Posts Tagged ‘Toronto Wind farm’
Update on the Green Energy Act and Toronto Hydro's Illegal Application
The Green Energy Act passed. I don’t think anyone was surprised by that part. It passed with some amendments however. The most laughable was the inclusion of a weak clause about ‘community involvement’ being one of the lenses this bill is seen through. If we cut through the Orwellian doublespeak we’ll see that this bill still lives up to Dalton McGuinty’s promise to strip environmental protections and the democratic rights of citizens away from the planning process. He proved with the passage of this legislation that he is not a true democrat in his views on governance. His ‘father knows best’ approach will be punished at the polls, that I am certain of.
What was interesting to see however was who didn’t vote for this odious piece of legislation. Premier McGuinty wasn’t present to vote for his anti democratic, anti environment bill. MPPs Best (Scarborough Guildwood), Berardinetti (Scarborough Southwest), or Arthurs (Pickering Scarborough East) all had a case of the ‘legislative flu’ that saw them unable to attend. I have said very clearly before that the passage of this bill would almost certainly cost Margarett Best her seat in Scarborough Guildwood and could well cost Berardinetti and Athurs their Scarborough waterfront seats as well. If they think ducking is the same as standing up for their communities, they are sadly mistaken and I’m sure the opposition parties and voters will not let them off that easy for siding with their Party Leader and Deputy Leader’s attacks on our community.
I left the Ontario Liberal Party over the Premier and Deputy Premier’s name calling, you figure they could have at least come out publicly to correct the distorted view of Scarborough residents.
On the topic of distortion – Joyce McLean and Jack Simpson got a bit of a surprise last week as did Mark Patterson of the Ministry of Natural Resources who happens to be the bureaucrat who in his professional opinion found nothing wrong with a Project Evaluation Report that contained well over three hundred violations of law. He still approved it. You see Patterson and his friends at the Ministry of Natural Resources lost their ‘no’ stamps after getting so used to approving whatever industry sent their way.
Approving this illegal application that contained more than three hundred violations of law was a mistake (To Toronto Hydro Energy Services – if this claim is untrue, please have someone in your legal department email me immediately and I will correct this. Naturally we both know it is a provable fact your Project Evaluation Report did in fact contain well over three hundred violations of law, so I don’t expect to hear from you on this.)
As could be expected Scarborough Bluffs residents pushed back and schooled Joyce McLean and Jack Simpson on their complete and utter ignorance of the environment and the legitimate risks they are blindly proposing for the platform they had hoped to construct. Their lack of knowledge or use of science is astounding. They think having a diver go into the water on a single day for a few minutes and look for fish is scientifically rigorous. That is the extent of their evaluation of habitat issues. No samples taken, no consideration for the proximately to wetlands or the impact of their artificial structure to form a reef for invasive species that are known to destroy habitat. No studies of the sediment they intend to stir up. No attempt to understand anything.
Joyce McLean and Jack Simpson both lied repeatedly to members of the community about a number of the aspects of the project. Their report misleads the Province into believing they did things we can and will prove they did not, and frankly if they don’t walk away from this project, I would be surprised if either of them is able to stay employed with Toronto Hydro Energy Services. (Guys, same thing goes, if untrue, will gladly correct on advice of your legal department)
We’ve asked the Ministry of Environment to allow for a real environmental review, one that actually looks at impacts on the environment and not a report was based on one person’s morning ‘snorkel’.
Normally the Ministry of Environment ignores those requests. But normally Project developers have IQ’s higher than Lake Ontario’s water temperature (Lake is approximately 42 F today). Normally project developers have experience developing projects like this. Neither can be said for Toronto Hydro Energy Services. We will take this fight as far as we can, we will stop at nothing that is within our legal rights to halt this process.
Joyce Mclean and Jack Simpson – you’re on notice from Scarborough Residents that we will fight you to the end and not let you get away with your illegal application, your lies, phony science, twisted facts and abuse of the good people of Scarborough.
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Toronto Hydro Energy Services Fog of Lies and Irresponsibility Impacts Housing Market
I receive a lot of emails from folks who are looking for information on things on google, end up on my blog and email me their questions. Things have ranged from questions about accessing federal and provincial assistance programs, questions about Toronto’s wind farm, accessing subsidized daycare, tax bills – and of course local issues in the Scarborough area. I do strive to share information with folks who are looking, even if I need to call around or spend sometime looking into an issue for them.
I got an email last night about Toronto Hydro’s proposed near-shore wind farm. With the sender’s permission I’ve put the text below. Take a read:
John,
I am considering the purchase of a home in the Beach but I am concerned about the proposed wind farm. It looks to me from a recent document I read that the wind farm could be as close as 1.4 KM from the shore in the Beach community. All the reading I have done suggests that there can be noise issues at 2KM or greater.
Any advice for me with this issue? Should I visit a wind farm to see for myself how noisy they can be? Will sound travel faster over water? Have you read about nosie issues from off-shore wind farms?
I informed a person who lives in the Beach about this issue not too long ago and he hadn’t even heard about it. And this fellow is a well-educated, highly-paid professional who lives on one of the best streets in the Beach. It seems to me that many people don’t even know about it. Anyhow, when I told him about it he was livid. In his words, he planned to “mobilize the troops.”
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Regards,
(Unlike Toronto Hydro, I respect folks privacy and block out names)
My Response:
- I told him Toronto Hydro has said they would be placed 2-4KM offshore, but they also told us the anemometer would be 1.8KM offshore, until they sought permission without consultation to place it 1.2KM offshore. I also made him aware their lease is considerably closer to shore than 2KM.
