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Kincardine holding special meeting April 5 to discuss
wind farms
By Liz Dadson

Kincardine Council

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Kincardine council is holding a special meeting tomorrow night (April 5), 4-7 p.m., in the council chamber, to discuss industrial wind developments.

The meeting was prompted by a motion brought forward by councillor Randy Roppel and presentations made at the March 16 council meeting.

Roppel was calling for the municipality to establish certain health and safety provisions for the location and construction of wind generation facilities.

His bylaw states that the chief building official, at his/her discretion, may issue a building permit for the construction of a wind generation facility, provided it meets the following criteria:

  • A certificate indemnifying the municipality against any and all liability and costs due to the facility developer's failure in performance of any part of his contract
  • A $1-million deposit of financial security to satisfy eventual costs, including decommissioning and restoration of lands to their former state
  • An agreement with the municipality to satisfy all requirements, financial and otherwise, concerning the development and to abide by best practices under health and safety
  • A further agreement to stipulate and demonstrate the municipality has acted in a responsible manner to ensure the protection of people
  • Certificates issued by Grey-Bruce medical officer of health, endorsed by Health Canada; from the Ontario Ministry of Energy; the Ontario Ministry of the Environment; and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources - all confirming the proposed facility will benefit and not harm the health, safety and well-being of any resident in Kincardine
  • An outline of all haul routes, access to municipal roads, haulage, and guarantee to adhere to all bylaws and traffic laws for haulage

Roppel said he knows that the province could sue the municipality over this bylaw but Kincardine has been sued before. "If enough people in the province stand up against the provincial government and tell them they're wrong, maybe they'll admit it," he said.

Deputy mayor Anne Eadie said she had hoped to have draft guidelines in place so council could have already discussed a policy regarding wind farms. However, those guidelines are still being drawn up.

She said they should be ready for a meeting in April for a full discussion by council, in order to hash out many of the issues Roppel's bylaw takes into consideration.

"We need to develop our position on industrial wind developments," she said. "Then, the next step is to decide how far we're going to go, legally, to protect that position."

Council agreed to send Roppel's proposed bylaw to solicitor Steve O'Melia for legal review and comments.

Presentations were made by Catherine Crawford on behalf of people affected by the wind developments, and by Rachel Thompson regarding decommissioning of wind turbines.

Crawford said people living near the Enbridge Ontario Wind Power's 110 turbines at Underwood, and the Cruickshank five-turbine project south of Tiverton, are suffering a variety of illnesses, including tinnitus, heart palpitations, lack of sleep and poor concentration.

 

She said Central Bruce-Grey Wind Concerns began to facilitate Health Affected Resident Meetings (HARM), and from those have gathered significant data about the problems these people face. She outlined the health concerns for 10 families.

The major problem, she said, is that these people don't feel as if they can even complain about the problems. She asked council to create a "complaint-friendly" atmosphere for those experiencing health impacts from wind turbines.

Thompson said there are more than 70 municipalities calling on the provincial government to look at the issue of decommissioning of wind turbines. Many are also asking for a moratorium until there is a definitive study done on siting turbines with the health and well-being of rural families in mind.

"People are being harmed," she said. "Due to regulation failures, family homes have been abandoned, some of these homes have been purchased by wind developers."

She said there are flaws discovered in wind developers' plans for decommissioning, especially the value placed on salvage of materials. "If Enbridge believes it can decommission a wind turbine for $27,000, but Energy Ventures Analysis Inc. believes it will be closer to $100,000, we have a huge shortfall of $73,000 per turbine. At 115 turbines, that's just over $8-million."

If Enbridge does not cover the cost of decommissioning, Kincardine will be in debt to the tune of more than $11-million in today's dollars, said Thompson. "It is imperative to look forward and take the necessary steps now, to prevent the possibility of coping with antiquated, abandoned, rusting hulks, polluting our landscape. With no financial back-up, Kincardine stands in danger of being left to clean up this mess."

Mayor Larry Kraemer reiterated that council has agreed to send Roppel's proposed motion to O'Melia for an opinion. However, that opinion will be discussed in closed session, he said.

Council agreed to hold a special meeting to discuss a policy regarding industrial wind developments, on Tuesday, April 5.

Delegations will be allowed at that meeting, but the total time allotted for delegations will be 30 minutes - each delegation will be permitted to speak for five minutes.


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Sunday, April 03, 2011