“Industrial wind turbine infrasound is not the best weapon, but it is a weapon. This German video documents the harmful effects of d the infrasound produced by industrial-sized wind turbines. The dangers of infrasound have been known since the 1980s when the U.S. military heavily invested in infrasound (below 20 Hz) as a weapon. It looked like it had great promise, according to Col. John B. Alexander who was involved in weaponizing it.. The military gave up on infrasound as its effects on people were too random: some potential targets were seriously debilitated; others not so much. This video presents various studies by acoustical engineers and other scientists showing infrasound’s affect on the ear, the heart, the brain and other organs.”
And then consider this…
Canadian diplomats sue their government over mystery illness in Cuba
CNN - excerpt: “The Canadian government continues to investigate the potential causes of the unusual health symptoms experienced by some Canadian diplomatic staff and their family members posted in Havana, Cuba. To date, no cause has been identified. The statement said that after the last confirmed case of unusual health symptoms in November, a number of Canadian diplomatic staff in Cuba underwent additional medical testing.And in April, Canada pulled all nonessential staff and diplomats’ family members after testing concluded that their diplomats also suffered from mystery symptoms including dizziness, ringing in the ears and memory loss.”
Diplomats from the US experienced similar symptoms
CNNexcerpt: “A number of US diplomats and their families in Cuba reported hearing bizarre noises in 2016 and 2017 and experienced a range of symptoms such as dizziness, vertigo, and pain and ringing in the ears. US State Department officials initially feared they might have fallen victim to an “acoustic attack” by sonic devices that emitted a powerful beam of energy causing neurological problems. The United States said that 26 American diplomats and family members were affected.There have been a number of studies looking into the possible causes and symptoms of the noises heard by US officials. According to a study published in the medical journal JAMA in March, a majority of 21 affected patients reported problems with memory, concentration, balance, eyesight, hearing, sleeping or headaches that lasted more than three months. Three people eventually needed hearing aids for moderate to severe hearing loss, and others had ringing or pressure in their ears.
Wind turbines are often perceived as benign. This can be attributed to the population majority dwelling in urban locations distant from most wind turbines. Society may understate the risk to individuals living near turbines due to an overstatement of the perceived benefits of turbines, and an understatement of the risk of injury from falling turbine parts, or shed ice. Flaws in risk calculation may be attributed to a less than fully developed safety culture. Indications of this are the lack of a comprehensive industry failure database, and safety limits enabling the industry growth, but not protective of the public. A comprehensive study of wind turbine failures and risks in the Canadian province of Ontario gives data to enable validation of existing failure models. Failure probabilities are calculated, to show risk on personal property, or in public spaces. Repeated failures, and inadequate safety separation show public safety is not currently assured. A method of calculating setbacks from wind turbines to mitigate public risk is shown. Wind turbines with inadequate setbacks can adversely impact public health both directly from physical risk and indirectly by irritation from loss of safe use of property. Physical public safety setbacks are separate from larger setbacks required to prevent irritation from noise and other stressors, particularly when applied to areas of learning, rest and recuperation. The insights provided by this paper can assist the industry to enhance its image and improve its operation, as well as helping regulators set safety guidelines assuring protection of the public. Read full article here
Dear Honourable members of the 42nd Parliament of Ontario;
I am writing to urge you to cancel all wind turbine contracts in Ontario immediately and I hereby provide you with reasons for doing so.
First; introducing myself. I am a Professional Engineer having been schooled in Ontario and worked and payed taxes in Ontario all of my life. I have a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 1976, and a Master of Engineering degree in Chemical and Nuclear Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1992. I have worked for Ontario Hydro, now OPG, for 31 years in positions of engineering and management, and have spent the past ten years teaching nuclear and other engineering courses at Georgian College, UOIT, including eight years of teaching engineering at the University of Toronto. For example my teaching duties at the U of T include teaching in classroom as well as oversight of senior year student capstone engineering design projects. From my perspective of over 40 years of work in industry and academia, I find that the most important aspect for success of students, corporations, and members of government, and collectively the government is making science based decisions, creating trust, and being ethical. Engineers need to write an exam on ethics. What other groups of people are required to write an exam on ethics? It is from this point of view that I feel well justified to write this email to be submitted to you the Honourable Members and to the public for consideration.
The Green Energy and Economy Act of 2009 was at that time touted to be the panacea and growth opportunity for Ontario in terms of jobs and quality of life and a future for the children of all citizens. In fact, and as you all, and we all know, after ten years of ‘implementation’ the GEA has been a dismal failure and created the opposite of what was intended; eg. high hydro rates, loss of jobs, businesses closing and businesses moving south, astronomical provincial debt, bleak future for students graduating year after year, life has become much harsher for the average person, and for some in rural areas where turbines are being built and operating, life is impossible due to high energy low frequency noise/acceleration of structures including skeletal and inner ear structures, not just adults, but infants, dogs, cats, cattle, and the other issue is the adverse impact on water quality caused by recent turbine construction involving pile driving and disturbing the ground from which residents need to draw water for themselves and for farming, the water in some of the wells have become brackish and undrinkable and requires expensive filtration systems to be installed, paid for the affected residents. Please see jpeg file of a sample of water. The residents have brought this to the attention of their MOH, and the MOH’s involved are discounting this as a non-issue.
Another issue: This link describes cardiac instability. Of course cardiac instability is high concern for cardia arrest, ie. death. This should come as no surprise that infrasound is dangerous as the military has done experiments on how infrasound may be use as a weapon. The attached JPG file lists some of the links that provide evidence of harm from infrasound.
How did we get into this mess? I have been following the implementation of the GEA since its becoming law in 2009 and have written many submission to ERT’s. Some of you MPP’s also know about this since the beginning. Some of you are just now coming up to speed as the 42nd government. As to how this mess got created, Hansard is the official record of Parliament, and key snippets are presented here in this link.
