Tribunal an interesting and important procedure
Administrator | Apr 28, 2013 | Comments 1
If you drive by the Sophiasburgh Hall in Demorestville, mostly any day of the week you will see a number of cars outside.
Everyone is welcome to stop and go inside where you will witness an Environmental Review Tribunal taking place. This tribunal has a chair and a co-chair who are attentively listening to witnesses for the Prince Edward County Field Naturlists (PECFN), and witnesses for Ministry of Environment and Gilead Power. PECFN has one lawyer and his assistant. Moe has two lawyers and Gilead has three lawyers.
So that means two against five for our PECFN. However, Mr. Gillespie and his witnesses are more than holding their own in this interesting procedure.
It was very interesting on Thursday the 25th when the chair asked the MNR employee, Eric Prevost, who was a witness for Moe and Gilead, what he meant by shoreline in his report that was part of the approval process which the MOE gave to Gilead.
Gilead had said in its submission that two turbines near Lake Ontario would be 200 metres from the shore line. However, Mr. Provost did not know if the shore line was the high water mark or the low water mark. So in essence, Gilead did not know if the turbines in question would be within the area of approval.
This was just one interesting tidbit coming out of this tribunal.
I ask if the people giving approval for placement of IWT’s were not sure where these turbines would actually end up. I wonder, then, at the actual validity of this approval process.
So if you have a few hours to spare, drive out to Demorestville and take in this very informative and interesting event.
Phase 1 on the natural environment is to continue Monday, April 29 to May 7 starting each day at 9:30, (xcept for April 29 which is to be at 10:30). Coming up next is the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County’s (APPEC) part in this tribunal where Mr. Gillespie will bring forth many witnesses who will testify to serious health problems they have encountered since turbines were placed near their homes. This is a not to be missed portion of this ERT.
Doris Lane, Picton
Submitted independently as a concerned citizen of PEC
Filed Under: Letters and Opinion
I can just see Prevost coming back to the Tribunal and telling them:
“there is nothing in O. Reg. 359/09 (the Green Energy Act) about high and low water marks, there are no guidelines in the Natural Heritage Assessment about high and low water marks and there is nothing in the records review about high and low water marks.
For the purposes of this wind project the MNR defines the Lake Ontario shoreline as being where the water meets the land. Gilead has complied with the 200m setback. But thank you Mr. Wright for raising that interesting question.”