MIDDLESEX-LAMBTON WIND ACTION

Citizens opposed to Aggressive Wind Turbine Development

Our goal is to educate residents of Middlesex and Lambton Counties on the aggressive tactics of wind developers & on the detriments that are known to be caused by wind turbines.  Please visit Ontario Wind Resistance for updates & research– it is packed with very useful information provided by very helpful individuals.

Contact the Middlesex Wind Action Group: windactiongroup@gmail.com

“Our goals should not be blind opposition to progress but rather opposition to blind progress.” –John Muir–

Protest Hwy 402 – Not a Willing Host of Wind Turbines!

Date: Saturday Oct 19
Time: Assemble 9:30, Start 10:00 am
Place: Forest to Strathroy on HWY 402 MAP

Dear Rural Ontario;
We want your tractors, your pick up trucks, your front end loaders, your signs, your voice —- And your opposition to the liberal government’s destruction of our communities!

How you can participate in Adelaide ERT appeal

Although the location is still being ‘fought over’, the date for the Adelaide ERT Preliminary Hearing and the first day of the full Hearing have been set.

The dates so far are:

Preliminary Hearing: September 16 10:00am

First Day of Hearing: October 15 10:00am

(but please note – these dates can change – I will keep you informed if they do)

Please consider being a Party, Participant or Presenter at this appeal.

If you have a particular concern that relates to the appeal, a home that could be affected by flicker, a farm by stray voltage, a child who is sensitive to noise, a natural area that is threatened by the development, you have an expertise in an issue that relates to the appeal…please consider being one of the above. If you aren’t sure, talk to contact us or call the ERT and ask their opinion. The more faces the ERT panel sees, with real issues at hand, the more alive and REAL the appeal is — add your voice. It can be a very short presentation, or lengthy.

If you are at all considering this, read the notice below. If you know of anyone who may be interested- please send them the info.

Interest must be expressed by September 11 @ 4pm to the case coordinator.

Presenters and Participants are not subject to the possibility of costs being assessed, so don’t worry about that.

This appeal will tackle everything from health, to stray voltage, road safety, habitat loss etc.…the whole kit and caboodle.

There are 2 appellants: MLWAG Inc. (with Harvey named, and Eric Gillespie listed as legal counsel), and me (with well….me).

We plan to call witnesses from different parts of the world – some may come in person and others we hope to have broadcast in by videoconferencing. Attendance of the public in numbers would be very appreciated at these hearings.

Donations. We do need to raise some cash to pay for the basics though. If you can help financially, it would be greatly appreciated, and put to very good use.

Cheques can be made out to “Middlesex Lambton Wind Action Group Inc.”

Mailed to:

Middlesex Lambton Wind Action Group Inc.
c/oHarvey Wrightman
1503 Napperton Dr.,
Kerwood, ON N0M 2B0

Many thanks for all your support,

Esther

View this document on Scribd

Appeal to ERT of Adelaide Wind Project approval

Appeal of NextEra project by Esther Wrightman.
Middlesex Lambton Wind Action Group Inc. is also and appellant.

View this document on Scribd

Make the wind company pay your legal bills.

Hey, got the blues about that legal advice bill that some smooth-talking windy promised they’d pay – as long as you signed a wind lease or transmission easement?

Well, fret no more, NextEra has just put a cheque on the doorstep of a property owner in North Middlesex even though he did not sign an easement for the proposed 100′ pole line in front of his house. Lots of other people refused to sign, but this savvy landowner took the lease to a lawyer requesting that “independent legal advice” (ILA) be written.  The landman even promised that NextEra would pay up to $1500 for legal advice.

NextEra (commonly referred to as Nexterror) refused to sign the amended contract.  When the landowner asked for payment for his legal fees, he was told,  “I received your request for compensation related to the payment of legal review of NextEra’s easement offer. In this case, we do not yet have an executed agreement and, as I mentioned, NextEra does not normally pay legal fees for review of unsigned easements.”   End of story?  Not quite, read on.

