NextEra makes changes to Jericho

NextEra has announced it is "refining" its Jericho wind power project and plans to hold a series of public meetings to document the changes. The meetings are:
October 21 5-8 PM Centennial Hall atford
October 22 5-8 PM Legacy Recreation Centre Thedford
October 23 5-8 PM Ailsa Craig Community Centre

The London Free Press has a story on the changes and the company spokesperson comments here
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NextEra: all set to bully another Ontario community?

NextEra is heading into a confrontation with another municipality after it has constructed a staging area for its turbine projects in southwestern Ontario in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW) Township without bothering to check whether the site was properly zoned for this use.

   Borea Construction, a contractor working for NextEra has arranged with the owner of the former gravel pit site in ACW for this purpose.  The township thought that the company was working for K2 the wind turbine project currently under appeal at an ERT so did not attempt to stop the project but when they found it was another wind company, they advised the company that a zoning change was required to use the site for storing wind turbine parts. 

   A zoning change requires public notification and a public meeting which is set for September 17.  Unfortunately work on the site is almost complete and the turbine parts are scheduled to start arriving on September 16.  Undeterred by a municipal planning requirement, NextEra's contractor is asking the township for temporary permission to place the turbine parts at the site.

  The municipal staff has drafted a report recommending that the Council not approve this request with the recommendation supported by the municipal solicitor setting the stage for a confrontation with NextEra.  The site is zoned for gravel extraction with part of it zoned Natural Environment due to its position on the edge of a river that flows into Lake Huron about five miles to the west.  Neither of these zoning types allow for the storage of turbine parts.  Work completed to date, which includes installation of a new perimeter fence, leveling the farm-sized site and installing security lighting, is consistent with gravel extraction activities so the municipality has not been able to stop the work.

  From a municipal planning perspective, there are a lot of reasons why an application to change zoning should be turned down.  The entrance to the site is at the top of a blind hill. The use will involve use of large trucks turning into and out of the site onto a narrow road with limited visibility.  The road to the site is not designed for a high volume of truck traffic as it is a narrow township road paved using tar and chip.  A county road is located about 1 mile to the east but to reach it, trucks would have to pass through the village of Dungannon where commercial buildings on the corner limit the turning radius onto the road.

   Run-off from a site of this size will be a major issue but there did not seem to be any provision in the work done to date for storm water management systems.  Run off from a construction site could also include contaminants which need to be kept out of the adjacent river which is known for sport fishing both near this site and where it reaches Lake Huron at Port Albert.  Addressing the run-off would require a substantial reworking of the site elevations and creation of large areas to store run-off.

   The matter comes before ACW Council on Tuesday night.  At the same meeting, the local anti-wind group is booked as a delegation to recommend that the Council adopt the Fire Prevention by-law initiated by Grey Highlands.  As the Township has had experience with a turbine fire, it is expected that the Council will be receptive to this initiative.

   The prospects for NextEra look bleaker.  Allowing the use to proceed on a temporary basis would raise all sorts of legal issues for the municipality.  Even the zoning decision will not be speedy.  Even if it is approved, there is a 20-day appeal period during which anyone who attended the meeting can appeal the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board for a fee of $125.  Any approval would also likely include conditions to address storm water management and improving visibility at the entrance point to the road, if not improving the whole road from Highway 21.

   Looks like this could be a costly mistake for NextEra.  The municipality cannot be sued but I would not want to be their contractor as this could delay construction on a number of projects unless they can arrange for an alternate staging area very quickly.

   The work has generated another highly trained Green Energy Job for the Liberals as there is already a security guard posted on the empty site.  He looked very bored sitting on the steps of the office when I snapped the picture.

   The meeting is on Tuesday September 3 at the Township office at 82133 Council Line, RR5, Goderich beginning at 7:30 pm. 

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh resident

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The bullies win in Bluewater?

Here is a report on the Bluewater Council meeting this week, from resident Hal March, who made a presentation to the Council.

      What a disaster! Last night, Bluewater council passed the Building Permit changes unanimously without making a single modification! The IWT companies are happy for sure. For details of the by-law check http://www.town.bluewater.on.ca/

   Mayor Bill Dowson did not declare a conflict until the last five minutes of the meeting and led the meeting for the three hours until the vote. He asked the very first leading questions to lawyer Eric Gillespie, which were clearly asked to support his agenda. When he declared a conflict it was after being asked about his prior conflicts (with the same by-law) and he said it was about building permits not IWT.  

   Clearly all the changes from the original were solely for IWT and due to Nextera and Northland negotiations with Bluewater. Two by-laws were passed the amended building permit fee and the decommissioning and it was the latter Bill Dowson had a conflict on. Councillors Klopp and Becker who also previously declared a conflict were absent.
  There was a gentleman there who warned Council about the risks of putting IWT and related equipment on top of the massive underground natural gas storage in Bluewater. No one seemed to be too concerned, even when compared with unforeseen disasters like what happened in Lac Megantic. $5million insurance should cover it right?

  Councillor John Gillespie was the most disappointing as he indicated the original building by-law he proposed for IWT was there to protect Bluewater not the residents. He seems to think that if Bluewater cannot afford to take on the IWT, each individual resident can! There was no protection discussed for the residents, it was all about protecting the government of Bluewater.

   They took no notice of the Bluewater Shoreline Residents Association suggestion to get the parent company guarantee beyond the $5 million unspecific insurance policy. This was clearly done for the wind company demands who had representatives in the audience.

  Paul Steckle a former Liberal MP with IWT leases stood up and demanded that council provide the legal cost "wasted" on fighting IWT at the next council meeting. Zurich residents and the Zurich chamber complained about the notice but refused to ask for a vote to defer. There was little notice: the only reason there were 40 or so people there was they read about it on Monday on the municipal website.

   A suggestion was made that the decision be postponed several times, but Eric Gillespie said they needed to talk about that in-camera. After the in-camera session, they all looked very sheepish when they came back and obviously agreed to go 100% support so no one looked bad.

   I could see George Irvin was disgusted by the look on his face, but he fell in line anyway.

   I feel like we have been sold out due to a council fearful of legal action, and they should have been at least willing to force a corporate guarantee from the publicly held companies.

 

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NextEra and the toy turbines

NextEra is among the exhibitors at the 2013 Association of Municipalities of Ontario convention, being held right now in Ottawa.
  In a completely brazen effort to portray their gigantic wind turbines to municipal officials as benign benefits to the community, the company is handing out little toy turbines.
  Too bad they are about 1000th the size of the real things, which are despoiling Ontario with the pollution of environmental noise and vibration, causing health problems, and causing property values to drop.
  And the real things are toys, too---wind power is unreliable and inefficient. There has never been a cost-benefit study done for wind power in Ontario.
 

Next Era booth at AMO August 19, 2013

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