The Water Wells First group is set to hand out their first ‘Shame Award’ to the company planning on building a wind farm just north of Wallaceburg.
The group is also planning to protest outside of a public meeting being held by the Otter Creek Wind Farm, which is jointly owned by Renewable Systems Canada (RES Canada) and Boralex, on Monday, January 30 at The Clubhouse at Baldoon.
“The award is a ‘shame award’ intended to draw attention to a company that says they are interested in protecting water but in fact the opposite is true,” the group said in a press release.
“They do nothing to protect water and even cause Peak Water Crises for local populations where they operate. By awarding the ‘Trojan Horse Award’, we are reminded of what a Trojan Horse from myth represents; a thing intended to undermine or destroy from within.
Water Wells First officials say Boralex operates the Marsh Line Wind Farm in the former Township of Dover.
“The construction of the wind farm coincided with a number of water wells becoming turbid and now contain black particulates,” the group said.
“Boralex denies responsibility. Denies they understand the concerns of local families financially dependent on the underlying aquifer for their freshwater supply. Shame on you Boralex. A clean energy company should know better. Water is precious. It must come first.”
Water Wells First said they do not want the aquifers for this generation or future generations to be destroyed.
“Now Boralex isn’t satisfied in ruining one part of North Chatham-Kent’s sensitive aquifer. Now they want to do it again,” the group stated.
“Only bigger. Bigger turbines that are 643 feet high, the largest in Ontario. Bigger the turbine, the bigger the damage to a proven sensitive Aquifer. Protecting our water resources is a sacred duty to ensure the survival of life for all future generations.”
Water Wells First officials say they are planning on handing out other ‘Trojan Horse Awards’ to other wind companies, and municipal and provincial government figures.
Otter Creek Wind farm media briefing set for Monday
On top of the public meeting being held on Monday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Otter Creek Wind Farm group is holding a media briefing on Monday afternoon.
“A second public meeting is planned to provide the public an opportunity to review and provide comments on the studies and investigations that have been completed for the project,” Otter Creek officials stated.
Heather Plewes, a communications officer with Boralex, said in an e-mail to the Sydenham Current they do not have any comment regarding Water Wells First’s plans to protest and hand out the ‘Shame Award’.
“Boralex has no comment on any of that in advance of Monday’s media briefing,” she wrote.
Back in July during the first public meeting for the project, Adam Rosso, director of project development in Ontario for Boralex, told the Sydenham Current that water quality was a consistent question at the meeting.
“Obviously the hot issue right now water quality and water wells. The concerns around our turbines impacting people’s drinking water,” Rosso said.
“The purpose of this meeting today is to essentially introduce the renewable energy process. We are very much in the infancy of our project. We do not have a lay out yet, we don’t necessarily know all of the attributes of our project to accurately comment on anything to do with ground water or anything like that but understanding the local community and understanding the concerns that we’re in.”
Rosso added: “The very first concern that you do when you walk in the door is, you have got a very large amount of members of the public that can write their name down and indicate where on the map their water well is so that we can take that consideration in the development of our project, which is the whole idea behind public consultation. We are taking that information and we are considering that as we proceed through the energy renewal process.”
Rosso said they have not had any complaints associated with ground water after installing 45 turbines in the Chatham area in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
“We installed a number of piles at those turbines and we didn’t receive any complaints on public drinking water,” he said.
“We just finished installing some of the largest foundations in Ontario in the Niagara region where we were required to monitor ground water within 500 metres of our turbines. Through both pre-construction and post construction with the turbines that have piles we have never received any complaints about turbidity or anything else associated with drinking water.”
Rosso said that information is site specific.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s anecdotal evidence that in our experience we haven’t had any issues with it,” he said. “I doesn’t necessarily mean that I am not concerned and taking the concerns of water wells seriously. That is not what I am saying. I am just saying in projects that we have built with piles, water quality has never been a issue.”
More details are available at: ottercreekwindfarm.ca.
Seeking an Ombudsman investigation
On top of their planned protests, the Water Wells First group is also seeking an Ombudsman investigation into the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
Read Water Wells First’s comments here: Water Wells First seeking Ombudsman investigation
Read the Municipality’s response here: Chatham-Kent responds to Water Wells First request
Watch for more on this story.
– Photo credit: Water Wells First
