Category Archives: Wainfleet

Pelham Joins the Pack

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The Welland Tribune reports (by Sarah Ferguson) that Pelham may be ready to join Wainfleet in opposing Wind Turbines (West Lincoln may yet do so next Council meeting).  While the City of Welland is anticipating a jobs boost from turbine blade manufacturing, the 200 jobs figure is probably exaggerated for political effect.

Rest assured, however, that those jobs are short term and temporary (unless the Province intends cranking out turbines to cover EVERY acre of agricultural land, in which case, they’ll last a little longer?).

“Jobs are great but I really believe it’s going to be short term and produce something people don’t want.”, Mayor April Jeffs of Wainfleet.

OWR 

Plympton-Wyoming May Make By-law Changes

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Plympton-Wyoming may make changes to its Setback By-law as a result of the Wainfleet court decision (OWR).

When the province passed the Green Energy Act, it over-ruled every other type of legislation including local municipalities planning authority, but Napper and other municipal politicians believe the Municipal Act doesn’t fall under the Green Energy Act.
Suncor disagrees and is taking Plympton-Wyoming to court to challenge the two kilometer limit and two other bylaws which impose high fees for development and a $200,000 deposit per turbine to deal with the cost of removing the towers in the future. (Sarniathisweek.com)

The P-W by-law is similar to the Wainfleet By-law; the local Council is considering an amendment to reflect the input from the Wainfleet Decision, namely, a clear definition of the distance limit of the 2km setback from any “property” or noise receptor.

Mayor Napper believes the issue will end up in court. “We have three bylaws that they (Suncor) are challenging and in light of the two kilometer setback in Quebec and other places…I feel quite confident that we can defend what we have with scientific evidence.”

Folly Green Giant

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A clever pun by Christina Blizzard of the Toronto Sun Newspaper; and, also, a very appropriate one! She says the giant is “smothering the voice of rural Ontario”:
That’s the only way to explain the complacency urban residents have for the desecration of rural Ontario.
Politicians from small towns across the province came to Queen’s Park Thursday demanding the Kathleen Wynne government return decision-making to the local councils.
The Green Energy Act stripped local politicians of any say in the siting of wind and solar farms in their communities.

So, if urbanites are complacent about the destruction of rural Ontario, what’s happened to all the Greenies who usually live in the cities? Why aren’t they out protesting this destruction?! Why? Because the saint of tainted causes, David Suzuki, hasn’t raised the rallying cry for them. In fact, his organization has done the opposite by joining the forces of the nutbar failed scientists who are proclaiming the deleterious effects of turbine power is “all in your head” (Quixotes has a great picture of the saint with outstretched arms delivering his sermon from the lectern – the man has abandoned science).

Voila the horrible cost of Green Energy and the huge rises in the cost of power to the consumer. And worse yet, Ontario Liberals and the NDPee have defeated MPP Lisa Thompson’s Bill 39 to restore affordable energy by curtailing wind power and restoring local democracy. This, of course and unfortunately, was a foreseeable result. The real hypocrites here are the NDPee (whose CAW turbine continues to blow an ill wind).

The Folly Green Giant is marching on, as Blizzard writes, aided and abbetted by the Minister Of Agriculture, Ms Wynne-lose:
Here’s the truth of what’s happening: It’s not Alberta and the price of oil that’s killing jobs here and hollowing out the economy. It’s our own home-grown government that has bungled the electricity file at every turn.
They spent $275 million to scrap a gas plant to save a couple of seats in Mississauga.
Rural Ontario, meanwhile, bears the brunt of their folly green giant.

High power rates are killing jobs and industry in Ontario, as reported by the writer:
A chemical company was about to expand rubber production in a neighbouring municipality, but decided it can’t justify the cost of electricity compared to the U.S. (Enniskillen)
In the legislature, PC Leader Tim Hudak talked about a Niagara food packaging company that compared electricity costs here with their plant in Texas. It’s 69% more here.

Ironically, the home of the Bruce Power Plant (Kincardine, Tiverton), is slated to receive 100 more Turbines in addition to the 118 that already bristle in the region, where the drop in coal power generation corresponds to the output of the refurbished Bruce Generating station and has absolutely nothing to do with wind and solar power generation – now, there’s Irony for you!!!