From the Hansard recording, we observe this was un-parliamentary and involved an incestuous and salacious relationship between the proponent and the government, so much so, that the government actually became one with the proponent by eg. waiving the “Precautionary Principle” that is generically in all legislation where there is introduction of new processes into the public domain. The precautionary principal requires the proponent to bear the burden of proof of ‘no damage’. Waiving of the precautionary principle de-facto requires anyone who is damaged to bear the burden of proof of the damage. This has caused each and every Environmental Review Tribunal to be a failure, a farce, and a ‘kangaroo court’ in favour of the wind turbine developers to be allowed to supersede the rights of citizens, so much so, that Municipal Planning was legislated to not be allowed to be involved in turbine location planning. Another example of adverse impact is turbines placed at the ends of airport runways and pilots being told to fly around as they take off and land.
From the Hansard, we observe the self-dealing by liberal party members accessing the blank cheques of the liberal government, while the government turns more than just a blind eye but actively intervenes to disallow the voice of concerned citizens.
Two additional points; in the attached pdf files, one documents what we knew about adverse health effects of wind turbines in 2009. Please read that and compare to the pdf file HGC report copied from the MOEE website originally published in December 2010 by the principal engineering firm HGC commissioned by the government. HGC is a member of CanWea. For your convenience I have commented on just the Executive Summary showing that this report is not a very good work of engineering, but a report slanted to the needs of the client and the industry represent by the author. Such a report, if produced by a student, would be given a Fail if that occurred in my classroom.
And speaking of classrooms. A student design team did a health study in 2014 that was ignored by the government and the wind industry…actually this piece of student work was well received by Faculty, and then it was squashed and never made it past the walls of the university. Please see attached pdf discussing the results of that study. The message given to students by government and industry is disrespectful and inappropriate. The message that was sent by government and industry was that this project result was not politically correct and therefore invalid and not to be used. As a professional engineer I am outraged. As an educator, I am outraged that government is squashing the freedom of thought, idea exchange and speech because it does not fit the government agenda. Ah yes, examples of this has also been in the news at other universities across Canada.
Wind turbines are insignificant to the overall power needs of Ontario only exist because of a subsidy. I do not subscribe to the theory of global warming requiring reduction of carbon dioxide requiring taxes to supposedly control the thermostat of the earth. That is another topic I am prepared to speak to again in the future. The people who believe wind turbines are a necessary solution to reduce CO2 are wrong based on real data, eg. gas turbines back up wind turbines in Ontario, and coal plants back up the wind turbines in Germany, and not including the CO2 produced by manufacturing the steel and concrete for the wind turbines, wind turbines will never be zero carbon nor environmentally friendly due to the very hazardous chemical processes for mining, refining and manufacturing the rare earth for electronics and magnets for the generators. The wind industry has not created any sustaining jobs, in fact the opposite, closing at least one wind turbine manufacturing facility; but in the bigger picture, the high cost of hydro due to subsidy to wind developers is certainly a factor in closing the General Motors plant in Oshawa as announced this week.
In summary, the wind turbines and their contracts are a house of cards propped up by non-science, miss-information, political correctness, malfeasance and a subsidy via the FIT program to achieve a certain ideological and bigoted feel good feeling about the environment.
After almost ten years now we observe failure and a certain breach of contract to deliver electrical power economically competitively by wind turbines, especially breach of social contract by the previous government in collusion with the wind industry.
In light of the recent announcement by General Motors, high costs has certainly been a factor in the irreversible decision to leave Ontario, Ontario needs to swiftly curtail any further losses.
Of course cancellation will stir up emotions and ire of many. The response to all in this light, this is my recommended response. that they need to:
review Hansard ie. history
review the interaction between government and industry
review the gap between actual vs expected performance of the GEA
review the health impacts, ie. actually listen to citizens
Actions that I recommend for the Minister of the Solicitor General is to communicate with the Professional Engineers of Ontario organization to initiate an engineering investigation into, for example the errors and omissions of the HGC report that I observe is the underlying instrument for the forced installation of wind turbines and the systematic program to ignore citizen complaints.
Another action I recommend is on the Cabinet Ministers for Health and also MOEE, and perhaps in conjunction with the Ontario Medical Association to review culpability of some of the Medical Officers of Health particularly those MOH’s who received complaints for not responding appropriately, ie. what was their response, and was their response appropriate.
And finally, to answer some of the media reporters ‘whinning’; they may be sent away by simply asking them how much money have they accessed from the Trudeau announced $600 million subsidy for ‘trusted journalists’ that would pay them to ask their questions and then write their articles. One of the worst things that the federal liberal government has done is to undermine the independence and credibility of those media who participate in the subsidy and I think we have a good idea of who those are or might be. If those media drown, it is because it is self inflicted. To bad, it becomes so necessary to deal with corruption, and this email about the GEA points to corruption that must be undone, and be undone quickly.
I provide my views for th public good and for the public record. Be advised that for privacy reasons I have also sent blind copies to various folks whom I know are like minded and would support this government in cancelling the contracts for the wind turbines.
Fair notice to all who stand in the way of shutting down the turbines, you are aiding and abetting the continuation of harm.
“Knowing is easy; it is the doing that is difficult. The critical issue is not what we know but what we do with what we know. The great end of life is not knowledge, but action.” Admiral Hyman Rickover
The forest was tinder dry. With no rain in weeks, the parched grass in the undergrowth had turned to straw, prompting fire bans across northeastern Ontario.
Yet heavy construction in the bush pressed on last summer at the site of the province’s largest wind energy development.
CBC News has learned there were at least three construction-related fires at the Henvey Inlet Wind (HIW) project in the weeks leading up to Parry Sound 33, the massive wildfire that torched thousands of hectares of wilderness along the northeastern shore of Georgian Bay — a destructive path that started at the construction site on July 18.