Groups hosting information session in Sarnia

Date: July 31
Time: 7:00pm
Place: Imperial Theatre, 168 Christina N, Sarnia MAP

Sarnia Observer
Activists fighting industrial wind turbine projects in rural Lambton County are taking their message to Sarnia residents at a public meeting July 31. Ingrid Willemsen, a member of We’re Against Industrial Turbines – Plympton-Wyoming (WAIT-PW), said it’s organizing the town hall meeting at Sarnia’s Imperial Theatre, 7 p.m., along with Conservation of Rural Enniskillen (CORE) and the Middlesex-Lambton Wind Action Group (MLWAG).

The groups are fighting plans to build wind turbines in Plympton-Wyoming, Lambton Shores, Enniskillen Township, Warwick Township and neighbouring Middlesex County. “Our focus is just to educate Sarnia, because we think that’s where the voters are, where the taxpayers are, where the people who kind of don’t think they’re affected are,” Willemsen said.

The meeting will include presentations by Parker Gallant, a retired banker and a contributor to the Financial Post, as well as others speaking about the impact of industrial wind turbines on electricity bills, taxes, future development, wildlife and the life of rural residents. Read article

Deb Matthews’ Garden Party (with a rural Ontario flavour)

Yesterday afternoon we protested in London with a whole FIVE people at Health Minister/Deputy Premier Deb Matthews’ swanky garden party. I suppose if it were a meek five it would have been rather boring…..it was far from that though.

We chanted, educated, made the Liberals cringe for about an hour and a half on that hot afternoon. Deb stayed in the centre of the yard, surrounded by ‘her people’.

Her aide came out early on (before we got going vocally) and said he was glad to see were “respectful” and not like some of those people you see (ahem…) chanting and yelling on TV against turbines (I know, don’t laugh too hard – we were in dresses- he didn’t recognize us!).

I looked him in the eye and said, “You see those people on the front of the paper protesting wind turbines?”

“Yeah…?” he says, glancing up.

Big wind bullies

Esther Wrightman speaks with Ezra Levant about her fight against big wind bullies.

Middlesex Centre NOT a willing host

Middlesex Centre
WHEREAS the Premier of Ontario has recently conveyed the Government’s desire to limit Industrial Wind Turbine (IWT) Projects to communities that are willing hosts;

AND WHEREAS Council for the Municipality of Middlesex Centre has received a clear message from its residents that they are not willing to host to IWTs in Middlesex Centre;

AND WHEREAS Council for the Municipality of Middlesex Centre applauds the position taken by the Premier and the Government; A community of diverse citizens, rooted in rural and urban traditions, united through involvement, cooperation, and mutual respect

AND WHEREAS Council represents all citizens within the Municipality, both those in favour of wind projects and those opposed. As a result, Council needs to maintain a fair and balanced viewpoint;

Legislation aimed at curbing legal action used to limit expression

Sarnia Observer
Esther Wrightman says she could be the poster child for Ontario’s proposed new law to curb strategic lawsuits launched to silence critics. The provincial government introduced the Protection of Public Participation Act just weeks after wind farm developer NextEra Energy Canada launched a lawsuit against Wrightman, a Middlesex County anti-wind activist.

Wrightman said that when she heard about the proposed new law, “I went, ‘What? Really? I could use that, right about now.” Ontario says the law, if passed, would allow courts to quickly identify and deal with strategic lawsuits launched to intimate opponents and reduce their ability to participate in public debates. The legislation, based on recommendations from an expert advisory panel, would also reduce time wasted in court on meritless claims, the government says.

“We live in a fair and democratic society, and we believe that this law will provide a balanced approach that recognizes both the right to public expression and the importance of protection of reputation,” said Attorney General John Gerretsen.

