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Wind farm opponents lose Ontario Superior Court bid to overturn approvals 

Credit:  Turbine opponents lost another round | By Debora Van Brenk, The London Free Press | Monday, July 4, 2016 | www.lfpress.com ~~

Opponents of two wind farms – one near Collingwood and the other in Plympton-Wyoming – are expressing deep disappointment that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has rejected their arguments.

A new ruling has turned back the groups’ claim that turbine developers should first have to prove the projects will do no harm. Instead, the court supported previous tribunals’ decisions that place the onus on objectors to prove the projects cause harm.

“It’s a subtle distinction” but an important one, said Santo Giorno, a spokesperson for the WAIT-­Plympton-Wyoming group.

But he is not dissuaded from his belief that turbines can cause human health problems and that wind developers should have to prove their safety before ­proceeding.

“Eventually we’re going to have a preponderance of scientific evidence that there is a problem . . . If I were to have an industry situated beside me, I’d like a little more assurance than ‘you probably won’t be harmed,’ ” Giorno said.

The ruling is another blow to anti-turbine activists who have so far won just one major reversal of a planned project, that in eastern Ontario where an installation would have jeopardized habitat for the endangered Blanding’s turtle.

“Our argument in the appeal is that there’s no scientific evidence to prove they’re safe, so how can we prove they’re unsafe?” said Gary Fohr, spokesperson for the opponents of the Grey Highlands project in the Collingwood area.

He said his group has spent more than $200,000 on legal fees and countless hours of volunteer time to battle wind projects.

The Superior Court of Justice, after hearing arguments in a London courtroom, confirmed, in a 24-page decision, a divisional court ruling that had, in turn, confirmed environmental review tribunal ­decisions.

The bottom line is a 46-turbine project in Lambton County can continue to operate and a partly finished 14-turbine project near Collingwood can ­proceed.

Turbine opponents have argued the structures endanger human health with low-noise frequencies and shadow flicker and harm birds and other wildlife.

Fohr said he’s not opposed to green energy. “I think renewable (energy) is the way of the future. It’s just the way they are being installed,” he said.

Thousands of turbines have sprouted in Ontario in recent years, as the province pledges to wean residents off fossil fuels as part of its Green Energy Act, which also includes using more solar and hydro generation.

Opponents have waged public battles against turbines: local politicians, irked that they’ve been excluded from decision-making within their own municipalities, and neighbours, fearful the machines cause health problems in people and can be harmful to wildlife.

From the decision

“There is a difference between a negative determination that serious harm to human health has not been proven and a positive determination that engaging in the renewable energy project in accordance with the renewable energy approval will not cause serious harm to human health. . . . Based on a substantive review of the tribunal’s three decisions, we are satisfied that the tribunal, in effect, complied with the requirements of (its mandate).”

Source:  Turbine opponents lost another round | By Debora Van Brenk, The London Free Press | Monday, July 4, 2016 | www.lfpress.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

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