The three previous fires were reported to the province at the time. In one case, officials even had to dispatch water bombers to help bring the fire under control.
But a heavy truck operator who worked at HIW tells CBC News there were many more small fires during the same period prior to Parry Sound 33.
Wayne Hollis says the little fires were quickly contained, but ought to have been a clear sign that construction work should have been halted, or at least minimized, to protect the parched forest.
He says the companies behind HIW took “unnecessary risks” to keep the work going.
“This could have been avoided,” said Hollis, who believes he was laid off for sharing similar information about the fires on social media.
“The weather was really, really dry. Things were very volatile on the ground.” Read article
After many years of suffering, residents don’t want to participate in a study that just produces ‘recommendations’. But even more worrisome to them should be when the investigating Health Unit Epidemiologist, Dr. Erica Clark, has a pretty picture of wind turbines at night hanging on her office wall. Seriously. Wanna remain impartial? You better stick a “Stop the Wind Turbines” sign up beside it.
Sunday 28 October 2018 To: Christine Elliott, Minister of Health and Long Term Care CC: Doug Ford, Premier, Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy
Dear Christine Elliott,
On October 7, 2018 I received an alarming letter from a citizen in rural Ontario. The title was: “Cardiac instability caused by infrasound radiation from industrial wind turbines”.
This letter was sent to Ontario government people, including yourself, with no response. I include an excerpt of the letter below with permission of the author.
I am writing to request an urgent meeting with you, Premier Ford, and Energy Minister Rickford to discuss known and documented health harm from Industrial Wind Turbines.
My background, research and correspondence on Wind Turbines is documented on my web page.
In the past two weeks, four people in Ontario have offered to provide their medical investigation records which rule out typical causative factors for traumatic cardiac instability episodes which they have been experiencing in their homes.
All four of these peoples’ homes have been surrounded by industrial wind turbines and in two of these cases, substations have been sited too close to their homes.
This situation is an emergency as well as a provable human rights violation.
It confirms the cumulative harm that Dr. Mariana Alves-Pereira has been studying for decades. She has recently presented her work in Slovenia to a group of professionals.
In this presentation and also in her most recent interview in Finland, she speaks about LFN and infrasound radiation and the damage to the nervous system as well as the heart. In the interview in Finland she states that, knowing what she knows, she would not live within 20 km of a wind turbine.
Can you imagine how rural residents in Ontario who did not consent to having their homes surrounded by wind turbines feel as their pleas for protection have not resulted in effective measures being taken by their government?
The four people who are willing to have their relevant health investigations used, to show that they are now experiencing the cumulative harm from infrasound radiation, are all people who experienced harm and tried to report it to the Liberal government agents within the MOECC and the MOH. No timely or effective protection was achieved under their leadership and now these peoples’ lives are in peril because the turbines that are too close to their homes are still running as I type this letter. Continue reading →
As a service to Ontarians concerned about the use of suspect noise modelling by engineers working on behalf of wind developers to get projects approved it appears concern is warranted. HCG were instrumental in developing the noise regulations for the Ontario government. Recently they conducted a Section D audit test on the Unifor turbine. Highlights of that test are below;
Unifor Wind Turbine (Page 2)
Acoustic Immission Audit January 8, 2018
Table 1: Predicted Sound Levels and UTM Coordinates of Selected Locations
± Sound level taken from ENIR [1]. ( Original CAW modelling ) * Sound level predicted by acoustic model created by HGC Engineering.
NOTE: 2 of the 3 test locations modelled higher by HCG than by CAW’s original engineering consultant.
Receptor location J is a single storey cottage located at 12 Globe Place. Turbine T1 is approximately 210 m to the southeast. The sound level meter was installed on a fence at the northwest side of the Unifor property, approximately 205 m from T1, designated Monitoring Location M1. The microphone was placed at a height of 4.5 m, consistent with the ENIR.
Criteria 45 45 45 45 ( our faulty 45 db semi urban classification – normally rural at 40 db )
Excess - - 2
Comment
Closest receptor the Groves home at 12 Gobles Place at 210 m. away from the Unifor turbine was modelled at 42.7 by CAW, predicted at 43.9 by HCG and HCG audit tested it at 47 and 48 dB. An unpublished MOECC approved Section D audit test by CAW engineer on April 27,28,29 2014 had measurements of 45 db at 4m/sec and 57 dB at 6 m/sec. It was later deemed incomplete after found by FOI as CAW called off the test each night as residents unaware of testing being done called in noise complaints.
The HCG 47 and 48 dB illegal noise levels were based on an alternate test track of less than half the normal amount of measuring supposedly due to lack of good data. We had never heard of this optional test track.
Only low wind speeds between 1 to 4 m/sec (max 14.4km/hr) were used in this reduced data testing track for 1 hour averaging. Meanwhile the MOECC chart shows wind speeds from 4 to 10 m/sec. and shows that all wind speeds from 4 to 8 m/sec shall not exceed the max limit of 45 dB.
Where are the noise test results for wind speeds from 5 to 10 m/sec? No good wind for the 3rd time?? Common sense says they would be much higher than the 48 dB HCG measured and could most likely be extrapolated by talented acousticians.
So we have learned that HCG, the architect of Ontario’s noise testing regulations, has just proven how faulty the wind turbine noise modelling scheme is that MOECC uses to approve wind projects in Ontario. And while using low max. wind speeds of 4 m/sec. HCG is off by 5 dB ( 48.7-43.9 ) and that is significant.
Any yet to be approved or built wind projects like those now launching legal challenges based on concern of the adverse effects faulty modelling will have on them appear to be well justified.
Blackburn News
Terraform Power crews are investigating after a wind turbine that’s part of a wind energy project just south of Chatham broke in half.
The turbine is located at the corner of Drake Rd. and 16 Line.
Blackburn News has reached out to the Ministry of Energy and Climate Change, the municipality of Chatham-Kent, and officials with Terraform Power for more details.