Invalid but Legal

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The ruling has come down on the Wainfleet Setback By-law Case. The Judge has ruled the By-law to be Invalid and without Force and Effect. The reasoning for the Decision hangs primarily on the “Vaguenness” of the definition of “Property” as found in the By-law. Nevertheless, the ruling sets a precedent for other Councils.Read the Setback By-law where there is a link to Decision.Invalid does not mean, illegal. The argument that the by-law was illegal, would be illegal, and so on, is the one put forth to various Councils by Wind company lawyers. They were and are wrong. As the Decision states, the Wainfleet Council acted within its legal rights in passing the By-law; but because of vagueness, the by-law is unclear and therefore is invalid (defective). This means that any Council ready to enact a setback by-law should do so with a clear definition of, Property.

Finally, the court also found the Council did not act in bad faith (Councillors, therefore, cannot be sued for damages), and it would not consider the Charter argument because there was no need to, given the decision.

Please donate to Wainfleet Legal Fund – the Township needs your tangible support!
(I hope I smell an Appeal coming …)

[Report by Don Johnson, Welland Tribune, and OWR]

VERY Important: No Justice

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And very unusual that one of the mainstream media outlets should publish an article criticizing the government’s wind energy policies and behaviour: OWR: Don’t look for Justice. Anne McNeilly’s report published in the Toronto Star, April 09/13, goes over the facts to describe how there is no Justice from Ontario where the debate on wind Turbines is concerned.

When there’s social injustice, you don’t expect large corporations, the provincial government and a union like the CAW to be climbing into bed together to ignore the problem. But slap a motherhood label on the issue, such as the so-called “Green Energy” Act, and all of a sudden it’s OK to ignore the very real hardships, both health and financial, happening to people in non-Liberal ridings.
What’s more surprising about the wind-turbine debacle, though, is the relatively low media profile that Ontario residents who are being negatively affected by the monster machines are receiving. News outlets and publications usually lap up stories of social injustice. The problems associated with lead paint, urea-formaldehyde foam insulation, asbestos and cigarettes are all famous for the media attention they received that led to change.
But it was difficult even to find news stories last week about the wind turbine protest at the energy conference in downtown Toronto. People from across the province pooled their resources to hire buses to come to the city to try to draw attention to their plight. If there was a broadcast or a print story, I didn’t hear or see it.
And despite public outrage and protests, the Canadian Auto Workers’ union last week started operating a monster wind turbine, built with government subsidies, in its Port Elgin convention centre parking lot that violates the 550-metre Ontario setback regulations. Residents, particularly children, are already experiencing the sleepless nights, anxiety and migraines being experienced by others around the province. Who cares? Certainly not CAW president Ken Lewenza, who has secured a seat on the province’s wind gravy train. When I recently suggested to a colleague who works on a documentary radio show in Toronto that the problems with turbines were worth a story, she responded: “I think they (wind turbines) are beautiful.” And that was that.  [Star report]

ERT: Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County Needs Donations

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[Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County P.O. Box 173 Milford, Ontario K0K 2P0 contactus@appec.ca]

What will it take to stop wind energy development in Ontario? At this stage the answer seems to be only well-funded legal action with province-wide support. The Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County (APPEC) is therefore writing directly to every Ontario anti-wind group to explain the opportunity and necessity of supporting our health appeal to the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT).

Consider what legal action has already achieved. The Hanna judicial review (2011) established that while the Ontario Superior Court looks into irregularities in the Ministry of Environment’s processes, only the ERT can examine scientific evidence related to industrial wind turbines (IWTs). The subsequent Chatham-Kent ERT (2011), after hearing the testimony of over a dozen health experts, found that IWTs can cause health problems if placed too close to people. But the ERT approved the Kent-Breeze project because the evidence had not shown that 550-m setbacks were insufficient protection. Later ERT appeals have tried to address the issue through the testimony of residents living near currently-operating Ontario wind projects. But there have been two major roadblocks. Appellants were ordered to provide, and pay for, the medical records of each witness. Since ten years of information were required, it could not be gathered quickly and reviewed at reasonable cost. Scheduling problems also arose for the experts needed to testify on the health evidence.

