January 25, 2018
Ontario

Ministry of Environment getting sued

By Paul Pedro | Blackburn News | January 25, 2018 | blackburnnews.com

Two local groups against wind towers are suing the Ministry of Environment (MOE) over what they call the failure to protect the public from turbine noise.

A judicial review application filed in a Toronto court alleges that at least five wind projects are being allowed to ignore new government rules. The groups say if the new guidelines are followed, it’s estimated that up to three-quarters of turbines across Ontario would have to be relocated or removed.

Dan Donkers is a member of ‘Wallaceburg Area Wind Concerns’ and has lived at 6314 Langstaff Line for 11 years. He says a new wind farm to be built close to his home will have towers that are 642 feet tall, and people are upset.

“To have it shoved down our throats, very frustrating. We don’t have a say, they don’t seem to want to listen and nobody seems to want to care. The people in Toronto seem to know better than we do and that’s frustrating,” says Donkers.

The other group is called ‘Dutton Dunwich Opponents of Wind Turbines’.

Both groups allege the province has new regulations and directives to limit the amount of noise from a wind project that any home should have to tolerate but they’re not being followed.

The groups allege the MOE has admitted that previous guidelines underestimated noise at nearby homes.

Donkers says he feels like collateral damage and has many questions about how far the towers will be from homes.

“They’re monsters, they’re 642 feet tall. To give you perspective, to go from the road to the end of the tree line and walk most of the way back is the top of the turbine,” he says.

Donkers says the 642 foot turbines are massive and wants the MOE to think more about safety and its citizens.

“They’re that big, they’re monsters. We don’t need them that close to people. Put them out where they’re not going to impact people,” says Donkers.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/01/25/ministry-of-environment-getting-sued/