagles in total during the annual January bird count held in the Fisherville-area.
An on-line petition about the incident has been posted at the Ontario Wind Resistance website. As of Monday morning, it has received 240 responses. The petition, which is directed at the MNR and natural resource critics in the New Democratic Party and the Progressive Conservative Party, says “I, as a resident of Ontario, am outraged at the destruction and ultimate displacement of the eagles and their habitat. Read article
Nextera wants Middlesex county’s help
Deb Van Brenk, London Free Press
North America’s largest wind energy company generated local static Tuesday as it asked Middlesex County to smooth the process in allowing transmission lines along county roads.
The transmission poles would connect NextEra’s three proposed wind farms near Thedford, Parkhill and Strathroy along county-owned roads.
County councillors expressed concerns about the poles’ height — each would be about 35 metres tall — possible conflicts with other services, such as drainage and hydro, and clearance at intersections.
Southwest Middlesex Mayor Vance Blackmore wondered if they would exacerbate worries that Middlesex roads already have too many signs and poles.
County engineer Chris Traini said, “In a perfect world, we would limit the amount of above-ground utilities if possible.”
But he conceded the county is required to share its rights-of-way and needs to make sure policies are in place to protect county interests.
That means NextEra should not consider this a negotiation but a matter of following county policies, said Adelaide Metcalfe Mayor David Bolton. Read the rest of this entry
Nextera’s transmission troubles in Middlesex & Lambton
In Middlesex County, Nextera has two wind projects up for final public comment: Adelaide and Bornish, totaling 83 turbines, for now. The company’s plan is to connect these two projects, as well as the 92 turbine Nextera Jericho and 62 Suncor Cedar Point projects, with one massive transmission line. Problem is, the route isn’t figured out yet. Remember, the public is supposed to be filing their final comments right now on complete project documents, and yet this very significant piece of information isn’t available for the public to comment on, or even view.
The map (above right) shows a ‘proposed’ route – this is all the public, the county, the townships and the Ministry of Environment are supposed to know right now. In fact, this route has not been secured. Landowners refused to sign easements; Hydro Ones said ‘no’ to sharing their poles. And now Nextera is planning to ask Middlesex County council to allow the company to erect their own 90’ poles with 115kv lines on the other side of the county’s road; hoping that council will ignore the significant safety risk that this will pose to regular travelers by doubling the number of hydro poles on county road allowance.
But this isn’t the whole story. Nextera has a plan “C”, lovingly called the “Back Country” route. The locals started cluing into this plan when residents were being approached by CanAcre landmen to sign 100′ transmission easements through the back of their lots— in some cases through mature, hard maple bush. At the final public meeting when company representatives were asked about this route, they twisted away from saying it was so, until they were certain that we were not going to tolerate being lied to. One rep was asked: if they were to use this route, would they not have to have another public meeting to unveil this new plan? Yes, he said they would. But no new meeting has taken place, so we just assumed they were using one of the other routes….until we saw these documents at the MOE office in London (they were only placed on the company’s website 3 days ago, after complaints to the MOE were made). Take a look at pg.11 and on – these are personal notes that the CanAcre landmen took while trying to sign-up the ‘Back Country’ land. Why was this sent to the MOE? Do they intend to still use this route? It would appear that that would still be a big possibility as to this day, CanAcre is still making their rounds in the community, trying to get the land signed that they need.
What would this ‘Back Country’ route look like? Nextera of course does not have a map available, but residents were able to piece it together by basically following the plow lines in the fields and assembling the map below. The Red line is the “Back country” and the Yellow is the current Proposed Line. Be sure to follow those lines, right through the woodlot— and remember this is supposed to be ‘green energy’.
Does it not fly in the face of reason that council and the public are only now being shown all the various transmission routes that this company is contemplating? We are in the middle of the final 30 day comment periods for both the Bornish and Adelaide projects – this is the last time the Ministry of Environment allows us to comment on these projects. If the MOE has truly reviewed all of Nextera’s Bornish and Adelaide Project Documents, and deemed them complete so that we could review them – does it not seem like they may be missing a large piece of the puzzle, of WHERE the transmission lines are going? We know of three different transmission routes: on Hydro One’s poles, on the other side of the county road, and the ‘back country route’ – all of which are still being actively pursued by the wind company. We are being asked to comment on incomplete and unavailable information… or perhaps they do not wish to have the public’s comments and that is why we are left out of the decision making.
NextEra could “turn off” turbines for tundra migration period: spokesperson
Heather Wright, Sarnia This Week
THEDFORD - Steve Walker has been working for four years to restore an 11 acre plot of land near the Thedford Bog.
He’s planted thousands of native plants, trees and prairie grasses, all the while watching the wildlife in awe.
In March, the Courtright man watched as the majestic tundra swans swooped over his land to land in the nearby bog.
Now that NextEra Energy has revealed where it will place some of its 92 turbines for the Jericho wind Energy project in Lambton Shores, he’s worried about those swan.
There are a number of turbines which could be placed near the Thedford bog and the draft report shows more than a dozen sites along the Ausable River which Walker believes the swans use to find their migration resting spot.
“The number one concern I have is the tundra swans; to me their almost like a big 747 coming in for a landing and then you put up all these CN towers -you wouldn’t do that at end of the runway,” he told Sarnia Lambton This Week. “I was very surprised they put two of them right tight to their northern border.”
But NextEra Spokesperson Josie Hernandez says the company has been very careful in placing the turbines with wildlife in mind. “The closest one is 920 meters away from the bog,” says Hernandez adding the company’s plan “meets and exceeds the requirements by the province.” Read the rest of this entry
