February 20, 2015
Ontario

Clarington appeals Ganaraska wind farm project in Orono

By Brad Andrews | Clarington This Week | February 20, 2015 | www.durhamregion.com

CLARINGTON – Clarington has appealed the province’s approval of a wind power project set to be built in Orono on part of the Oak Ridges Moraine.

The appeal, filed Friday, will be seeking to overturn the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s approval of the ZEP Wind Farm Ganaraska project. The proposed nine turbine wind farm project received environmental approval from the ministry on Jan. 30 and Clarington councillors voted to appeal the decision Feb. 9.

“We filed the appeal on the basis the proposed turbines are located on the Oak Ridges Moraine,” said Andrew Allison, Municipal solicitor,

Mayor Adrian Foster pointed out other considerations as well.

“It comes down to the greater community concerns,” said Mayor Foster. “People are worried about the impacts on health.

“We’re worried about the moraine as well and that is consistent with our position in the past.”

This is the second appeal the municipality has launched this winter regarding wind power projects in Clarington. Only last week the Environmental Review Tribunal dismissed Clarington’s challenge of the proposed 20-megawatt, 10-turbine Clarington Wind Farm project that would be built near the Port Granby nuclear waste site.

“We ended up reaching a settlement,” said Mr. Allison.

According to him the proponents behind the Clarington Wind Farm project agreed to install an additional monitoring device to ensure the turbines work the way they are supposed to, which is what the municipality sought in the first place.

He noted this wasn’t the only environmental case being launched against renewable energy products on the moraine.

A ruling by the Environmental Review Tribunal is expected soon on the appeal launched by the City of Kawartha Lakes regarding another proposed wind farm on Sumac Ridge, also located on the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Mr. Allison characterized that case as a testing ground for Clarington’s own appeal.

“We’ll be looking very closely at the decision of the tribunal in that case,” said Mr. Allison.

According to Mr. Allison, Clarington’s appeal could lead to a hearing before the tribunal or possibly a mediation between the different parties involved.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/02/20/clarington-appeals-ganaraska-wind-farm-project-in-orono/