Well owners worried over hydro project

By Pam Wright Local Journalism Initiative pamwrightlji@gmail.com

Dave Lusk has questions.

The North Kent-area farmer wants to know if Hydro One’s new St. Clair Transmission Line is going to cause further harm to the aquifer that supplies water to his already fouled well.

“I’m always worried about my well,” the Green Valley Line resident told The Voice recently. “As it stands, I can’t even get water out of it now. I’m worried this new construction is going to hurt my neighbours’ wells.”

Plagued with undrinkable black water since nearby wind farms were constructed, Lusk is concerned the utility’s mega transmission project will create more damage.

“I’m not exactly sure how they build them,” he added, noting his well is only 44 feet deep. “With all the technology we’ve got now, they should be able to do something that doesn’t disturb the aquifer.”

As part of the new transmission line that will run from Lambton County to the Chatham Transmission Station, three existing towers need to be replaced on Lusk’s farm. He said Hydro One is looking for a 150-foot easement through the width of the property.

Because nearby wells are shallow, the longtime farmer believes the threat is real. And while he’s given up on his own water, he wants others to be aware of the potential for problems.

Lusk is also hoping that Hydro One will conduct baseline water testing as is being recommended by veteran hydrogeologist Bill Clark. Clark, who is very familiar with the Chatham-Kent black water issues, said to be caused by the construction of wind turbines, has carried out numerous tests over the years of affected wells, including the Lusk well.

Sonny Karunakaran, Hydro One’s director of project delivery, said the utility is listening to concerns from residents along the line and will continue to engage with the public, as geo-technical studies of the area are ongoing.

Kevin Jakubec, co-founder of the Water Wells First water advocacy group, is concerned with the project. He said there are “well-founded concerns” within the professional hydrogeologist community with regard to the St. Clair Transmission Line footprint.

“There are concerns that any construction near or into the aquifer in Cha- tham-Kent will result in the loss of water wells and contaminate additional wells with sediment known to contain heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and cadmium,” Jakubec said. The new Hydro One St.

Clair transmission line will be constructed in an area where the all-hazard water well investigation conducted by the Ford government in 2021 found that the water wells in Chatham township had deteriorated significantly from 2017 to 2021 after the construction of the North Kent Wind farm.

“If Hydro One is confident in their foundation design, then they should want to establish a water well baseline test zone to demonstrate proof to the public that no water wells will be impacted by the new transmission line,” Jakubec said. “Hydro One should show they are good stewards of the environment.”

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