Wind Concerns Ontario

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Jim Drummond (Golder Associates) Lobbies for Small Setbacks in Essex County

The Windsor Essex Chamber of Commerce recently submitted a letter to the MoE to lobby for regulations to allow for the rapid deployment of renewable energy projects by minimizing the setbacks from family homes, enabling the developers to squeeze more turbines in populated areas.  

 It is significant that this letter does not mention any interest in protecting Ontario families from adverse health effects or property devaluation from renewable energy facilities.

 

First of all, I find it reprehensible and a complete conflict of interest for Mr. Drummond would use his position on the Windsor Essex Chamber of Commerce to further his own personal financial interests in that Golder Associates is deeply involved with the wind industry and depends on the wind industry for a significant portion of its profits.

 

Is the Windsor and Essex County Chamber of Commerce simply a mouthpiece for the renewable energy industry?  Where on earth Mr. Drummond ever got the idea that 350 meters is “international standard” shows the shallow level of interest and research he has undertaken in this matter.   There is no such thing as an ”international standard”.    This is total fabrication and arbitrary nonsense.  Please see the table attached which outlines the massive improvement in setbacks that have been taking place in Europe and around the world.   The table shows 350 m would be the absolutely bare minimum and sadly lacking.   

 

The wind energy industry has already demonstrated that their rapid deployment of industrial wind turbines in Ontario is a risk to human health.

 

The number of people in Ontario reporting adverse health affects due to industrial wind turbines continues to rise. The first Wind Concerns Ontario community-based self reporting survey was made public on April 22, 2009 by Dr. Robert McMurtry at the Standing Committee for the Green Energy Act. The new total is now 86 which is a disturbing 62% increase from 53 as reported earlier this year.

 

Ontario families have been forced to abandon their homes to protect their health from improperly sited industrial wind turbines. http://windconcernsontario.org

 

The request contained in the Chamber of Commerce letter is simply to achieve economic gain with no regard for the protection of the health and safety of Ontario families.

 

Setbacks and noise guidelines cannot be based on the self serving opinions of the wind energy industry and it’s affiliated industries such as that which Mr. Drummond works for.

 

Setbacks and noise guidelines must be developed based on valid medically based research from independent professionals qualified to conduct epidemiology studies.  This is what must be demanded…not ridiculous, arbitrary minimum standards.

 

Respectfully,

 

Executive and Membership of Essex County Wind Action Group

 

c.c.

Marcia Wallace, Manager, Ministry of the Environment Planning & Implementation Branch

George Smitherman, Ontario Minister of Energy and Infrastructure

Sandra Pupatello, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, International Trade and Investment MPP, Windsor West

Dwight Duncan, Ontario Minister of Finance, MPP, Windsor – Tecumseh

Bruce Crozier, MPP, Essex

Mayor Eddie Francis, City of Windsor

Warden Nelson Santos, County of Essex

Mayors and Council of all Essex County Municipalities

Mayor and Council of the City of Windsor

Brian Gregg, CAO, County of Essex

John Skorobohacz, CAO, City of Windsor

Scarborough Residents Protest Proposed Wind Turbines

A group of angry Scarborough residents gathered Tuesday night to protest proposed wind turbines off the Scarborough Bluffs. Find out why they’re fighting the plan, and what Premier Dalton McGuinty had to say about it all in the video below.

Amherstburg Echo: Health issues, migratory bird patterns among concerns with proposed wind farm

AMHERSTBURG – Town administration is expected to provide more information to council in coming weeks about the proposed South Side Wind Farm and members of council are joining members of the Advisory Committee on the Environment (ACE) with questions of their own.

Councillor Bob Pillon brought up the issue of potential health impacts at two points during the April 14 town council meeting. He said other municipalities are bringing up the same issue and wanted feedback on the matter.

“We need answers,” said Pillon.

Her Majesty gives Spitfire pilot a lift

A letter from the Queen cheered up famed Second World War Spitfire fighter pilot Jerry Billing more than she could ever know back in Buckingham Palace.

He’s fighting what appears to be a hopeless battle against both government bureaucrats who cut his wartime disability pension and a $30-million wind turbine development threatening his rural airstrip.