Wrightman said that while the new law may come too late to help her, it acknowledges that strategic lawsuits are a problem. Laws to protect citizens against strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) are common in the U.S., but Quebec is currently the only Canadian province with one. Read article

Legal bullies: Wind turbine corporation picks ridiculous excuse to go after environmentalist

Ezra Levant, Edmonton Sun
A $32 billion energy corporation has filed a massive lawsuit against an Ontario environmentalist named Esther Wrightman. It’s a SLAPP suit: Strategic litigation against public participation. It’s not really about legal arguments. It’s about crushing Wrightman with legal bills and burning up her time, so she can’t spend time campaigning against them.

The lawsuit doesn’t allege Wrightman vandalized their property, or trespassed, or anything like that. Their complaint is that, on her homemade website, Wrightman mocked the company’s name. She even had the temerity to publish a satirical version of their logo. That’s it. That’s why they hired three lawyers at one of Canada’s largest law firms, McCarthy Tetrault, to sue her into the ground.

And the only reason you have not heard of this lawsuit — the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is not defending her free speech, the CBC has not put this on their nightly news — is because the corporate bully here is not an oil company like Exxon. It’s a wind turbine company called NextEra. See, that kind of bullying is OK. Read article

National Review: Big Wind SLAPPs Critic

Robert Bryce, The National Review
The Goliath of the wind-energy business is suing David. The defendant is Esther Wrightman, an activist and mother of two from the tiny town of Kerwood, Ontario, which sits roughly halfway between Detroit and Toronto.

Wrightman, 32, has angered the Florida-based NextEra Energy (market capitalization: $32 billion) by starting a couple of bare-bones websites, ontariowindresistance.org and mlwindaction.org, as well as a YouTube channel, which she uses to lampoon the company. In its lawsuit, filed on May 1, NextEra claims that Wrightman has misused its logo and libeled the company by calling it “NexTerror” and “NextError.” And while the company doesn’t specify the amount of damages it seeks from Wrightman, it says that it will donate any proceeds from the litigation to United Way.

NextEra owns some 10,000 megawatts of wind-generation capacity, or about one-sixth of all U.S. capacity. And the company is aggressively developing six new wind projects in Canada, one of which, the Adelaide Wind Energy Centre, aims to put 38 turbines just north of Wrightman’s home. (You can see her property and the surrounding land by going here.)

NextEra’s filing against Wrightman is a textbook case of a SLAPP suit, a strategic lawsuit against public participation. And it’s a particularly loathsome one as NextEra filed it in Ontario, the epicenter of the backlash against the encroaching sprawl of the 150-meter-high, noise-producing, bird-and-bat-killing, subsidy-dependent wind-energy sector. Read article

wpd Napier Wind up for 45 day public comment period

Environmental Registry – SUBMIT COMMENT Due July 6th
Description of Instrument:
This posting is for a proposed Renewable Energy Approval by wpd Napier Wind Incorporated, for the Napier Wind project, proposed to be located at 27904 Brown Road, Township of Adelaide Metcalfe, County of Middlesex, Ontario. This is a Class 4 wind facility with a total expected generation capacity of 4.1 megawatts (MW).

The proposed facility is considered to be a Class 4 wind facility under Ontario Regulation 359/09 (O. Reg. 359/09) Renewable Energy Approvals under Part V.0.1 of the Environmental Protection Act. Applications for Renewable Energy Approvals are required to be submitted in accordance with O. Reg. 359/09 for consideration for approval.

Public Consultation:
This proposal has been posted for a 45 day public review and comment period starting May 22, 2013. If you have any questions, or would like to submit your comments, please do so by July 06, 2013 to the individual listed under “Contact”. Additionally, you may submit your comments on-line.

Lambton Shores ‘not a willing host’ to turbines

Sarnia Lambton Independent
Lambton Shores Council has joined dozens of municipalities which say they are ‘not willing hosts’ to industrial wind turbines. Municipalities have had little say in the planning of the projects since the province brought in the Green Energy Act. It overruled any local planning authority. At the time, then- Premier Dalton McGuinty said it would stop people from objecting to the projects simply because they didn’t want them in their backyards.

