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Locals use videos to share industrial wind turbine concerns

Fifteen well-known County residents, business owners and local elected representatives have made video statements to express concerns about industrial wind projects planned for Prince Edward County.

County residents Borys Holowacz, Janna McCarthy and Gary Mooney collaborated with the participants to produce the videos, filmed and edited by Cherry Valley’s Fifth Town Films.

video-participants“The statements are intended especially for the benefit of people living in the County who, because of family or work obligations, have not had sufficient opportunity to inform themselves on this issue,” said Mooney. “We had a long list of possible participants who have been actively involved in this issue, but limited ourselves to 15 people who represent a cross-section of the community. We’re very pleased and grateful for their contributions.”

The videos average two minutes each, and cover a range of topics, including effects on the natural
environment, human health, tourism, the wine industry, cultural heritage and municipal planning.

In his video, County resident and music industry legend Bernie Finkelstein invites Premier Wynne to visit the County, suggesting she “Come and have a glass of wine… and give a second thought to the idea of carpeting the County with wind turbines.”

Councillor Steve Ferguson speaks of anger that his rights, and municipal rights, were arbitrarily removed through the Green Energy Act.

“This is something that in no way should have been allowed to happen. But it has, and we must continue to fight it.”

He adds Prince Edward County is among 91 Ontario communities who have declared themselves “An Unwilling Host” and reminds that more than 90 per cent of the residents of South Marysburgh participated in a vote concerning industrial wind turbines and rejected them being installed.”

He also presses the premier to pay attention to evidence heard at two Environmental Review Tribunals showing why the South Shore of Prince Edward County is the wrong location for industrial wind turbines to be placed.

The videos are being uploaded in stages every few days to The County Speaks Out YouTube channel. www.tinyurl.com/thecountyspeaksout .

Two wind projects, Ostrander Point (nine turbines) and White Pines (27 turbines) have been approved to be deployed over a large area of South Marysburgh, extending into Athol.

The undeveloped part of this area is habitat for birds and turtles, including 20-plus species at risk, and is also a staging area for migrating birds and bats. The developed part is home to hundreds of County families.

Following is a map showing the cumulative Turbine Risk Zone for both wind projects, with 2 km considered to be the minimum safe distance for people and birds. Note: The White Pines wind project has since been reduced from 30 to 27 turbines.

Both wind project approvals are being appealed by the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists and the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County, respectively. If unsuccessful, these wind projects are to be built later this year, or next.

turbines-planned-for-county

PECFN and APPEC are faced with tens of thousands of dollars of unpaid legal bills from these appeals. Donations of any amount are welcome at www.SaveTheSouthShore.org .

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  1. Gary Mooney says:

    Videos by Bob McMurtry, M.D. on health, and Garth Manning, Q.C. with messages to both Premier Wynne and County residents, are now available at http://www.bit.do/thecountyspeaksout .

    Three more videos to come within a few days.

  2. Gary Mooney says:

    Look for new videos from Dr. Bob McMurtry speaking on health, and two from Garth Manning, speaking to Premier Wynne and to local residents. They’ll be uploaded within the next day or two.

  3. Gary Mooney says:

    Richard, thanks for providing a link to the wind turbines health issue timeline. Most shocking of all is the NASA research in the 1980s that identified concerns about adverse health effects due to infrasound. This has been known to all turbine manufacturers for decades, and also to wind power developers.

  4. Richard Mann says:

    Here is a “time line” showing the history of Wind Turbine Noise problems, going back as far as 1979. Each entry provides documentation:
    http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline/latest/embed/index.html?source=0Ak2bgr7C0nhPdGR3S1lEekU3T3p4ZDhUNDdRV2Y2ZkE&font=Bevan-PotanoSans&maptype=toner&lang=en&height=650

    1979 “First complaints received from a dozen families within a 3km radius of turbine”.
    1981 “Wind turbine operation creates enormous sound pressure waves”
    1982 “Closed windows and doors do not protect occupants from LFN”
    1982 “NASA research on human impacts provided to wind industry”
    1985 “Hypothesis for infrasound-induced motion sickness”
    1987 “Wind industry told that dB(A) unsuitable to measure LFN emissions from wind turbines”

    2004 “Wind industry knows noise models inadequate” (from Vestas)

    2011 “Vestas knew that low frequency noise from larger turbines needed greater setbacks”

  5. Richard Mann says:

    Wind and Solar are not reducing C02. Ontario’s own Engineering Society is telling us this. See the report, “Ontario’s Electricity Dilemma – Achieving Low Emissions at Reasonable Electricity Rates.” Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE), April 2015.
    http://www.ospe.on.ca/resource/resmgr/DOC_advocacy/2015_Presentation_Elec_Dilem.pdf

    Page 15 of 23. “Why Will Emissions Double as We Add Wind and Solar Plants ?”