Province-wide Stakes. Of the two grounds for an ERT appeal—serious, irreversible harm to the environment and serious harm to health—a decision on only the latter would have consequences for every wind project in Ontario. If just one appeal invalidates 550-m setbacks, the precedent will apply to every proposed and operating wind project. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) would have to determine a new standard to protect the health of Ontarians, and it could not continue to approve projects. Moreover, the MOE could not ethically grandfather projects already approved or projects operating where health problems have been reported. APPEC’s Action. APPEC’s ERT appeal of the Ostrander Point wind project can bring about these changes. Since 2011, acoustical and medical research has strengthened the link between ill health and turbine noise, low-frequency sound, and infrasound. Ontario residents are prepared to testify as to serious health problems that can result from living near IWTs. The witnesses will include those already exposed to operating IWTs as well the potential victims near Ostrander Point. Medical experts are scheduled to confirm the gravity of their plight. Three are veterans of the Chatham-Kent ERT: Dr. Robert McMurtry, Order of Canada physician and surgeon with experience in delivery of health care, health care policies and health policy; Robert Thorne, Ph.D., an expert on environmental health with knowledge of acoustics and psycho-acoustics; and Daniel Shepherd, Ph.D., an expert psycho-acoustician with knowledge of human health and quality of life. As well, Dr. Sara Laurie, general practitioner and Waubra Foundation CEO, will testify on similarities with Australian wind victims. Thus, unlike the Chatham-Kent ERT, evidence will not be limited to speculative effects; it will catalogue real harms experienced firsthand and identify specific people who are at risk despite 550-m setbacks. APPEC’s lawyer Eric Gillespie has managed to have the medical records reduced to five years. But the appellant is still obliged to pay for collecting this information for pre- and post-turbine witnesses. The overall cost of the appeal is estimated at $125,000. Necessity of Help. Unfortunately, APPEC, like other grass-roots organizations, is short of funds. The problem is compounded by our having raised the bulk of funding for the Hanna judicial review, having contributed to the Chatham-Kent ERT appeal, and now also supporting an environmental challenge of the Gilead/Ostrander Point project. Let’s not ALL lose yet another opportunity to present the strongest possible health evidence against IWTs. Nearly 30 wind victims are willing to testify. Join the ONTARIO battle. If this isn’t the time to stop the harms of wind development, when will it happen?

Please canvas the members of your anti-wind group and explain the hope and urgency of APPEC’s appeal. The appeal would be well funded if we receive $1,000 from each group. But frankly, we need whatever contribution your group can send to APPEC Legal Fund P.O. Box 173 Milford, Ontario K0K 2P0 Donations may also be made through PayPal at APPEC’s website, http://appec.wordpress.com. GIVE WIND VICTIMS A CHANCE TO TESTIFY. HELP TO RID ONTARIO OF IWTs.

Sincerely, Henri Garand, Chair, APPEC

Green SCAM also a SHAM

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[Editor: Green Legislation in Ontario overrides other legislation meant to protect the health and habitat of citizens, livestock and wildlife, as well as the natural environment by imposing restrictions on property use.  But Turbines are immune to any such restrictions.  While the Endangered Species Act prohibits you from building or developing land where such species might exist, it is waived where turbine development is meant to take place.  Green legislation is not only a scam but also, and more particularly, a SHAM.  This SHAM contravenes all protections laid down in the so-called Charter of Rights.  A pity no legal firm is pursuing, pro bono, a Charter Challenge to the Green Energy Act; it would be a long, laborious and very expensive undertaking, but it should be done. Green Metaphors are seriously dangerous in Ontario.]

Keith Stelling of Arran Lake in Bruce County,  at the Toronto protest April 3rd addressed these words to Premier Wynne:  (re-blogged from OWR Ontario Wind Resistance.)

Welcome everyone from all over Ontario
Thank you for
taking the trouble
having the courage
being persistent

WHY ARE WE HERE?