But since then, rural communities have organized lobbying groups trying to impress upon local government and the province there are health concerns associated with the industrial turbines even as big energy companies began planning projects around the province. In Lambton Shores, 267 of turbines will soon dot the landscape including two major projects by Suncor Energy (46 turbines), NextEra Energy’s Jericho project with 92 turbines.

Lambton Shores has been carefully pouring over the projects, hoping to offer comment to the Ministry of the Environment on areas where residents are have voiced concerned, such as how far the turbines are from homes, stray voltage, and the health effects from sound vibrations. Lambton Shores has asked for a moratorium on wind development until a health study by the federal government is complete, but so far the province hasn’t responded. Read article

St. Clair not a willing host for turbines

Sarnia this Week
ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP – St. Clair Township is not a willing host for wind turbines. That’s the declaration councillors made – unanimously – after a recent discussion to establish a by-law about where they can be placed within the municipality. Deputy Clerk and Coordinator of Planning Jeff Baranek made a presentation to council suggesting it adopt a by-law to establish building permit fees for industrial wind turbines.

“You can’t make revenue off building permit fees,” he said, “but you can ensure all costs… are harboured by the developer.” Baranek’s suggestion was a $10,000 fee per turbine plus $100 per metre to the highest point of the structure. He mentioned that some municipalities – most notably Bluewater – are issuing other fees, like a $220,000 decommissioning fee by that municipality, but such a cost was not among his recommendations. He did, however, suggest that council adopt a two-kilometre setback from any property line, which he said would essentially “sterilize” the township. Read article

Save the Bornish Eagles celebration pics

Yesterday was a beautiful day at the Bald Eagle Celebration, for so many reasons. But at the very end of the day, as about a dozen of of us were packing up, someone yelled, “Hey, look up!”. One of the Bornish Eagles was flying overhead – he circled around us for about a minute, and then took off in the direction of the proposed NextEra Bornish wind project. Some things you just can’t put words to…. this was one of them.

Celebrating the sacredness of the eagle in NextTerror’s Bornish Wind Project

Wind Protesters defend Bornish Eagles

Gord Whitehead, Age Dispatch Focus
Was it a gesture of gratitude? A bald eagle circled overhead just as wind turbine protesters were wrapping up a Saturday afternoon community awareness ‘celebration’ aimed at sparing the rare bird’s nest from nearby electrical power developments.

“The day was very enjoyable, with good collective spirits shared,” said Esther Wrightman, spokesperson for the Middlesex-Lambton Wind Action Group. “But to top it off, when we were packing up at 5 p.m., someone said, ‘look up!’. One of the Bornish eagles was circling right above us, for about a minute before he headed south, into the Bornish Wind Project area. Some things I just don’t have words for, and that was one of those moments.”

Wrightman estimated 200 persons dropped in during the all-afternoon May 25 event at West Williams Community Centre, southwest of Parkhill. Group members were joined by supporters from Toronto, Haldimand County, Goderich, Clinton, Delaware-Munsee and Kettle & Stony Point.

Demonstrators heckle premier as she begins her address in Sarnia

Sarnia Observer
About 50 protesters greeted Premier Kathleen Wynne when she arrived at the opening of the Goodwill One Tomato garden in Sarnia around 10 a.m. A combination of Save the Jail and STOP wind turbine demonstrators waving placards attempted to talk to the premier as she walked by. Wynne took the stage and began her opening remarks while protesters continued to yell “Hey, hey Liberals, you’re fired, you’re fired” and “Hey Wynne, you’re not listening.”