Chatham-Kent’s fire chief is at the scene and says it is currently disconnected from the power grid.
Workers are currently putting up safety fencing around the broken turbine and Chatham-Kent police are also stationed there. Read article
Cam Pritchard listens to Stephana Johnson tell her story
Stephana Johnson
Stephana Johnston, the grandmother of our wind resistance, has passed away at age 88. Somehow I still think she will post a comment here about that, she seems that eternal.
I said she was the ‘grandmother,’ though in the way that spoke to her intellect, her thoughtfulness, courage and determination. We watched her lead this last fight while she was well into her 80’s - how many of us can even dream of accomplishing what she did, at that age, while evicted from her home and suffering debilitating health effects from the wind turbines that surrounded her? Do a search for her name on this site and the results are endless. She was at nearly every ERT hearing - not just in the audience, but participating, which means she had to prepare for each of the appeals as well! In-between, she was at as many protests as I can even remember. Even if it was in downtown Toronto. Did someone drive her? Nope, she could do it herself.
I have so many fond memories of her, every time she arrived our spirits were lifted. Some were humorous as she had a wry wit, many were touching, but most were teaching moments. You couldn’t help but watch her deliberate movements, and listen to her well chosen words, and know that everything she did and said had meaning and purpose. When we were banned from handing out papers at a Pembina meeting on wind turbines, she turned her walker around and sat there by the entrance door, continuing to hand those banished papers to attendees. I remember glancing at the police officer, noting he wouldn’t touch her, and she knew it - because she was in the right. She was the perfect quiet protestor.
I know many of you will have memories as well - do share them - she’d enjoy it so much.
Here are some bits from the archives that describe her personality, her struggle and work over the years:
Fisherville ERT: In the Land of All Day Breakfast … Mr. Adamson (Ministry of Environment Lawyer) chafed at the very idea of the individual post-turbine witness testimony saying that,”…they (post-turbine witnesses) should not be allowed to testify about their medical issues.”
The arguments reflect an “archaic-modernist” view that the peasants are in the way – they don’t deserve even the semblance of judicial fairness if they cannot afford the demands put upon them. Clear Creek resident, and witness, Stephana Johnston was seated beside me. A tear came to her eye when he said this.
Haldimand Appeal – May 4th …NextEra was of much the same mind, though counsel John Terry, took a bit less time to spew the same blather and nonsense. He took pains to explain that he must have the extensive medical records so that he may have them competently reviewed and so “test” the case evidence for verity. Why he needs 10 years worth of records was not explained, nor did Ms. Harris offer any rationale either.
There were a couple of questions from the ERT panel members. One asked Mr.Terry how he would view the call for extensive evidence if this case is viewed as a “public interest” case. Mr. Terry replied that in the interests of fairness to defendants, a “robust process” is needed with appropriate expert testimony.
Another question to him was: Is a family doctor’s opinion (diagnosis) sufficient (evidence). Mr. Terry said that the G.P.’s notes need expert evaluation. Stephana Johnson turned to me and softly said, “There are no doctors expert in this medical problem.” – that from someone who can offer expert (though unofficial) opinion. Continue reading →
The Sudbury Star
An international energy company has secured $1 billion in financing to build the largest wind project in Ontario on a reserve south of Sudbury.
Pattern Development revealed plans Tuesday to construct a 300-megawatt wind project located on Henvey Inlet First Nation Reserve No. 2 on the northeast shore of the Georgian Bay.
Pattern Development and Nigig Power Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Henvey Inlet First Nation, are joint venture partners in the project.
“This landmark project is a first on many fronts: largest wind project in Ontario, largest on-reserve wind installation in Canada, highest hub heights in North America, and the first to develop a First Nation Environmental Stewardship Regime under the First Nations Lands Management Act,” Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Development, said in a release.
“We are proud to be partners with Henvey Inlet First Nation. Together we’re excited to kick off construction on this historic project that will harness the strong and steady winds blowing across the Georgian Bay to create hundreds of local jobs and provide a significant new source of revenue for Henvey Inlet First Nation.” Read article
Ximena Tapia, Sun-News
A New Mexico State University professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is conducting research on golden eagles being killed by wind turbines and other human-related factors.
Gary Roemer, professor for the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, is conducting a research project to identify whether certain factors impact golden eagle populations. Some of the factors that impact the eagles are electrocutions, vehicle strikes and illegal shootings, but another more recent factor is wind turbine strikes, Roemer said.
From 1997 to 2012, there were 85 eagle fatalities reported in 32 facilities around the United States. More than 78 percent of those fatalities occurred from 2008 to 2012. Roemer said there is no way to know exactly how many eagles are killed, “as monitoring programs are usually not in place at wind energy facilities.”
His research is focused on finding out where the eagles that have been killed come from. Roemer said eagles “breed throughout the Western U.S., Alaska and throughout portions of Canada, but they can move a lot.” Many eagles from northern portions of the continent, such as Alaska and Canada, migrate to southern locales in the winter, including New Mexico and Texas.
According to the American Wind Energy Association, there are 863 wind turbines in New Mexico, generating enough clean electricity to power about 334,000 homes. During 2016, wind energy provided 10.95 percent of all in-state electricity production. Although wind energy has many environmental benefits, it also has the potential to impact eagles and other wildlife.
“If you put a wind farm down here in New Mexico, you might not only be whacking New Mexico breeding birds, but you might be whacking birds that are breeding in Alaska or the Canadian Arctic,” Roemer said.
In January 2017, under the Obama administration, a rule was implemented that allows wind-energy companies to accidentally kill or injure eagles while operating high-speed turbines for up to 30 years. That is six times longer than the former rule, which was five years. The rule change also increased the number of eagles the companies can be permitted to accidentally kill or injure, but only under certain conditions. Read article
CountyLive
Two County residents have been ordered to pay wpd Canada $75,000 in costs in the loss of their appeal of a judicial review decision they had hoped would deny industrial wind turbines due to cultural heritage impacts.
