Wake up and educate yourself on wind turbines

I went on a trip recently to visit my best friend just south of Owen Sound.  I hadn’t been there for about nine yrs.  As I went through Shelburne on the way up, there was obviously no wind and nothing was turning.  Nonetheless I was taken back and then some by the numbers of Industrial Turbines on property extending from what seemed just behind a house and a barn into the horizon beyond.
I went to see some horses on a large horse farm in South Hampton. Low and behold as I drove along there were signs all over with a “STOP” sign and The Wind with “www.windconcerns.org” below.  I was amazed at the support. In the distance I saw more wind turbines and my friend pointed out that they were probably 50 miles away in Kincardine.  The numbers seemed staggering. The horse farm that we pulled into had signs all over their property.  I never had a chance to discuss what was going on.

I got back to my friends home into which they have a very significant investment and noticed a flyer in the mail sitting on the counter.  It said there was an info meeting in Aaron Elderslie township hall.  I told my friends they should attend and they laughed as their response was there would never be Industrial Wind Turbines where they live, in between Shelburne and Kincardine.
Their son, who teaches at a college in Guelph, arrived and said that Industrial Wind Turbines would be all over Ontario and that was reality with the government and plans – so get used to it as it will cut back on the nuclear needed.  My friends started to wake up as their property and love of nature and solitude is revered and is a huge investment for them.

It is time the people of Prince Edward County woke up as well since all I have heard of late is that is that “it won’t happen here” and there is a “100 km band around CFB Trenton” excluding the County so we are ok.  We need to have a council and a government here in the County that doesn’t believe in “we can’t” or “we will be punished” or ” I had to make a personal choice” only we as a whole can stop being sheep and just simply follow the rest over the edge….we need some numbers and financial support.

Photo taken from the side of Hwy 10 just north of Shelburne very quickly and without any intent to get a best shot

My friend I was visiting went to the meeting in Aaron Elderslie and this is her response to what she heard.  I’ve heard a few responses from our candidates running for election who say communities don’t have a choice…they do, as people, have the final choice, but if your candidate is looking to step up the ladder then they are going to do as they are asked by the government and disregard the people so it seems. Also the turbines planned for here are much larger than those shown in my pics.
Gail Forcht

Below is my friend’s response to the meeting:
Holy crap Gail, I can see why you were so passionate about the whole subject! The place was packed and you could tell that some of the people had signed on.  Farmers are doing it because it is in some cases the only way that they think they can stay on the farm because after 10 years they get their hydro free according to these shysters that are coming in from the energy companies.

One guy was told that the cables would all be buried and when the time came for them to go up (this is near Kincardine) they put up poles and everything was above ground.  When he complained he got ” too bad so sad, nothing we can do about it”  and the energy company would not return his phone calls!

There was another woman on the panel from Kincardine, a registered nurse, and she is so sick, she is going to have to leave her home (headaches – migraines, nausea, not sleeping, cognitive impairment)  She was up there crying when she was talking about how sick she is from them!

When these people sign on they think it is for 10 years with the free hydro at the end, but it is really for 42 years! So if you sign on for one, or some on your property, then it doesn’t happen for whatever reason… you still have a lease with that energy company for 42 years! If you decided to sell, who is going to buy it with that hanging over their head?   As a result property values are lowered at least 40% and in most cases more.

I figured you had been talking to Mike McMurtry, the real estate agent.  He brought up a few stats from your area.  One being that 1800 migratory birds on Wolf Island were killed last year by turbines.  He also said that a farmer in Prince Edward County was actually suing the government for not doing its ‘due diligence’ and studying all of the effects of wind turbines on people, animals and the landscape before going ahead and putting these things up.  I am not sure if his name is Ian Hanna.

I am going to read the Green Energy Act. Supposedly in section 2 it states clearly that there must be community consultation before these things can be erected, and the people have the final say.  Some man was very adamant about that last night, so it will be interesting to read it and see if that is the case, then communites can really rally and keep them out.

There is apparently electrical pollution from these things when they are running.  You can be affected by them up to 7 km ( and probably more ) way from them.  They cause what is called ‘dirty electricity’ in your home, which essentially turns your home into a microwave and can affect all of your internal organs.
There is also ‘stray voltage’ from these things which can affect livestock.   God, Northstar is right where all of these next ones are proposed to go.

There is also ‘ice throw’ in the winter, which is the equivalent of a huge concrete block being dropped.  In Ontario McGuinty has said that they only have to be 60 feet from the road.   The turbines are way larger now, than they were in the beginning and that road allowance has not been ammended.  They should be a minimum of 300 feet or more.   So if you are driving by in the winter, look out!  There have also been cases of blades actually coming off, not many, but worldwide, 60 of them.

They are so ineffecient that they are now going to build gas driven ones for when the wind is not blowing! This will put hydro up significantly in the long run because we will be paying for wind produced electricity twice, once for the wind, and again for the gas ones, with the feed for tariffs etc.

They said there are two good websites to look at www.electricalpollution.com  , www.windvigilence.com

Also there has been no money put aside to de-commission these turbines.  If the next government comes in and says ‘okay, these are bad, we won’t use them’  then they sit there.  Who is going to have to pay to take them down and get rid of them?  The municipality, the provincial or federal government?  One study in the U.S. has shown that it will take $90,000. to de-commission one of these things and there are hundreds of thousands of them all over Canada and the U.S. and Europe and the rest of the world.

I also learned that there are four more proposed sites in the area.   You are so right, people have to educate themselves on this subject.