March 8, 2013
Ontario

Destructive wind: More endangered species to be uprooted by wind developers in PEC

Rick Conroy | The Times | March 8th, 2013 | wellingtontimes.ca

Just as the hearings got under way in Demorestville this week to review the decision to permit the construction of nine industrial wind turbines at Ostrander Point came more distressing news for those concerned about the fate of the wildlife that live and rest there along their migratory journey.

This week wpd Canada asked the Ministry of Environment for permission to “harm, harass and kill” three endangered species that stand in the way of 29 industrial turbines it would like to erect in South Marysburgh. The wind developer is seeking to build the nearly 500-foot turbines— with blades sweeping the length of a football field—on the doorstep to Prince Edward Point, a designated Important Bird Area. The 29 turbines in phase one of the developer’s plans stretch from the border of the National Wildlife Area at Prince Edward Point, around Ostrander Point, and up to Milford.

The MOE has already granted the developers of Ostrander Point the right to harm, harass and kill two endangered species—the Blanding’s turtle and the whippoorwill. It has also allowed another wind developer to destroy the nest of a pair of bald eagles near Fisherville—despite the fact there are estimated to be fewer than 50 nesting pair remaining in the province.

Now the MOE is being asked to look the other way as a developer industrializes the habitat of three endangered species—the bobolink, the eastern meadowlark and the eastern whippoorwill.

The developer promises to create additional habitat and provisions for these animals in exchange for its right to destroy this habitat. Many naturalists worry about the ministry’s ability to monitor and enforce the developer’s pledges. They fear that once the damage is done there will little recourse for the birds forced from their homes.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/03/08/destructive-wind-more-endangered-species-to-be-uprooted-by-wind-developers-in-pec/