    – Wind and Solar require flexible backup generation.

    – Nuclear is too inflexible to backup renewables without expensive engineering changes to the reactors.

    – Flexible electric storage is too expensive at the moment.

    – Consequently natural gas provides the backup for wind and solar in North America.

    – When you add wind and solar you are actually forced to reduce nuclear generation to make room for more natural gas generation to provide flexible backup.

    – Ontario currently produces electricity at less than 40 grams of CO2 emissions/kWh.

    – Wind and solar with natural gas backup produces electricity at about 200 grams of CO 2 emissions/kWh. Therefore adding wind and solar to Ontario’s grid drives CO2 emissions higher. From 2016 to 2032 as Ontario phases out nuclear capacity to make room for wind and solar, CO2 emissions will double (2013 LTEP data).

    – In Ontario, with limited economic hydro and expensive storage, it is mathematically impossible to achieve low CO2 emissions at reasonable electricity prices without nuclear generation.

  6. Steve Ferguson says:

    Steve, thanks for sticking up for us new arrivals to the County.

    Like many ‘newbies’ my story is not unique. I discovered PEC in the late 1980s, fell in love with it at first sight and returned year after year spending dollars at inns, B&Bs, restaurants, stores and attractions. Again, like many others who became enamoured with the County, I moved from T.O. and invested here, absorbed the culture (which means everything from the agricultural to the historical to the culinary to the artistic) engaged in local initiatives, volunteered for organizations, made friends, participated in local issues and generally speaking became fully engaged. I also buy goods and services here. I find myself doing something now that I never would have visualized while living in an urban environment: proudly representing the residents and landowners of a rural community (South Marysburgh) trying to preserve the natural and historic habitat of our south shore from industrial wind turbine incursion. I’m not alone. Someone has to do it, why not an unbelievably dedicated group of people, generally from elsewhere, who recognize that which may be lost if action is not taken, and who are prepared to incur the considerable cost to fight for it.

    This is a community where your contribution, however large or small, is welcomed and appreciated. And all are welcome to participate. But please don’t cast aspersions on those of us from outside PEC who have ponied up.

    I have no trouble telling those who don’t ‘get’ the County to go either east or westbound on the 401 until they find a community they do ‘get’ and can change to be more like the environment they’re trying to escape from albeit with better views; Muskoka and Niagara On The Lake come to mind.

    The purpose of the videos that this thread is about I hope will engage people to understand that IWTs – wherever placed – are indiscriminate, they will affect everyone: multi-generational or newbie, south shore resident or other.

    And on another point, let’s not slam WalMart; I’m running a charity event on Saturday morning with net proceeds going to Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital – our hospital – and some, not all, solicitations to local merchants for consideration in price or for donations were responded with, “No, sorry, we don’t do that.” Net result: those local merchants – $0.00; WalMart – all the money at full retail price.

  7. Susan says:

    Marnie, please read County Steve’s reference of Industrial Wind Turbines & Wal-Mart. The two were compared unlike the off base hospital rant.

  8. Marnie says:

    Uh, oh, Susanm you’re off topic with Wal-Mart. Besides, who wants to encourage a store that peddles mostly Chinese-manufactured goods?

  9. Susan says:

    I agree Steve, except why throw Wal-Mart under the bus. Many here would welcome the affordable shopping opportunity and unionized jobs.

  10. County Steve says:

    It always amazes me that ANY topic can be turned into an opportunity to slam so-called non-County people.
    My edition of the videos has not yet been edited – probably because I had too much to say – but I have 3 generations on one side, and seven on the other, and I know most of the presenters in this series. All of them are County people.
    If you consider yourself to be the only ‘real’ County people, ask yourself how much time and effort and money you’ve put into saving the destruction of our South Shore. How much have you done to save the County of your ancestors that you know and love so well?
    Or do you just bow to the province and foreign corporations, and give up your right to fight to keep the County free of these industrial monsters?
    If the words Industrial Wind Turbines were to be replaced with ‘Wal-Mart’ you’d be screaming your butts off!
    Thank God for the people who have chosen Prince Edward County as their home, and recognized that it needs to be preserved as the paradise it is. They’ve invested here, they love it here, and their homes are here.
    That makes them no different than any other County person I’ve met in my lifetime.
    I assure you, they are good people, smart people, with good hearts. Please stop treating them like unwanted immigrants.

