the
Serving the Mapleton Community
Community News Volume 45 Issue 02
Drayton, Ontario
1 Year GIC - 1.90% 3 Year GIC - 2.25% 5 Year GIC - 2.70% Daily Interest 1.75%
Friday, January 13, 2012
Township residents appeal turbine ruling to environmental tribunal by David Meyer MAPLETON TWP. - A group opposing NextEra Energy’s Conestogo Wind Energy Centre, approved last month by the Ministry of Environment, has appealed that decision to an environmental tribunal. NextEra wants to build a 10-turbine, 22-megawatt wind farm southwest of Arthur. Residents in the area have opposed the project almost since it was announced three years ago. The hearing of evidence starts on Feb. 21 at 10am in the council chambers at the Waterloo Region office in Kitchener, and will continue, if necessary, on Feb. 22. A preliminary hearing will be held on Jan. 20 at 10am at the same location to rule on requests from people for party, participant or presenter status; to identify the issues to be considered at the main hearing; and to deal with any preliminary matters. The appeal by Preserve Mapleton Incorporated had to be filed two days before Christmas, and a delegation of angry residents came to Mapleton council seeking council’s help to fight the proposal. Council, after meeting with representatives from county council just before the holidays, decided it would not become involved with the tribunal. It will consider seeking a judicial appeal of the project. Mayor Bruce Whale said last week council wants to be sure there are grounds to be successful in court. NextEra spokesman Josie Hernandez said on Monday the appeal by Preserve Mapleton Incorporated is “part of the process.� She said, “We’ve put forth a great proposal and we’ll see what happens.� The hearing is for the tribunal to review the Ministry of Environment director’s decision to approve the project and the hearing will consider only if engaging in the renewable energy project in accordance with the approval will cause serious harm to human health or serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life or the natural environment. John Krul, a spokesman for Preserve Mapleton Incorporated, said in an interview on Monday environmental lawyer Eric Gillespie, who has been hired by his group, believes the residents’ case can be won over health issues. Gillespie recently sent a letter to several cabinet ministers and the MOE director of
approvals stating the ministry’s press release on Dec. 16 about wind turbines is inaccurate and misleading. Gillespie’s letter stated, “The apparent purpose of the MOE media release is to ‘educate’ the public on matters related to wind turbine noise exposure and human health. As part of its mandate, government is responsible for providing citizens with accurate and appropriate information so they can protect themselves and their health.� Gillespie said the press release steered people to a website that states: “Is wind turbine sound harmful? The best available science shows there is no direct health risk from wind turbine noise.� Gillespie said in the letter, “An uninformed member of the public could incorrectly interpret this MOE backgrounder statement to mean wind turbine sound cannot harm human health.� He cited a previous tribunal hearing in Chatham-Kent (turbine opponents failed to stop that project), and noted that ruling stated, “This case has successfully shown that the debate should not be simplified to one about whether wind turbines can cause harm to humans. The evidence presented to the tribunal demonstrates that they can, if the facilities are placed too close to residents. The debate has now evolved to one of degree.� In Australia, for example, some government members are seeking a two kilometre setback from residences. The current setback there is 1km while in Ontario the setback is 550 meters. If the tribunal determines harm will be caused by the NextEra project, the tribunal may revoke the director’s decision, instruct the director to take such action as the tribunal considers appropriate, or alter the director’s decision, for which purpose the tribunal may substitute its own opinion. Krul said Gillespie has hopes the coming hearing will prove more successful than the one in Chatham-Kent. Gillespie is busy fighting other cases, too. Krul said, “He’s working on another one in southern Ontario. He figures he’s got a really good chance [of winning]. Time will tell.� Gillespie’s report was done for Wind Concerns Ontario. “This is very worrying,� said Wind Concerns Ontario president Jane Wilson, a registered nurse. “They crafted that media release specifically to make
