Over 100 wind turbines in Middlesex County now under construction

Right now in Middlesex County:

• Suncor’s Adelaide wind project was approved today: read more

• WPD’s Napier project approved last week: read more

• NextEra’s Adelaide wind project is almost done the appeal process. read more

• NextEra’s Bornish wind project’s appeal denied. read more

All the proposed wind projects in Middlesex County (above) have now been approved and will be under construction, if they aren’t’ already. That’s over 100 wind turbines. If you want to see what it look like, check these pictures out, or come out and see for yourself.

In Lambton county:

• NextEra’s Jericho wind up for final public comment: read more

• Suncor’s Cedar Point wind up for final public comment: read more

That’s another 130+ wind turbines.

Grand Bend? That’s another 111 turbines.

This is what Christmas looks like to many in rural Middlesex and Lambton Counties.

If you have 100 good ideas of how to stop the wind turbines, just implement 1 of them on your own. That makes a difference. Action is what is need!

Council’s improper closed meeting with wind developer outed

Over the past five years there have been many questionable ‘meetings’ in the Adelaide-Metcalfe council chambers, especially when wind turbines are involved. For starters, the mayor and the deputy-mayor have close relatives who have signed wind option agreements, and they never declare a conflict of interest. Then there was the time the police were called to stop a resident from video recording the open meetings. Oh yes and when the CAO’s husband physically struck out at a resident taking a picture of them entering a closed meeting with Suncor. Items have been left off agendas, mis-reported in minutes…the list goes on, and frustration builds.

So to say the residents are skeptical, leery, untrusting of this council, is an understatement. And for good reason. Even the ombudsman’s office has had their fill of this council. With 6 “Best Practices”, and 3 “Violations” found in the last year and a half, this little township of 3000 is practically topping the province for infractions— beating out the big cities (oh yes, even London).

If a resident happens upon an improper closed meeting, it’s usually by fluke. And so it was with the most recent revelation with the Ad-Met council, when a closed meeting on January 25, 2012 was discovered in the “Municipal Correspondence” section of the wind developer WPD’s submission (See pg. 130). Yep, check those out for your local project!

The Township CAO/treasurer Fran Urbshott, was contacted by the office of the Ombudsman and an investigation has been initiated, as all but one of the township councillors and the mayor were there— a quorum present and the public was not invited, let alone notified….nor were minutes taken….the township has no record of the meeting, thankfully the wind company does.

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.

Oil Springs Information meeting draws a crowd

Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer
Landowners need to get advice before signing on with wind energy companies, says lawyer Wallace Lang. He was speaking to about 250 people gathered Thursday evening at a wind turbine public awareness meeting held at the community centre in Oil Springs.

It was organized by Enniskillen Township resident Chad Burke and his family after representatives of wind companies began approaching landowners in the rural Lambton County community. Mayor Kevin Marriott has said three companies are behind several proposals for wind farms in the township.

Lang was one of several speakers at the meeting Burke organized with help from local anti-wind groups. “Take care,” Lang told the crowd about documents used by wind companies. “Because it’s a binding agreement once you sign it. Lang said the companies have developed documents they have found to be saleable to landowners. “You’re not dealing with a bunch of amateurs here.”

Burke said he discovered the wind companies have become active in Enniskillen when they approached his in-laws. As well as organizing Thursday’s meeting, Burke said he expects to see an Enniskillen citizens’ group form and join forces with other anti-turbine efforts in Lambton. “The whole idea is to spread awareness and not let these into our community,” he said. Read article

New transmission lines spark plans for up to 51 wind turbines near Petrolia

Heather Wright, Sarnia Lambton Independent
Enniskillen politicians and residents are watching with worry as three companies make the rounds asking landowners south of Petrolia to sign leases for wind turbines. Enniskillen Mayor Kevin Marriott says in the last few months three companies have been speaking with the municipality about projects which could bring as many as 51 turbines to the rural township.

The mayor says there has been major interest since the Ontario Energy Board gave approval for Hydro One’s $40 million upgrade of a major transmission line which goes from the Lambton Generating Station into London. The upgrade allows for up to 500 megawatts of additional renewable power in the area according to documents filed at the time with the OEB. “These transmission lines that are coming from the Courtright coal-fired facility are being upgraded and all of the sudden there is an interest to feed that line,” he says. Read article

Napier/Kerwood wpd Final Public Meeting: Dec 6

This project is an example of how small can be sometimes just as bad as large.  

The Napier project (that isn’t near Napier at all) is ‘only’ 2 turbines. But if these 2 turbines were part of Nextera or Suncor’s projects, they would be the most ILL PLACED turbines of the 50 or so proposed

Below is the noise map – yes the same hideous maps that Suncor use. I put road names on it for you, because they were missing, again. Check out the line for the 40 dBA — check out how many homes are along that line along Napperton Dr. From their chart it says there will be 9 homes that will be under 700m from these turbines (closest is 573m away from a home). Notice also that there isn’t single ‘participating’ receptor.

wpd Canada Corporation (wpd Canada) – Napier Wind Project

Final Public Meeting
Date::  December 6th
Time:   5:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Place: Adelaide Metcalfe Township Office – Lower Hall, 2340 Egremont Drive- RR#5, Strathroy, ON MAP

• » Draft Project Description Report
• » Draft Construction Plan Report
• » Draft Design and Operations Report
• » Draft Decommissioning Report
• » Draft Natural Heritage Assessment and Environmental Impact Study
• » Draft Heritage Assessment
• » Stage 1 and 2 Archaeological Assessment Reports
• » Draft Water Assessment and Water Body Report
• » Draft Wind Turbine Specifications Report
• » Summary of Draft Project Reports

Massive line clears way for wind projects

GREEN ENERGY: $700-million project completed
By JOHN MINER, The London Free Press

Completion of the biggest transmission line project in Ontario in 20 years clears an important hurdle for a series of massive wind turbine projects in Southwestern Ontario, including eight within 70 kilometres of London.

Completed six months ahead of schedule, the $700-million Bruce to Milton transmission project will allow electricity to flow from refurbished reactors at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, and from wind and solar projects that have received conditional contracts under Ontario’s green energy program.

Napier Wind Public Meeting (actually project not even near Napier…): Dec 15

Public Meeting
Napier Wind WPD
Date: Thurs. Dec. 15
Time: 5:30-8:00 PM
Location: Adelaide W. G. MacDonald P.S.
29059 School Road/Egremont Dr. MAP

Two giant 2.7MW turbines on Napperton Dr./between Kerwood Rd & Brown Rd: Project Report