June 30, 2017
Nova Scotia

Water Wells First holds sit-in at MOE office in Windsor

By Paul Pedro | Blackburn News | June 29, 2017 | blackburnnews.com

Water Wells First says groundwater and pile driving monitoring promised by the Ministry of Environment is not good enough.

The Chatham-Kent group held a two and a half hour sit-in at the MOE office in Windsor late Wednesday afternoon, because it says monitoring stations are too far from the North Kent wind towers.

Spokesperson Kevin Jakubec insists the aquifer is being contaminated by wind farm vibrations and he is demanding a public inquiry to either get a proper analysis of the well water or stop the wind turbines altogether.

Jakubec wants monitors to be installed in the bedrock.

“The construction is being done miles away and the ministry is only allowing the wind farm developer to put a couple of vibration sensors on top of well casings and in our discussions with expert seismologists, that’s completely ineffective,” says Jakubec.

Jakubec is also calling for the wind farms in Dover to be shut down because water well owners are not sure the water is safe to drink.

The MOE wants to continue meeting and Jakubec hopes they can soon compare testing results.

Michael Moroney, district manager with the ministry, admits the wind developer conducts the monitoring, but the ministry supervises to ensure all standards are met.

“We have an individual in our ministry who’s looking at the results of the monitoring closely. So, we have that expertise within our ministry. We’ve been out to the sites, especially the test locations. We were out on site when that work was being conducted to make sure we were comfortable and satisfied that the company was doing what was required to be done,” Moroney says.

Moroney says the MOE doesn’t have enough water contamination evidence at the moment to stop the wind turbines but once it does it’ll take immediate action.

“What we can do is compare it against Ontario drinking water standards and if there’s a question about safety or a health parameter exceeded, then we would share that with the local health unit and we would tell the residents to speak with the health unit for advice on the safety of the drinking water,” says Moroney.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/06/30/water-wells-first-holds-sit-in-at-moe-office-in-windsor/