- On the noise issue, I pointed out much is not known on impact of noise from wind turbines over the water, but we all know from cottages sound travels greater distances over water than land.
- I advised him that no one can say for certain if folks in the beach or Scarborough would be able to hear the impacts of an offshore farm, and Toronto Hydro has not shown any evidence that residents will not be able to.
- I did encourage him to buy the home, and not let Toronto Hydro’s irresponsibility prevent him from doing that, because thousands of residents are standing up to oppose Toronto Hydro’s environmentally irresponsible plan and we’re hopeful they can be stopped
Green Energy Act Proposes Major Setback for Environmental Movement
This bill has me a bit scatterbrained. It lacks the coherence or a tight enough topic matter to make it seem like it is actually just one bill. Regardless, after hours of not being able to write about it coherently, I feel like what I’ve stated below makes sense. I hope you agree.
Laurel Broten is the MPP for Etobicoke Lakeshore. She is the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and the Former Minister of the Environment. It is safe to say if anyone knows what is going on with this bill it is her right? I mean a former Minister of Environment and current PA to the guy who’s responsible for this.
What does Broten say about environmental protection under this new bill?
“Most significantly, green energy projects would no longer be subject to the requirements under the Planning Act or, in most cases, the Environmental Assessment Act.” Laurel Broten, addressing the Legislative Assembly (for reference click this link to Hansard and look between 15:50 and 16:00)
Ok – So no Environmental Assessment in most cases.
They followed through on their promise to strip municipalities of their rights to control the land use planning issues around renewable energy projects and the promise to strip citizens democratic rights of dissent.
The Premier ”stressed that, when it comes to safety and environmental standards for green projects, “we’re not talking about compromising those one iota.” Toronto Star – February 11th 2009 McGuinty vows to stop wind-farm NIMBYs
Maybe not talking about compromising environmental standards ‘one iota’, but certainly legislating a complete disregard for the environment by having no standards.
Considering the Premier and his Minister have so gleefully and abusively stripped Ontarians of their fundamental democratic right to question government and to participate in peaceful dissent, just how can residents seek recourse?
Section 142.1 (2) states: “A person mentioned in subsection (1) may, by written notice served upon the Director and the Tribunal within 15 days of a day prescribed by the regulations, require a hearing by the Tribunal with respect to a decision of the Director under section 139 in relation to a renewable energy approval.”
Section 142.1 (3) states: “A person mentioned in subsection (1) may require a hearing under subsection (2) only on the grounds that engaging in the renewable energy project in accordance with the renewable energy approval will cause serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life, human health or safety or the natural environment.”
Section 145.2.1 (3) states: “The person who required the hearing has the onus of proving that engaging in the renewable energy project in accordance with the renewable energy approval will cause serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life, human health or safety or the natural environment.”
So let me get this straight. Toronto Hydro Energy Services wants to build a project closer to shore than any other project of it’s size in the world, with no requirements for an environmental assessment and will receive their approvals within six months of applying. Once they are approved, I have fifteen days to carry out an environmental assessment to demonstrate their project will cause serious and irreversible harm even though I’m not the one doing it? How can that even be done considering project specifics are almost certainly and legitimately deemed commercially sensitive? We won’t even know what they’re doing or how until it’s done.
Whoever wrote this bill must think the average citizen is like the Attorney General’s office and can blow $24 million bucks on legal fees without even noticing it. The provision described here is not something a person can do, at the very least it would take at least one lawyer and an environmental consulting team. Fifteen days is hardly the kind of lead time necessary for this.
What disgusts me is so called environmentalists who are attacking me and others who oppose the Scarborough Bluffs project with some of the most ridiculous claims I’ve ever heard used in a debate, while they sit by and let a draconian piece of legislation get rammed through the Legislature that will have a serious impact on nature conservation in Ontario.
It is shocking to think that this is the same government that brought down the City of Toronto Act, 2005 or the Greenbelt legislation. One recognized the importance of local autonomy and the other the need for nature conservation, this bill does neither.
I haven’t even waded into the economic damage this bill will have on Ontario when passed. One thing is for sure, if you’re John Tory – you just need to sit back and wait because the Liberals are handing you their defeat in this cumbersome, poorly thought out piece of legislation that makes as little economic sense as it does environmental sense. This will cost jobs, hurt low income families and cause all kinds of unmonitored environmental damage. But it’s Green so it must be good right?
According to Marion Fraser – former political staffer to the Minister of Energy who left QP to join the Green Energy Act Alliance and is on record stating:
“The dire need to stop global warming with an aggressive renewable energy plan for Ontario outstrips potential damage to sensitive environmental areas, says Marion Fraser, a founding member of the Green Energy Act Alliance.”
Right, because who needs sensitive environmental areas when you have wind mills.
They need to make serious changes to this bill if there is any expectation of it not turning out to be a political bomb. Nothing is worse than a rudderless government calling in an air-strike on itself. If McGuinty doesn’t listen to reason and passes a bill with severe economic consequences and even more serious environmental consequences, he will not only do exactly the opposite of what I am sure he has intended to, but on October 7th 2011 he can begin writing a book about that time he was a decent Premier and blew it.
On the environmental side, they need to ditch the reverse onus. They need to recognize European standards for offshore setbacks of at least 10 k and they need to require a full environmental assessment for all offshore wind projects in our Great Lakes.
I will save the economics for another day.
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