Neighbours want Shear Wind turbine project grounded

The people living closest to the new wind farm at Browns Mountain near Merigomish want the project halted so wind energy can be studied more closely.

If that doesn’t happen, they want a guarantee of financial compensation if their property values plummet, the noise of 30 turbines affects their health, construction damages their water supply or the project involves any other negative effects.

Such problems have occurred in other places, said a spokeswoman for the Eco Awareness Society, a community group opposed to the $180-million Glen Dhu wind park planned by Shear Wind Inc.

“We don’t really know the effects of this,” Susan Overmyer said Saturday in a telephone interview.

Incidents of livestock dying because of turbine noise that humans can’t hear and reports that wind energy has not reduced greenhouse gas emissions in some countries worry the group, because it doesn’t appear those issues have been properly studied, she said.

The site was changed slightly over concerns about eagle nesting locations, but there are six endangered species that haven’t been properly considered and old-growth forest that will be threatened, Ms. Overmyer said.

If the 30 turbines constructed at Browns Mountain turn out to be ineffective in reducing the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming or to be injurious to health, it will be a waste of resources, effort and taxpayers’ money contributed to the project, she said.

“We stand, at this point, to lose a great deal,” Ms. Overmyer said.

“We’d like the government to step back and consider greenhouse gas reduction targets instead of renewable energy targets.”

The group hasn’t been able to get the government to pay attention to its concerns or provide some kind of mitigation for any negative effects, she said.

Work is underway to clear roads to the 4,046-hectare site straddling Antigonish and Pictou counties since the Spanish utility company Inveravante invested $27 million in the project.

The money reactivated the project, which had stalled due to the economic meltdown.

Mike Magnus, president of Bedford-based Shear Wind Inc., said last week he expects the first phase of the project will provide 120 construction jobs as well as maintenance jobs, and produce 60 megawatts of electricity by late 2010.

That’s enough power for 18,000 homes.

A second $500-million phase aims to produce 230 megawatts by 2012 and create 220 jobs, he said.

The group has concerns that federal tax dollars will be used to support the project in order to export cheap electricity to the United States while Nova Scotians continue to pay high rates, Ms. Overmyer said.

“This (project) is not going to benefit our Nova Scotia energy security,” she said.

Conservation and more efficient use of energy should come before seeking new resources that haven’t been proven, she said.

By Monica Graham

The Chronicle Herald

www.thechronicleherald.ca

29 November 2009

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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