To tell Premier Wynne we are fed up with incompetent energy policy made by foreign multinational corporations.

WE ARE TIRED OF BEING IGNORED!
We can’t afford 15% hydro bill increases! Our economy can’t afford subsidies to big energy corporations.

WIND TURBINES ARE A SCAM!
WIND TURBINES DON’T CUT CO2 EMISSIONS: they increase them.
WIND ENERGY IS NOT CHEAP: we have to pay twice to cover the backup.

It’s often produced when we can’t use it. Then it has to be sold to the United States at below what it cost us to produce. Sometimes we even have to pay them to take it off our hands.

When there is lots of wind, emission-free water power and nuclear often have to be shut down—but we still pay for them!

There is no benign environmental footprint!

Wind turbines are destroying our wildlife habitats.

We’ve done our homework. The government has not.

WE OBJECT TO THE GREEN ENERGY ACT EXEMPTING DEVELOPERS FROM Ontario’s environmental legislation.
WE BELIEVE THAT MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES issuing permits to destroy endangered species and their habitat is A SCANDAL AND ILLEGAL.

We resent being trivialized and called liars when government ministers and the industry tell us our health complaints are all in our heads—caused by jealousy!

We question the authority of the Chief Medical Officer of Health whose report claims there are no adverse health effects when Grey-Bruce MOH Hazel Lynn has found 24 peer reviewed studies that say there are!

WE KNOW THAT WHEN OUR NEIGHBOURS TELL US THEY CAN’T SLEEP BECAUSE OF THE WAVES OF INFRASOUND THAT VIBRATE THROUGH THEIR BODIES AND THEIR HEADS, they are not lying.

We know that children who live beside the turbines and can’t sleep at home miss out on their education because they fall asleep in school.

We know that long term sleep deprivation causes lowered immunity.

WE ARE TIRED OF GOVT INCOMPETENCE, DUPLICITY AND CRONYISM.
(How much will moving the gas plant actually cost us? 6 billion?)

OUR MESSAGE TO PERMIER WYNNE TODAY IS THIS:
There is no rational basis for adding more wind energy to the grid

it threatens grid stability
makes electricity unaffordable
increases CO2 emissions
and is destroying our communities,
our health,
our wildlife
and our economy.

WE DO NOT INTEND TO GIVE UP our fight for social justice, PREMIER WYNNE.

It is time for YOU to CHANGE COURSE.

Stop approving wind turbines until you have done your homework!

We are not willing communities.

SHUT DOWN THE WIND TURBINES!

Calling All Rural Ontario Fire Chiefs!

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Calling all Fire Chiefs: Witness what can happen at a Turbine near you! Turbine Fire Near Goderich (re-blogged from OWR).

CTV News: Goderich Turbine Fire (re-blogged from OWR).

Are you prepared?  Can you prepare for this?  Who shinnies up the pole?

Email, Letter Attack in Support

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Email, Letter Attack to Support Affordable Energy Act

The Township of Wainfleet at present has the misfortune of being part of the NDPee-held riding of Welland, currently represented by Cindy Forster. As you may have noticed, the NDPee has supported the Ontario Liberal Government in every attempt to foist Green Energy costs onto the Province’s taxpayers by voting to defeat all Private Member’s Bills calling for Moratoriums on Wind Turbine development or any other attempt to regulate the costs of greed energy.

Now, Conservative MPP, Lisa Thompson, has introduced the Affordable Energy Act to regulate the cost, siting and local control of Wind energy initiatives across the Province. The time has therefore arrived for citizens to support this effort. Email or post a letter to your MPP in support of this proposed Act. Do so, especially if you MPP is Liberal or NDPee. Find addresses here.

For Cindy Forster, email cforster-qp@ndp.on.ca or cforster-co@ndp.on.ca
OR
Room 184, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A5;
tel. 416-325-7106
fax 416-325-7067
OR
Unit 103
60 King Street, Canal View
Welland, Ontario L3B 6A4
tel. 905-732-6884
fax 905-732-9782
Don’t expect a reply; this MPP does not even acknowledge constituents through the courtesy of an auto-responder for email.