  11. Susan says:

    Easy to figure who and how turbines went to a discussion on hospitals!

  12. Taffy says:

    The Green Energy Act trumps everything, apparently including basic common sense. The videos point out the dangers of industrial turbines to the County and its economy and nothing to do with mindless discussions about “us” and “them”. I came to Canada 60 years ago and am a proud citizen both of the country and of the County. Am I still one of “them”? And what the heck have the hospitals got to do with anything? If you have to contribute, do so on the subject at hand, not on a mindset that went out with the dodo.

  13. ADJ says:

    These turbines are classed as INDUSTRIAL wind turbines correct?? So why hasn’t the land they sit on first been zoned appropriately? Most are sitting on land(or going to be)that is zoned marginally agricultural or something else.Wouldn’t it make sense that the zoning would have to be changed before any IWT’s are put up….similar to changing farm land to a commercial operation ie tourism,the Red Barn, metal recycling (salvage yard)etc.
    Does our “not a willing host County” not have any say regarding zoning at these discussions? Apparently not.

  14. lou says:

    yep i agree with Marnie.

    many people cant drive in that snow up to belleville.
    and of course if you are not well, driving up to bellville.
    is not appropriate.
    etc etc etc.

    retired maybe able to stay as they have saved for years and worked for years. (money is not handed to them)

    hmm this is about Wind turbines and videos 🙂
    ya i noticed some out there……..and its not the majority of people. that think that

    maybe they are paid to do windturbines…..and of course they do get money from offering land so they WANT to do this.

  15. Marnie says:

    Susan, you are talking about a 35 to 45 minute drive to hospital that well may be necessary in winter weather comparable to the blast we received a few days ago. Presumably, someone in that vehicle is not feeling well. A harrowing ride in a snow squall is not what the doctor ordered.There is no public transportation available for anyone going from Picton to Belleville. If someone is hospitalized in Belleville it is difficult for an elderly spouse to make a daily trip there to visit. In some cases, it is just not practical. If things keep up the way they are going we are not likely to have many doctors left in the county. People do not want to live where up to an hour of travel is required to see a doctor or visit the ER. Try being under the weather in Cressy or at Long Point. Then see how convenient that drive to Belleville looks.

  16. Susan says:

    I don’t think a 30 – 45 minute drive to BGH would discourage many. Probably a much quicker drive to a major health care facility than hence they came.

  17. Marnie says:

    I am not slamming them Susan, I am simply stating a fact. I know some who have left and similarly others will go in time. The county has survived without their dollars in the past and I am sure it would be possible to do so again. Do you really believe they will stay with our hospital services being cut to the bone?

  18. Susan says:

    Why are you slamming the newcomers to the County Marnie? We need all the tax dollars we can muster!

  19. Marnie says:

    Watch what happens when those new residents to whom we should be grateful for saving the county grow older. A lot of them will beat it back to where they came from because there are not the services here i.e. our Band-Aid relief hospital or family support to make it a good decision to stay. Some have left already. Many who were born and raised here have invested a lifetime in the county. Some of us even found jobs here or willingly commuted in order to stay here. Maybe it is understandable if some feel our voices should be just a little louder.

  20. Susan says:

    Everyone that lives here has a legitimate say on this. It is quite expectable that 27 property owners that can reap financial gain by offering up land for Wind Factories would be supporting that. $$ talk!

  21. Mark says:

    They are local! If you live here, pay taxes either through rent or as a property owner you are local. Not looking for a taxpayer subisdized payment! Killing migratory birds and harmimg the natural environment is not a good thing for anyone!

  22. ADJ says:

    yea,,well, most of those that “were born and brought up here” are either dead or moved away for a job to better themselves. The turnover of new residents pay taxes, buy local, create jobs. They have as much right to be here as anybody.It’s not about them and us.Your trying to make a mountain out of a cow pie.

  23. Bayside farmer says:

    When I say locals I mean people who were born and brought up here.

  24. Theresa Durning says:

    Convincing statements from fifteen individuals who are deeply concerned, well-informed and connected to the future of this community. Thank you.

  25. ADJ says:

    To farmer,,er Jim…I counted 15. How many would you like to see?

  26. Bayside farmer says:

    Doesn’t look like to many locals making videos.

  27. Mark says:

    Well worth the watch and very informative on some things I was unaware of. Thanks Gary.

  28. Gary Mooney says:

    Check out the personal video statements made by prominent County residents about the prospect of industrial wind projects in south County. Ten of 15 videos are now available for viewing.

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