Thursday, July 11, 2013

Wind power: Government should get it right

This article is from the print edition of the Picton Gazette, July 11, 2013
OUR OPINION
Decision was correct for Ostrander, but still missed mark  
THANKFULLY, the endangered Blanding’s turtle takes up its residence near Ostrander Point and Ontario's Environmental Review Tribunal decided the construction and ongoing operation of industrial wind turbines in that habitat was too significant a threat to its survival to be ignored.
That’s good news, barring appeal, because it takes away a wind project that had the potential to do damage to a lot more than just one species of turtle. The county’s south shore is still an Important Bird Area and it is still located on rare alvar habitat. From testimony the tribunal heard, there is reason to believe the natural environment would be impacted and there are no guarantees even with the best of mitigation methods suggested, that damage would not be done to the many species that live among that habitat. In fact, it would have been nice to see an even stronger message from the tribunal about the potential for that harm so this community can stop fighting internally and stop raising money to wage a similar war over future planned projects.

It also appears the tribunal didn’t go far enough in addressing human health when considering the
impact industrial wind has on those around them.
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