Mayor Mike Bradley stood at the podium and attempted to quiet the demonstrators during the opening ceremonies. “We appreciate dissent but we also appreciate respect,” he said. Wynne told the crowd that she had earlier told about 20 Queen Elizabeth II students who were serving fresh vegetables to the crowd of 200 that she appreciates freedom of expression. “I am working to address your concerns that have been raised,” she told the crowd. Read article

Demonstrators Greet Premier

Blackburn News
The weather was warm but not the reception as an Ontario Premier visited Sarnia for the first time since 2007. Kathleen Wynne was met by anti-wind turbine and Sarnia Jail protesters as she arrived for the opening of a Community Garden at Goodwill Industries at Wellington and Murphy. The new Liberal Premier’s first order of business was an interview with Sue Storr on CHOK’s The Talk Show at 9 this morning. She said the province’s new green energy rules are not necessarily retroactive with 22 projects already approved, many of which are in the Lambton-Middlesex area. Read article

CTV News: Wynne greeted by protests in Sarnia

CTV News

Head-on with giant

Debora Van Brenk, London Free Press
Canada’s wind energy giant has slapped a Strathroy-area rock gardener with a lawsuit alleging she’s harming its reputation. In a Goliath-vs-David dispute, NextEra Energy Canada says Esther Wrightman is discrediting it, depreciating its goodwill in the community and mutilating its copyrighted logo. NextEra Energy’s operating revenue in 2012 was $14 billion.

On the other side is Wrightman, who says she can’t even afford the $144 fee to file her statement of defence. “It’s totally parody,” Wrightman said, defending her manipulation of the NextEra logo. “It’s parody and it’s fair comment on what they’ve done.”

A mother of two, whose income comes from disability supports and selling plants for rock gardens, Wrightman has been a thorn in NextEra’s side for opposing wind turbines planned for the Strathroy area. She’s also drawn the company’s ire for posting a video of the dismantling of a bald eagle’s nest in the path of a Haldimand turbine project. The lawsuit, filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, contends Wrightman mutilated the firm’s logo by making it read “NextTerror” and “NextError.” It also says she infringed on copyright, made misleading statements meant to discredit the business, made false representations and showed bad faith. Read article

What’s the best way to fight wind turbines? Get sued!

Calvin Luther Martin, PhD, WTS.com
On September 15, 2004, I fell down the rabbit hole into the make-believe world of “wind energy.” Nine years ago the wind turbine hucksters arrived in Franklin County, NY, oiling their way from townhall to townhall, farmhouse to farmhouse, selling the (palpably absurd) idea of ”clean, green, renewable” wind energy. (Just another snake-oil, yet spectacularly lucrative.)

For nine years, I’ve been witness to a colossal corporate scam that flourishes despite all the contrary evidence of physics, clinical medicine, economics, environmentalism—and common sense. Nine years wracking my brain for ways to vanquish it.

We tried publishing Nina’s book, “Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment,” thinking (not unreasonably) that 300 pages of clinical and scientific evidence would shut it down. We were naive. Zealots driven by dollar bills and the magical thinking of “clean energy” countered with a tsunami of junk science in various junk formats—and, horrifically, it worked. (Never underestimate the ingenuity of corrupt fools, especially the ones with PhD’s.)

I debated the merits of suing wind companies. Nope, that was a non-starter. I pondered the likelihood of convincing local governments to reject these useless grotesqueries marching across the landscape. This had mixed results. Read article

NextEra seeks damages from Kerwood area resident

Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer
NextEra Energy Canada is suing Middlesex County wind activist Esther Wrightman over altered company logos that appeared online and in videos posted to YouTube. The Canadian subsidiary of Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources filed a statement of claim in the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto against Wrightman who has been actively opposing wind turbine projects in Middlesex and Lambton counties.

They include NextEra’s Adelaide wind farm near Wrightman’s home, as well as the company’s nearby Bornish and Jericho projects. “Our policy is not to comment on pending legal action,” NextEra spokesperson Josie Hernandez said when contacted Monday. “We look forward to sharing our view on the matter with the court.” The statement of claim says any damages NextEra recovers from the court action will be donated to United Way Canada.