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this year-old report look like the last word on the issue of health and turbine noise. “It’s out of date, and completely ignores the expert evidence from and conclusions of the Environmental Review Tribunal last year. And, it’s yet another literature review. This province has yet to officially connect with the real people experiencing real health effects out there.� If the tribunal determines that such harm will not be caused, the tribunal shall confirm the director’s decision. An email from the tribunal announcing the hearing stated people were notified of the hearing “because you are an owner of land near the approved renewable energy project or a person who may have an interest in this hearing.� It also states owners of nearby lands and interested parties may seek the opportunity to participate at that hearing. They are not required to attend it, but if they wish to be involved, there are four ways to do that. They are: - attend the hearing and observe the proceedings, but not actively participate; - request the hearing panel to grant presenter status to provide testimony under oath or solemn affirmation on a given day at the hearing, and be cross-examined by all parties (those interested may also file written material in addition to giving an oral presentation); - request participant status at the hearing to provide testimony at the hearing, and be cross-examined by all parties (they may also file written material at the beginning and end of the hearing); and - request party status to present evidence through witnesses, cross-examine witnesses and make submissions at the beginning and end of the hearing. To participate, interested parties should visit www. elto.gov.on.ca to obtain a copy of the Rules of Practice and Practice Directions of the Environmental Review Tribunal and the relevant guide. For those with no internet access, a copy of the guide can be mailed upon request. The MOE email also noted if people do not attend the preliminary hearing and identify themselves to the tribunal, it may proceed in their absence. Any information or documents provided to the Tribunal for the case become part of the public record unless a document is marked “confidential� by order of the tribunal.
Helping hands - Volunteer Matthew Metzger, right, helped serve juice and snacks to generous donors at the Jan. 9 Drayton Blood Donor Clinic, including Drayton’s Paul Wideman. Metzger has been assisting with the local clinics for over five years. photo by Wilma Mol
Long-term look at services is one goal of Mayor Bruce Whale First-time leader of Mapleton council reflects on past year by David Meyer MAPLETON TWP. - Of the five first-time mayors elected to lower tier governments in Wellington County last fall, only Bruce Whale had even been sitting on his municipal council. Whale was elected seven years earlier, being part of a three-year council, and then at the start of the longer four-year term he was one of five who were acclaimed, so he worked with the same five people for all seven years. Whale said in an interview one of his main priorities came from being on the previous council and overseeing several large projects that had yet to be completed. One was the expansion of the sewage lagoon, which turned out to be trickier than he had thought, thanks to some data errors council received. Another, the Alma Optimist Hall, had a happier ending, with a successful opening last fall. “The big issue was the wind
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farms,� Whale said. “We were struggling.� That issue has not gone away, and council has yet to make a decision if it will take the recent approval of the NextEra Energy wind farm to court for a judicial review. He took a serious look at turbines himself when they first came on the market, but ultimately rejected turbines as a business opportunity on his farm because he felt they would be too close to too many people. He is hopeful the province will ultimately relent in its move to take over the entire approval process for green energy projects. “I hope as the Green Energy Act moves down the road, they [the provincial government] pull us back into the discussion.� Infrastructure Whale said after he was elected, “My big objective was to not take too many steps back - knowing we were going to be
facing huge expenses for roads and bridges.� He sees such infrastructure as a major challenge for all municipalities. While sewer and water are paid by the people who use them, roads are the responsibility of all taxpayers, and Whale recognizes there are limits to what taxpayers can afford. He said it is up to council to determine “how to justify� the expenses, “how to maintain them� and “how do we do it with the standards now set by the province?� At one time, a municipality could set its own standards, with some having higher ones than others. Today, with litigation coming at councils on a regular basis, the province has set standards determined by the amount of traffic. “There’s a benefit to having those standards because then you have a target set out by people who hopefully understand driving safely,� Whale said. That means if there is a lawsuit over a traffic accident, “If you show you meet the standards, it puts you in a better Continued on page 3
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