South Marysburgh residents Liz Driver and Edwin Rowse challenged the approval of the turbines based on the adequacy of consideration given to heritage resources in the hamlet. They also have property that will be affected by turbines.
The judicial review was heard in April at Osgoode Hall. They were informed, in June, that they lost their case.
“The decision, in our view, did not show that the court had considered all the evidence and the arguments were not well founded; therefore, we brought a motion for leave to appeal the decision,” said Driver.
One of three judges responsible for the appeal decision Oct. 24, 2017 did not agree with the awarding of costs and stated concern for citizens who want to challenge the government in court.
“My difficulty is with a concern for public participation,” said J. Lederer in dissention of the costs. “As a matter of social policy we want people to engage with government when they are unhappy with, or seek clarification of, decisions that have been made. We detract from that ambition if we too easily tell people they will have to pay costs if they engage, but do not succeed, particularly in amounts as high as $75,000.”
Lederer stated wpd Canada was in some sense a bystander to the main debate in the case.
“The primary submissions in response to the applicants were made on behalf of the Director (Ministry of Environment and Climate Change). It was with this party that the principal defence of the process rested.”
The Director (MOECC) did not seek costs.
“The concern of the corporation is a commercial concern,” Lederer stated. “To my mind, those who seek approvals to construct and operate projects that, by their nature, will be controversial, have to expect that those who are impacted will seek to express their concern… As I see it, companies wanting to undertake these projects have to be prepared, when the circumstances call for it, to accept this as a cost of obtaining the required approvals, in the vernacular, as a cost of doing business.” Read article
Wellington Times, Rick Conroy
Mary Shelley is said to have conceived the story of Frankenstein, a manmade monster let loose upon the countryside, while under the influence of opium in the cold summer of 1816. The gothic horror story, it turns out, was the work of a dark imagination fuelled by opioids.
It begs the question: what was Kathleen Wynne and her government smoking when they let loose their own man-made monsters across rural Ontario—in the form of industrial wind developers and speculators?
Even if you buy the sentiment that their motivations were well-intentioned, the undeniable outcome of the Green Energy Act is that Kathleen Wynne and Dalton McGuinty have spawned armies of amoral monstrous corporate creatures and have let them loose to roam unfettered across the province. To wreak havoc in rural communities. To despoil the environment. To slaughter endangered species. To make folks sick.
Worse, our government has paved the way, clearing hurdles and slashing regulations to enable these creatures to prey upon vulnerable communities, natural habitats and endangered species. Now they have lost control of their grotesque creations. Even Kathleen Wynne must know how this story ends.
Near Chatham, folks believe the wind developer working nearby has poisoned their wells—allowing toxins into their drinking supply. They have done the testing. They have spoken out. They have protested. Marched on Queen’s Park. Kathleen Wynne has ignored them.
Wynne, her government and her supporters comfort themselves believing the scourge they have unleashed—though ugly and abusive— is a necessary evil. That the greater good is being served. They ignore the folks holding up jars of black liquid, pleading with the province to test their water, drawn from wells that have become undrinkable since the wind developer began driving piles into the bedrock to secure its massive wind turbines. Even Chatham- Kent’s mayor has demanded Kathleen Wynne intervene to protect these residents. It has made no difference.
Left without the protection of the province—without the safeguards that would protect them from any other development— these folks took matters into their own hands. In August, they began blockading the construction site— neighbours joining together to form a line against the threat to their drinking water.
On Monday, in a cruel blow, the developers— a Korean conglomerate and its American partner—won a court injunction barring any further blockades of the project. The judge said he wasn’t trying to muzzle opponents, but to “prohibit unlawful acts”.
In Ontario’s perverse hunger for industrial wind turbines, it turns out Chatham-Kent residents must first prove they have been poisoned by the developer, before they may seek justice. By then, of course, the damage will have been done. Recourse will expensive and, for most, unattainable.
Four years ago, the giant American wind developer Next Era sued Esther Wrightman for defamation. On her website she had altered the company’s logo to NextError and Next Terror. They wanted the logos removed or they would litigate the mother of two young children into oblivion. All these years later, the legal action is still pending. Wrightman wakes up every morning with the weight of this action still weighing on her head. Read article
Bayshore Broadcasting, Kevin Bernard
A BIG WIN for opponents of Giant wind turbines in Ontario.
The appeal period has run out, and WPD Canada has decided it will NOT proceed with the Fairview Wind Project in Clearview township.
Last month, approval for the wind turbines was revoked, but the company had until September 16th to file an appeal.
The Environmental Review Tribunal revoked the previous Renewable Energy Approval, saying WPD Canada’s plans for 8 turbines just outside Stayner would pose serious harm to human health with the turbines in the flight path of two nearby airports.
When the ERT ruling came down in mid-August, Opponent Betty Schneider didn’t believe the company would go quietly into the night, so she wasn’t celebrating at that point.
Now, Schneider says she would like to fill up her old swimming pool with champagne and celebrate.
Schneider says she is numb, that the battle is finally over.
WPD Canada has been working on the plan for wind turbines in Clearview for roughly a decade.
Manager of Communications for WPD Canada, Kevin Surette tells Bayshore Broadcasting news in an email September 18th that the Board of Directors has decided not to proceed with the Fairview Project.
Council of Canadians
September 27, 2017
Chatham, ON – Thirteen Chatham area well owners have now filed water well interference complaints following the start of construction on a 34 turbine wind power project near their farms. The Council of Canadians is demanding work stop on the project immediately.
The project developer, North Kent Wind One (owned by Samsung Energy and Pattern Energy), started pile driving for the first turbine foundation in late June. The vibrations caused by the pile driving can be felt hundreds of meters away. Before construction began, experts predicted that local wells could suffer siltation problems from the vibrations. Some of the 13 wells affected to date have become so silted up that water no longer flows through the household plumbing.