According to NextEra’s statement of claim, a company logo was altered to say “Nexterror,” and appeared on a province anti-wind website, as well as videos posted online. The allegations have not been proven in court. Read article

Ezra Levant and MPP McNaughton on NextEra’s SLAPP suit

Save the Bornish Eagles! Community Awareness Celebration – May 25th

Eagle Celebration flyer – print and distribute!Date: Saturday, May 25
Time: 1:00-5:00PM
Place: West Williams Community Centre, 32217 Kerwood Road, Parkhill  MAP (right beside the eagle nest)
NextEra vs Eagles Video

Activists say MOE approval of wind project near Arkona not the end of the fight

By Heather Wright, Sarnia this Week
LAMBTON COUNTY – Wind activists say a transmission line hearing may be best way to stop a wind energy center north of Arkona. NextEra received approval for the Bornish Wind Energy center, a 45-turbine project just northeast of Arkona from the Ministry of the Environment recently. Esther Wrightman of Middlesex Lambton Wind Concerns has been among the people fighting the project. She’s frustrated. Wrightman saying looking at the Environmental Registry confirms her suspicion that the Ministry of the Environment simply rubber stamps wind projects. Wrightman says the registry on the Bornish project uses the name of another wind project in Eastern Ontario telling her the responses are not original.

“These are projects that are going to affect people’s lives and it seems that it’s just a matter of copy and pasting approval lines in it from one to another,” says Wrightman. “The MOE has never denied a project” she adds. “The system is broken…you don’t have a government agency that can help…you feel quite deserted at the end of the day.” Read article

Paved paradise, put up a wind turbine….

NexTerror cut down one eagle nest in Ontario already this year, and are eying up another at the Bornish project that was just approved last week.
Please mark your calendar to join the Save the Bornish Eagles Gathering:

Date: Saturday, May 25
Time: 1:00-5:00PM
Place: West Williams Community Centre, 32217 Kerwood Road, Parkhill MAP (right beside the eagle nest)

Enniskillen Township citizens’ group spreading its message

Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer
Chad Burke says he believes it’s possible to keep wind farms out of Enniskillen Township. Burke chairs the citizens’ group Conservation of Rural Enniskillen (CORE) that formed earlier this year after several wind companies became active seeking land to lease for turbine sites in the township. Some residents of other communities where turbines have already been built have said “they wish they would have gotten a head start, like we have,” Burke said.

“We’re feeling pretty good there’s a chance industrial wind turbines will not be in Enniskillen.” Core members will be handing out pamphlets and information at Saturday’s town-wide yard sale in Petrolia, and will have an information table May 1 at the Heidi’s Independent grocery store there. That will be followed by a community awareness meeting CORE has organized for May 2, 7 p.m., at Lambton Centennial School.

Lawyer Wallace Lang is scheduled to speak that evening about land leases and Greg Cameron will speak about insurance issues. Tammy Van Troost, president of the Lambton local of the National Farmers Union, is also expected to speak. Read article

Enniskillen says its an “unwilling host” to turbines

Sarnia Lambton Independent
Enniskillen Township council says it can’t be clearer about its opposition to wind turbines in the community declaring itself an “unwilling host.” Concerns have risen in the municipality in the past two months as three wind energy companies go door-to-door in the municipality, trying to find landowners willing to have industrial wind turbines on their property. The three companies could plant as many as 51 turbines in the countryside around Petrolia.

A community group, CORE – Conservation of Rural Enniskillen, has been formed and has been pressing council to take a stand against the project.

Mayor Kevin Marriott says council has been opposed to the projects but recently took the added step of passing a motion declaring itself to be an unwilling host to the wind energy centers. “I heard this was happening in a few municipalities across the province,” Marriott says, adding council unanimously supported the move.

The motion pleased CORE spokesman Chad Burke. “I believe that our mayor, our council, is doing everything they can do to keep industrial wind turbines out of our township,” Burke says in an email. Read article