Tag Archives: Wind farms

07.06.09
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Group wants turbine buffer applied in Port Rowan

A group of residents in the countryside west of Port Rowan is looking for help now that the McGuinty government has conceded that wind turbines and people don’t mix very well.

The McGuinty government proposed last month that new wind turbines in Ontario be at least 550 metres away from the nearest residential dwelling. The Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Natural Resources are fielding input on the suggestion until July 24.

Now that the province has acknowledged that proximity may be an issue, a group of 15 have written a letter to Norfolk council and senior officials at Queen’s Park and Ottawa asking what they propose to do for those who live next door to wind turbines. The group shares its neighbourhood with the AIM PowerGen wind farm in southwest Norfolk, which features 66 1.5-megawatt turbines.
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07.06.09
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Group fed up with Gerretsen’s lack of concern over wind-turbine health issues – Calls for resignation

The Coalition for the Protection of Amherst Island is so fed up with John Gerretsen’s lack of concern over the serious health problems being suffered by Ontarians living too close to wind turbines, that they have decided take out the advertisement set out below in the Whig Standard charging that Mr. Gerretsen, as Minister of the Environment, is ignoring the right of Ontarians to a ‘healthful environment’ as provided for under the Environmental Bill of Rights.

The advertisement also accuses the Ministry of the Environment of ruining people’s lives by allowing his Ministry to approve siting wind turbines too close to homes. Further, the ad. states that his Ministry has shown a chilling indifference to the harm caused by the 86 turbines now turning on Wolfe Island knowing that 266 dwellings would be located at or within 1 km of these turbines. The Coalition is calling for a moratorium on further construction of wind turbine farms while full independent medical and noise studies are conducted, and is asking Mr. Gerretsen how many more Ontarians may be put in harm’s way. The media are urged to seek answers to these questions.
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06.29.09
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Who Has Heard the Wind – Do Wind Farms Produce Noise Pollution?

Standing in a home a kilometer away from the nearest wind turbine –one of seventeen at the Pubnico Point Wind Farm in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia –Tony experiences a sensation that he describes as “similar to being close to a high power car audio sound system playing drums. Both situations cause problems that I would say resemble arrhythmia.”

Wind farms have obvious advantages over more conventional power sources. Unlike nuclear reactors, there’s no radioactive waste to dispose of, no risk of catastrophic meltdown. Unlike coal-fire plants, there are no greenhouse gases to choke the atmosphere, no open-pit mines scarring the countryside. And unlike hydro plants, there are many more suitable locations compared to the relatively few available for dams.

Yet, no system is perfect.
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06.27.09
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Company proposes Bruce Peninsula wind farm

A major wind energy project is being planned for the Bruce Peninsula, but it may be years before it proceeds, if at all.

PRENEAL Canada has signed an agreement with landowners on the Bruce Peninsula to option several thousand acres of land for the development of a wind farm that could produce up to 200 megawatts of electricity in the former Lindsay and Eastnor townships.

Daniel LeBlanc, the project director, said that the company was attracted to the area partly because of the wind potential but also by the keen interests shown by many landowners to work together on the project.
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06.26.09
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Ottawa Council expected to defeat push for provincial moratorium

A councillor’s push to have the provincial government halt any new wind farms for 18 months until potential health problems caused by the renewable energy projects can be studied is expected to die next month at city council.

Rideau-Goulbourn Councillor Glenn Brooks is pushing for the moratorium because Prowind Canada is working on getting a wind farm approved in his ward, near North Gower. Some area residents aren’t happy with it, including those who claim turbines make people sick.

Brooks says he thinks the application and approval process for wind farms should continue, but none should be built until the study is done.

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06.23.09
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Ottawa area Councillor urges study of wind farms for health risks

ripley-industrial-wind-turbines

Ontario officials aren’t receptive to a councillor’s call for the province to halt new wind farms for 18 months until a study can assess whether the green-energy installations pose health risks.

Rideau-Goulbourn Councillor Glenn Brooks was going to ask council to direct the city’s chief medical officer of health to do the study, but the officer says it would be too expensive and time-consuming for his office. So, instead, Brooks says he plans to ask council at next week’s meeting of the rural-affairs committee to call on the province to act.

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06.16.09
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Chatham-Kent council delays wind farm decisions

The deferral action was recommended by consultant Tom Storey as a result of changes being considered by the province under the Green Energy and Green Economy Act.

The two projects deferred were Invenergy Wind Canada ULC’s proposed Raleigh Wind Farm and Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc’s proposed Talbot wind farm.

Storey said another half dozen wind farms being proposed for Chatham-Kent will also be impacted by the new legislation.

Although some councillors suggested forging ahead with current plans, Mayor Randy Hope said the municipality should hold off until the new guidelines are announced.

At the same time, he said there is a need for the municipality to speak on the matter with a strong voice.

“We want the province to know that citizens should be heard on this matter,’’ he said.
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06.11.09
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Stirring the pot on wind energy projects

The winds of dissent are blowing across southern Ontario, buffeting the dreams of entrepreneurs hoping to cash in on elevated support for renewable energy.
“There’s a lot of controversy about it coming out now,” said Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture president Dave Riddell in a recent edition of the Alliston Herald newspaper, when asked to comment about prospective wind energy projects.
Increasingly well-organized groups of residents around places like Ripley and St. Columban might suggest Riddell’s comment is an understatement. But, in the interview, he pinpointed the problem.
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06.10.09
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Ontario proposes tough new wind turbine rules

The Ontario government is proposing new regulations that would keep wind turbines at least 550 metres away from any house.

The province wants that minimum distance, or “setback,” to be mandatory for wind developers who install one to five turbines emitting the lowest allowable noise level.

Greater distances would be required for larger groups of turbines.

The setbacks are twice as big as what industry officials were expecting. For 15 turbines, for instance, the distance from the nearest house could be 1.5 km, depending on the noise level.
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See also Ministry of the Environment