Chatham-Kent residents have been working to protect their well water after learning of pollution problems faced by dozens of families in neighbouring Dover Township where wells began showing high levels of black silt as soon as pile driving started for various wind turbine projects built there over the last eight years. Both counties sit atop the Kettle Point black shale bedrock formation. Read more
Meanwhile C-K Medical Officer of Health Dr. Colby just encouraged everyone to trust his doctor status and continue filtering out the “crud”. Or… drill a new well, like he’s had to.
The Chatham Voice
“Nobody wants to drink dirty water that looks like chocolate milk; I get that. But if you filter that crud out of there, is there any evidence there is an increased solution of toxins in that water that could pose a health problem, and the answer is no,” Colby said, noting no evidence has come across his desk. “If you’re more interested in your convictions than the facts that I’m trying to give you, we’re not going to get an agreement on this issue.”
Colby said he has a well and had sediment problems, and ended up drilling a new well. When asked how many turbines are nearby, he said he could count 47. Read article
From the archives, in case you think this has gone on way too long with no action from our government:
CBC News
Chatham-Kent residents frustrated with wind turbine construction they blame for tainting their drinking water staged another blockade Tuesday morning and have temporarily shut down the North Kent Wind project.
It is the second blockade in as many weeks by the group calling itself Water Wells First. It is protesting what it believes is provincial inaction on pile driving residents claim is pushing bits of sediment into their drinking water.
“The people here in the community just feel like they’re sitting like guinea pigs, waiting to be plucked out and experimented on,” said spokesperson Kevin Jakubec during the blockade held on Aug. 17. “The tensions are boiling over here.”
“The people here in the community just feel like they’re sitting like guinea pigs, waiting to be plucked out and experimented on,” said spokesperson Kevin Jakubec during the blockade held on Aug. 17.
“The tensions are boiling over here.”
Following that blockade, Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope wrote to minister of environment Chris Ballard, asking for an “immediate intervention” in the water quality issues due to “conflicting reports” on water quality that created “fear and concern among residents.”
“The ministry cannot remain silent on this very important issue,” the mayor added. “This is an extremely urgent matter which demands immediate, decisive action from your ministry and government.” Read article
Toronto Sun, Jennifer Bieman and Megan Stacey
The loss of 340 jobs at a factory that makes blades for wind turbines could be harbinger of troubles ahead in Ontario’s green-energy industry, a leading analyst says.
Siemens Canada announced Tuesday it’s closing its Tillsonburg plant, one of four Ontario green-energy factories set up under a controversial, multi-billion-dollar deal with Korean industrial giant Samsung.
The closing of one of the town’s largest employers came after weeks of nervous speculation.
But energy analyst Tom Adams said Ontario’s green-energy industry could be in for a rough ride if it doesn’t lay its hands on orders from outside Ontario, arguing the provincial market is saturated with wind and solar electricity brought online since the Liberal government plunged headlong into green energy in 2009.
“I think it was always pretty obvious that whatever jobs were going to arise from the Green Energy Act were all temporary or almost all temporary,” Adams said, referencing the provincial law that paved the way for big wind farms in Ontario under contracts paying energy giants more than consumers pay for power.
“Samsung had no history in renewable energy before they came to Ontario. They came only for the subsidies, and when the subsidies dry up, they’ll disappear as quick as they landed,” said Adams, an independent energy and environmental advisor and researcher. Read article
“Green Jobs” have always been a bit of a joke. Although not a very funny one.
Back in 2010 McGuinty signed a deal with South Korean company Samsung, and promised Ontarians that all kinds of employment would flow from it.
The Liberal government ended months of speculation in September when it confirmed it was in talks with Samsung about a project that could create about 15,000 jobs.
Ontario’s manufacturing sector has shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in the recession. The deal with Samsung would likely be the linchpin in McGuinty’s push for renewable sources of energy and his plan to create 50,000 jobs. CBC, 2010
The numbers were highly inflated in that press release. Even Samsung’s website could only cough up minuscule (although inconsistent) numbers.
Thanks to Samsung’s Green Energy Investment Agreement with the Government of Ontario, we are creating 9,000 jobs, kick-starting a new industry in Ontario and generate 1,369 megawatts of clean energy. Samsung Renewable Energy
Samsung and Pattern Energy’s wind power projects in Ontario are creating more than 1,000 jobs Samsung Renewable Energy, 2014
Our investments will create 900 direct renewable energy manufacturing jobs and 9,000 high-skilled jobs in Ontario. Samsung Renewable Energy, 2014
Down down down the number fell! We went from a promised 15,000 Samsung jobs in 2010, to a possible 900 in 2014? So what is the real number? I suppose nobody is really counting anymore. The fact is the province blatantly lied to the people of Ontario just so this juicy deal could be pushed through without much fuss. One would think the opposition parities would do as much as they could to investigate WHY this deal had to be made… Continue reading →
Brian Hill, Global News Excerpt: “Over the past two years, officials from the ministry have measured violations of the province’s noise limits at the couple’s home on two occasions, first in August 2015 and again in March 2017. Despite these violations, the couple says the government has done nothing other than order more tests.
The Stachura’s complaints of government inaction are not unique. In fact, Global News has learned that Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change does not respond to the majority of complaints made by residents concerned about wind turbines.
Documents released through Ontario’s Freedom of Information Act and obtained by Global News reveal officials from the Ministry of Environment chose not to investigate or deferred responding to – meaning they did not make immediate plans to investigate – roughly 68 per cent of all noise and health complaints lodged against wind turbine operators in the province between 2006 and 2014. This represents nearly 2,200 individual complaints.
