Wind Power News: Ontario
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Nation Rise Wind Farm was not eligible for green energy wind down
Our government was elected on a promise to reduce the costs of electricity for the people of Ontario. One of our first actions as government was to wind down over 750 surplus renewable contracts to avoid long-term costs and save $790 million. Last fall, we repealed the Green Energy Act to ensure that expensive renewable energy projects would never be forced on to unwilling communities again, and returned local decision-making powers to municipalities. The Nation Rise Project, like many industrial . . . Complete story »
Turbine arrivals imminent in North Stormont
The largest wind project currently under construction in Ontario, Nation Rise also holds the distinction as the only such development being built in a political riding held by Doug Ford’s Conservatives where the local community has also declared itself an unwilling project host. Vocal opponents in North Stormont continue to lobby furiously in an attempt to halt Nation Rise, although local MPP Jim McDonell has said it would be too costly now to cancel the contract signed during the last few days of the previous Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne. Complete story »
‘The buzz is killing you, all day long’: Melancthon family loses lawsuit against Dufferin Wind over power lines
A Melancthon family who claimed they were impacted by hydro lines alongside their property has lost their case with the Local Planning and Appeal Tribunal. Frank and Fari Davoodian filed an appeal with the provincial body in 2017. The couple purchased their 28-acre property in 1991, which runs alongside the old rail line, where Dufferin Wind Power Inc. later erected a power line. The pair argued that the line reduced the value of their home by $275,000 and caused significant . . . Complete story »
Lawyers to review 2,000 pages of documents in CK water contamination case
The environmental case against an Ontario ministry, minister, and wind companies over tainted well water is being pushed back to give lawyers a chance to review thousands of pages worth of information related to the charges. Dozens of people packed the Provincial Offence Court in Blenheim Wednesday morning as the case went before the court for the first time since the charges were laid on July 12. Jeff Yurek, Ontario’s minister of the environment, as well as the Environment Ministry . . . Complete story »
Court adjourned until October for wind turbine, Environmental Protection Act charges
Court proceedings in a controversial fight between Chatham-Kent residents and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks have been adjourned until October 30. The province and three wind turbine companies have been charged under the Environmental Protection Act. The Ontario Court of Justice determined in July there were grounds to believe environmental offences had been committed. Residents claim their drinking water has been contaminated by the construction and development of wind turbine farms in Chatham-Kent. Eric Gillespie, a Toronto-based . . . Complete story »
Yurek responds to turbine court claim
Charges filed against three wind farm companies with projects in Chatham-Kent, and the provincial government by a Chatham-Kent resident are being heard in court this week, and although he declined comment initially, the current Environment Minister wanted to set the record straight. In an e-mail to the media, Minister Jeff Yurek said he wanted to “clarify” details being reported about the charges brought by Christine Burke to a Justice of the Peace regarding her issues with a well contaminated with . . . Complete story »
Minister responds to being named in wind turbine charges
Ontario’s environment minister, Jeff Yurek, has responded to being named in recent charges regarding environmental offences allegedly committed at several wind turbine projects in Chatham-Kent. The private prosecution charges are under section 14 of the Environmental Protection Act and were submitted by Christine Burke, a Chatham-Kent resident, according to the court summons document. The Ontario Court of Justice determined there were reasonable grounds to believe that environmental offences had been committed. Yurek is accused in one document of failing to . . . Complete story »
North Stormont residents fuming over inadequate Nation Rise notifications
NORTH STORMONT – Some residents continue to be frustrated with construction of the Nation Rise Wind Farm, saying construction notifications are not being posted in a timely and adequate manner. Rainer Pethke, a farmer on County Road 9, was fixing the fence at the back of his property last week when he saw Clarke construction performing soil stabilization across the back end of his property for an access road for turbine 28. Pethke returned home to check the Nation Rise website . . . Complete story »
Province, turbine firms face EPA charges
After years of dirty, undrinkable water, a Chatham-Kent woman will get her day in court after bringing her complaint about wind farms turbines contaminating her well water to a Justice of the Peace. According to previously published media reports, on July 12 an Ontario Justice of the Peace determined there are “reasonable and probable grounds” to bring charges under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) against Ontario Environment Minister Jeff Yurek, the Ministry of the Environment and three industrial wind companies . . . Complete story »
Hard to predict outcome of environmental charges, says prof
A University of Windsor professor says it’s difficult to predict the outcome of Environmental Protection Act charges laid against Ontario’s environment minister, ministry staff, as well as three wind energy companies operating in Chatham-Kent. Lydia Miljan, an associate professor of political science, said the situation is complicated by the fact that the government is effectively suing itself. “It’s hard to predict how the [Ontario Progressive Conservative government is] going to respond to it,” said Miljan. “It might be an easy . . . Complete story »