The much-decorated war veteran is ailing, with his 88th birthday fast approaching on Monday.

He’s too proud to ask for social assistance when money is tight and doesn’t want to sell his house and move into a seniors’ residence with his wife Karen. They married in 1957.

Regulations rapped, tempers flare at Essex turbine forum

ESSEX – Ontario’s noise regulations for wind turbines are among the weakest in the world and current distance setbacks from homes should be tripled or more, a public meeting was told Monday.About 200 people crowded the Essex Civic Centre to hear experts from across the province debate the health effects of wind turbines. Using teleconferencing, some spoke from as far away as the United Kingdom.

Lakeshore OK’s wind farm; Zoning approval granted over objection of airstrip owner

A $30-million wind turbine project that threatens an airstrip owned by legendary Spitfire fighter pilot Jerry Billing got zoning approval Monday from town council in a 6-2 vote.

AIM ad misleading about wind benefits

In the Harrow News of Jan 13, 2009, AIM Powergen included an advertisement with regards to letting our community benefit from the Power of Wind.

If we take the time to research the claims of increased tax revenues, creation of jobs and less coal being used, we will find that AIM is in fact misleading us with partial statement of truth.

Free Breeze Wind Developer Shows his True Colors

Sympathies to any resident living near a current or future wind development by “Free Breeze Energy Systems”.  This is a typical example of how wind developers treat the citizens of the neighbourhoods they plan to exploit.

Town wants Kingsville as partner in anti-wind farm fight

By Sharon Hill, Star County Reporter
December 16, 2008

Leamington council plans to ask Kingsville to join it in hiring a consultant to object to offshore wind turbines proposed for Lake Erie.

Every pilot for himself against wind towers

Re: Small Airstrips vs Wind Turbines, Nov. 19.

I sympathize with the Billing family and its attempts to distance its airstrip from wind turbines.

Turbines threaten war hero’s airstrip

Click Here to read about what GenGrowth is trying to do 

Pilots rally behind family

Gary Rennie, Windsor Star, Wednesday, November 19, 2008

LAKESHORE – A $30-million wind turbine project is on a collision course with Spitfire fighter pilot Jerry Billing — one of Canada’s most famous wartime aviators and postwar test pilot.

Ontario’s Don Quixotes fight back

Ontario Farmer   © Copyright 2008, Sun Media Corporation

Landowners are starting to ask some tough questions about the real benefits of windpower

Tuesday, November 11, 2008,   BY FRANCES ANDERSON, ONTARIO FARMER

The citizens of Ontario are being “greenwashed”, sold on government policy to erect windmills willy nilly across the province – more than 640 in the past five years – without full accounting of the costs.

Excerpts from Nina Pierpont’s Book “Wind Turbine Syndrome”

»Preface »Abstract»Body of report: Text»References»Body of report: Tables»Glossary

ECWAG Joins New Provincial Coalition “Wind Concerns Ontario”

Wind Concerns Ontario website

Industrial wind development faces gale-force resistance across Ontario.

Innisfil, Ontario October 25, 2008 -

Twenty-two wind action groups representing thousands of concerned Ontario citizens have joined forces to create Wind Concerns Ontario. This province-wide coalition promotes awareness of the true impacts of industrial wind power facilities on our health, environment, economy and quality of life.

Welcome to the Largest Industrialized Rural Ghetto in Canada

Thank you very much Councilor LaLonde and Mayor Bain.   Don’t tell me CanWEA didn’t wine and dine you.   Everything that has come out of your mouths on this for the past 2 years are direct quotes from this lobbyist group.   You’ve been scammed.

COMBER — The proposal for what would be Canada’s largest wind farm ran into a surprising amount of flak at a planning meeting Monday, but still won a 6-4 vote from town council to move ahead.

South Algonquin declares 10-year moratorium on wind farms

No turbines to be built for 10 years, council says

No wind-powered energy projects will be approved in South Algonquin for the next 10 years, the township’s council has declared.

The declaration, which was supported unanimously by councillors, came last Thursday night following a council meeting considering a proposal to construct a series of wind-power turbines in the hills along the Highway 60 corridor.