The documents also show limited resources sometimes prevented the ministry from responding to complaints.” Read article
Unaddressed Wind Turbine Complaints Anger Local Group by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News A local group opposed to wind turbines is once again calling on the province to put a stop to the controversial wind power projects, after a new report found many noise complaints related to the turbines are being ignored.
Dutton Dunwich Opponents of Wind Turbines (DDOWT), a group made up people from the rural community southwest of London, has written to Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) Glenn Murray demanding he stop any new wind turbine approvals.
Their demand comes in light of documents obtained by Wind Concerns Ontario under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents show the Ministry of Environment chose not to investigate or deferred responding to roughly 68% of all noise and health complaints made against green energy operators in the province between 2006 and 2014.
A list of 3,180 complaints is included in the documents. Of those, more than 1,700 were not investigated by the ministry. In another 446 of the complaints the ministry deferred responding. Complainants reported sleep disturbances, headaches, and dizziness from the wind turbine noise emissions. Read article
CTV News
Newly unearthed documents suggest Ontario’s Liberal government could have saved hydro customers $1.5 billion by terminating an agreement with Samsung, but decided against it.
The papers, uncovered by Progressive Conservative Finance Critic Vic Fedeli, relate to the 2009 Samsung green energy agreement that would take $10.5 billion from Ontario hydro bills, and pay it to a Samsung consortium over 20 years. In return, Samsung would deliver green energy and build factories in the province, employing 900 people.
Four years into the deal, however, a confidential document from staff at the Ministry of Energy advised the government it could save hydro customers $5.2 billion by terminating the agreement. This was because the Korean consortium was missing contract targets and deadlines on electricity projects that Ontario didn’t even need anymore.
But instead of calling off the deal, the Liberals renegotiated the contract to save only $3.7 billion -leaving $1.5 billion in hydro savings on the table.
“Even though we don’t need the power, and even though we can get out of this for nothing, (the Liberals) already told the public how important this deal is,” Fedeli told CTV Toronto, suggesting that the government ignored the potential savings “just to save face.” Read article
Perhaps this wouldn’t piss me off so much if pre-construction they had absolutely no idea that bats were going to be killed by their machines.
But they did. And they built them anyways. Now what is their solution?
To “jam” (their word) the bat’s echolocation with ultrasonic frequencies. Then they won’t be able to communicate or know where the fuck (yeah I’m mad) they are flying, and will hopefully flee to some non-turbine infested area, if they still exist anywhere locally. I believe this is called “habitat displacement”, which Dr. Scott Petrie warned all the wind developers of over and over for the past half dozen years.
Ah, but NextEra and their ilk are “good green corporate citizens” - they wouldn’t take part in something so repulsive as this, would they? They did it to humans so maybe…
The problem for the wind company is not the laborious and tedious job of picking up all the dead bat carcasses (a bloody pain I suspect though), it’s the horrid “mitigation” that they are forced to do when they exceed the “kill threshold” of birds, bats and raptors set by the Ministry of Natural Resources - they are exceeding them all the freakin’ time!
Supposedly the MNR will sometimes make the wind companies that exceed their kill limits, “curtail” (shut down) their turbines during peak migration, night or in low winds when the bats are out and about. (Honestly I highly doubt anyone is watching or monitoring, but lets give them the benefit of the doubt here). That lost production really sucks for the wind companies ’cause they are loosing way too much $$. Every little penny counts for their greedy little hearts.
Again, the problem is not the killing of Endangered Species (which is what is happening, with impunity), that doesn’t bother the wind company at all or they would shut their turbines down most willingly.
Instead they employ these fancy new Ultrasonic blasters to scare those little buggers away. Because that’s what good neighbours do when they come to a land full of Endangered Species. They wreck their homes. You know, like eagle nests and stuff.
“Instead of curtailing to avoid take, deter bats from the turbine” (“Take”, for those unfamiliar with the lingo, is “kill”. Sounds nicer, eh? Note also this is all about avoiding curtailment, not avoiding bat kill, and certainly not avoiding destruction of habitat!)
“Many bats rely on echolocation for orienting, foraging and communication – Echolocation “jamming” most effective defense against bats ever documented.”(So they recognize what the bats needs to survive, and then wallop them with a baseball bat. Note also they use the negative wording, “defence against bats”. That shows their true colours on this issue.)
“Deterrent units create a broad range of frequencies to deter different bat species”
(Oh well, wind developers know all about ‘broad ranges of frequencies’ to deter human beings, so I believe them!)
Here’s another thought. How is a wind developer, or anyone for that matter, permitted to disrupt an Endangered Species habitat like this? What exactly is the purpose of the supposed protection of the Act if wind developers are allowed to kill, harm, harass and maim them as much as they want?! Aren’t developers usually penalized for this kind of deliberate destruction?
Just in case we thought the wind turbines would be ordered to be mitigated or shut down if health problems were noticed in the Huron County Health study - nope that’s not gonna happen. Read the correspondence below and you will realize that it is all just ‘process’, with no action to ‘correct’ on the horizon. Basically more people are just being used as test subjects. That’s it. And that’s flat out unacceptable.
Thanks to Richard Mann, Associate Professor Department of Computer Science; University of Waterloo for this.
From: Erica Clark
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2017 3:44 PM
Subject: Ability of MOH to write orders against wind turbines under section 13 of HPPA
Hello,
One of the issues the University of Waterloo ethics committee asked us to address was the hope residents had that, at some time, the Medical Officer of Health would be able to write an order curtailing or shutting down the wind turbines. We had already stated in the recruitment materials that the study would not generate sufficient evidence to prove wind turbines cause health problems (establishing causality) but the ethics committee questioned whether we were providing enough information on the limits of the Medical Officer of Health’s authority. To address that concern, we have spoken with individuals experienced in interpreting the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) specifically, sections 11 (investigating health hazards) and 13 (writing orders). They provided us with the attached documents that outline the limits on the MOH’s authority to write orders.
The first document (Pelletier v Northwestern Health Unit) is the proceedings from an Ontario Health Services Appeal and Review Board and the second (Court File 2006-01-04) is a judicial review of the appeal hearing by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Essentially, these documents state that when the Legislature places the authority to regulate with one organization, such as municipal councils or the Ministry of the Environment, the courts do not accept that there was an intention to give the same authority to the MOH under section 13 of the HPPA. The rulings were made when the Northwestern Health Unit MOH wrote orders prohibiting exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (second hand smoke) in several bars and restaurants. At the time the orders were written, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was (and still is) deemed a health hazard.
Since the Legislature assigned the duty to regulate wind turbines to the Ministry of the Environment and not the health units, the courts will not recognize the authority of the MOH under section 13 of the HPPA to write an order curtailing or shutting down the wind turbines.
I will be putting these documents on the health unit website soon, however, I wanted you to have a chance to read them first. The documents are publicly available at
London Free Press Only in Kathleen Wynne’s Ontario would we still be spending money we don’t have, to build wind farms few people want, to generate electricity we don’t need.
And yet that’s exactly what’s happening six months after the government halted its green energy policy. Planning for five new wind turbine developments continues despite admission from the Wynne government that Ontario won’t use the electricity these turbines will generate.
Indeed, if history is any indication, the excess electricity generated from turbines yet to be built will be sold at a steep discount, probably to American states that already offer electricity cheaper than Ontario’s, states that in some cases are using cheap electricity to lure away Ontario business.
The Ontario government says it’s contractually obligated to allow the last of these wind turbine developers to bring their plans to fruition. A sensible response would be to cancel the contracts and pay whatever legal penalties might follow. But no, the Wynne government will stoically follow through. Read article
North Bay Nugget
All you people out there complaining about your hydro prices need to realize some important facts about the Kathleen Wynne government.
The global adjustment charge on your hydro bill is to pay for the giant industrial wind turbines Wynne has placed all over rural Ontario.
Wind turbines a useless technology that destroys our rural environment, ruins people’s health and poisons our drinking water aquifers.
The only reason these turbines were erected was so Liberal insiders and their friends could get filthy rich.
Wynne will not cancel the turbine projects or reduce the subsidies because the turbine lobbyists know where the political bodies are buried.
Wynne has taken away the democratic rights of the people for her own financial and political gain.
Wynne has sacrificed the health of rural citizens just so her friends can get rich.
In a few year’s time, when it inevitably collapses, this wind turbine scam will be revealed for what it is: An enormous government-backed Ponzi scheme, founded on greed, corruption and stupidity.
Who does one go to when you see wind turbines installed this close to an active nest? You know it’s just a matter of time before the residents of that nest get added to this list of carcasses found in Ontario under wind turbines:
You want to help. The government makes all the rules and regulations for what any person/developer can do around important habitat like this, so they are the first you think of. Except… that they have a really bad track record on this.
Okay, lets say you go to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), as some good citizens did in November 2012. I’ll take you back there.
Warning, this is a long one, there is no other way to write it, so grab a drink.
***Last year I filed an Freedom of Information request with the MNRF for all correspondence relating to the Haldimand eagle nest destruction by NextEra Energy. I wanted to see what the hell was happening in their heads, and head offices. You can see all the files received from the FOI on this Google Drive: Bald Eagle Nest Destruction NextEra MNRF.
Somewhere around November 19th, 2012 the MNRF had it’s first glimpse at an issue they hadn’t dealt with before. Letters from residents in rural Haldimand County had landed on their desk - they were asking that the MNRF intervene with Florida based wind turbine developer NextEra’s construction around an active Bald Eagle nest.
7. (1) A person shall not destroy, take or possess the nest or eggs of a bird that belongs to a species that is wild by nature. 1997, c. 41, s. 7 (1).
But there were also exemptions made for “special” people/corporations in need of favours:
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who destroys, takes or possesses the nest or eggs of a bird described in that subsection,
(a)in accordance with the authorization of the Minister
Ah yes, and that was the dilemma the MNRF faced. This appeared to concern at least Erin in her query to her co-worker. But that’s the last “concern” you will see from this Ministry.
The public kept the pressure on, sending pictures and maps. Surely to God the MNRF would intervene and save the nest…?
That day, December 4th, the MNRF Manager asked Jim Beal and Joad Durst, “…how quickly we can we pull this (a response to the public) together”. They knew an eagle nest was protected under the Renewable Energy Act (REA) - if the nest was noticed during the Natural Heritage Assessment (NHA). But the company missed this nest in their NHA - was that as good as saying the nest “wasn’t there”? Should NextEra have to move their road and turbine plans now, they would have to go through the Ministry of Environment’s (MOE) amendment process all over again - and that would cost wind company time and money. NextEra wanted to build now, and they were going to get their way. Continue reading →
The Globe and Mail
The rise in the cost of electricity in Ontario over the Liberal Party’s time in office has been staggering, and painful. Here’s just one example of how it has gone up:
In November, 2007, the highest rate for households, during peak hours, was 8.7 cents per kilowatt/hour. Less than a decade later, it’s the lowestrate – the one you get for using your dryer at midnight. The highest rate, for use during peak hours, is 18 cents per kWh.
That 107-per-cent increase in the peak rate is roughly six times the rate of inflation over the same period. The province’s manufacturing sector, meanwhile, has been walloped by the highest industrial rates in Canada, and among the highest in North America, according to the Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario.
The blame for this falls squarely on the consecutive Liberal governments of former premier Dalton McGuinty and his successor, Premier Kathleen Wynne, in power since 2003. Their mismanagement of Ontario’s power system has led to today. Read article
he residents of that nest get added to this list of carcasses found in Ontario under wind turbines:
Okay, lets say you go to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), as some good citizens did in November 2012. I’ll take you back there.