Wind energy not a viable option

October 20, 2008

Viability, elementary as it is, appears not to be important when weighing alternatives for a secure energy future. The fact that the methods we adopt must, at the very least, be viable has not entered into the equation and demonstrates that no one is really thinking ahead — not even our politicians.

Health Problems and Wind Turbines

Thank you CTV for finally giving these people a voice. I commend your staff for looking at this fairly and objectively.
Wind turbines cause health problems, residents say

Updated Sun. Oct. 5 2008 10:23 PM ET, CTV.ca News Staff

Windmills may be an environmentally friendly alternative energy source but they also cause debilitating health problems, say people who live near them.

Wind Project Oil Spill Sullies Wolfe Island

WELLS TAINTED: Residents advised not to drink water
By JAEGUN LEE
TIMES STAFF WRITER
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2008

WOLFE ISLAND — Residents along the mile-long shore of Dawson Point, Wolfe Island, have been advised not to drink water from their wells after a fuel spill Wednesday morning.

Public Health and Industrial Wind Turbine Noise in Ontario

The actions of the MOE in creating this situation are far from reprehensible, they are scandalous and actionable.

Also see:  Health problems and wind turbines/

The Public Health Issue,    

John W. Adams, Q.C.

1. There is often marked disagreement between the degree of noise actually experienced by residents living in proximity to industrial wind-turbine plants and the predicted noise level. In Ontario, the predicted noise level is calculated by developers prior to construction, in accordance with guidelines established by the Ministry of the Environment (which specifically approves these installations). It is certain that the MOE guidelines result in calculations that substantially understate wind-turbine noise.

You Have the Right to Ask questions and to be Informed about the Wind Project Proposed for Your Community

Special Thanks to Frank Entwistle and Allen Lewis

This is intended to give some insight into the public’s right to participate in the environmental assessment process regarding this project. Our intention is to respond to an overwhelming number of requests from Ontario rural residents on this subject. Only the original document should be considered correct and complete. It is available on the internet at Guide to Environmental Assessment Requirements for Electricity Projects

http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/gp/4021e.pdf

This document contains part only of the 84 page Guide to Environmental Assessment Requirements for Electricity Projects March 2001 Ministry of the Environment Part A – Overview. It was created by computer Cut & Paste, along with our edits, insertions and comments for clarification. The authors do not assure accuracy or correctness.

WHAT IS CONSIDERED THE ENVIRONMENT UNDER THE ACT?

In the Act, “environment” means,
(a) air, land or water,
(b) plant and animal life, including human life,
(c) the social, economic and cultural conditions that influence the life of humans or a community,
(d) any building, structure, machine or other device or thing made by humans,
(e) any solid, liquid, gas, odour, heat, sound, vibration or radiation resulting directly or indirectly from human activities, or
(f) any part or combination of the foregoing and the interrelationships between any two or more of them,
in or of Ontario

WHY DOES THE PROPONENT (THE DEVELOPER) HAVE TO MAKE AN EFFORT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?

Under The Environmental Assessment Act it is the proponent’s (developer’s) responsibility to design and implement an appropriate consultation program for the project.

Windfarms: One of the great deceptions of our time

The total power generated by all the 2,300 turbines so far built in Britain, is less than that contributed by a single medium-size conventional power station. …Far from being “free”, wind is one of the most expensive ways of generating electricity yet devised. Without an almost 100 per cent subsidy, unwittingly paid by all of us through our electricity bills, no one would dream of building giant wind turbines in Britain, because their cost is not remotely competitive.

September 13, 2008 by Christopher Booker in Telegraph.co.uk

I long had no particular views on wind farms one way or the other. But six years ago, when I first seriously looked at what they actually contribute to our energy needs and our environment, I had a profound shock. It was clear that the craze for wind energy had become one of the greatest self-deceptions of our time.

Far from being “free”, wind is one of the most expensive ways of generating electricity yet devised. Without an almost 100 per cent subsidy, unwittingly paid by all of us through our electricity bills, no one would dream of building giant wind turbines in Britain, because their cost is not remotely competitive.

Turbines are hopelessly ineffectual. The amount of electricity they deliver is derisory. The total power generated by all the 2,300 turbines so far built in Britain – covering hundreds of square miles of countryside and sea – averages just over 600 megawatts in a year, less than that contributed by a single medium-size conventional power station.