Comments for Nor'Wester Mountain Escarpment Protection Committee

Comment on The Facts by Dan Fiorito

Dan Fiorito — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:05:07 +0000

Hi Kevin,
I’m not sure what official talks have taken place, however Horizon claims they’ve spoken with Transport Canada on this and there is no issue, but they’ve made numerous claims that have later turned out to be false. Personally I can’t understand how they would allow it based on that, but this government has proven time and time again that the rules can always be broken when it suites them.
Would that fall under Federal jurisdiction? I’m guessing it would. I know from my front window I often see planes fying over the escrapment at that range (500ft above the surface, of course this is just a guestimate), same with Helicopters are always flying really low in the area, not sure if they’re doing site seeing tours or work, but they definitely fly pretty low.

Thanks for the question!
Dan

Comment on The Facts by Kevin Hlady

Kevin Hlady — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:28:58 +0000

One point that i dont think has been discussed alot is the effects on the aviation community….these wind turbines are very tall on an already high surface. i live at the end of Feaver rd. and work in the aviation business, airtraffic routinely flies at low level over the mountains while on approach to the airport. Has transport canada been consulted about this? It is currently illegal to have a crane operating over certain hights within the vicinity of the airport so you can see the concern of a pilot having to navigate around these things.

Comment on News by Rick

Rick — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:24:00 +0000

McGuinty has stated that when all of wind and solar power projects are complete, it will account for 5% of all of the power generated in Ontario. That represents the equivalent of removing 265,000 cars off the highways of Ontario. In the GTA, this may be the case but in Northern Ontario, this doesn’t make sense. We don’t have the same pollution and congestion issues of the south. Therefore, we have no need for these costly projects and shouldn’t have to pay for them. These ugly “green energy” projects do nothing more than pollute the landscape with solar panels and wind turbines. Green energy companies are tripping over each other to take advantage of the huge incentives that the government is offering and the money they will make selling the power back to us. We can’t afford this type of energy, we don’t need it in the north and we shouldn’t have to pay for the problems of those living in the south. Heating, rather than cooling our homes is a bigger issue. We can breathe the air here; driving for most of us usually takes only 20 minutes to most destinations; we have an abundance of natural beauty we don’t want spoiled and could live quite well without interference from Torontonians!

Comment on Ministry will NOT issue Horizon Wind a permit to Harm/Harass/Kill by Dan Fiorito

Dan Fiorito — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:25:00 +0000

Sadly, this entire project goes against everything the city plan calls for, however that didn’t stop certain members of administration to push this through, even re-writing some of the city’s own guidelines in the process to simply support this project.
We’ve had a number of council members tell us off the record that they really hope that either we or the FWFN’s stop them dead in their tracks. The others however, are nothing but a group that was scared of Horizon and their threat and eventual lawsuit which we called from day one. To be honest, I don’t think the lawsuits are over, based on Horizon’s past actions, not only in Thunder Bay but other projects they attempt to develop. They’ve confirmed with their actions that their only concern with this is their bottom line. They claim to be a good corporate citizen, yet when you try to negotiate and an alternate solution, they sue and they compare it to sibling rivalry! We applaud those in the city ranks that actually stood up to Horizon, they saw this for what it really is.
Sadly, no one in Administration will ever be held accountable for their actions, that’s the part that frustrates most.

Thanks for your support! Together we can all stop this and protect our great natural resource!

Comment on Ministry will NOT issue Horizon Wind a permit to Harm/Harass/Kill by t

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:18:58 +0000

I was reading through the City of Thunder Bay’s Official Plan publicly available online on the city’s webpage….

“Applications for planning approval to permit development or site alterations within significant portions of the habitat of endangered and threatened species will not be supported.”

I’m confused. How can the city approve this land development if it is against the city’s own official plan?

“promote a pattern of land use, and the provision of services and facilities which will enhance the health, safety and well being of all present and future residents of the City”

I’m not sure wind farms “enhance” health and well being…

“Preserve and enhance the quality of the natural, social and cultural environments”

“improve property owners’ awareness of the value of natural heritage features and increase their understanding of their role in ensuring the protection of these features; and,
d) support the requirements of senior levels of government with respect to the protection of natural heritage features.”

Looks like the city supports the efforts of NMEPC and the ministry….

Comment on A Summary of new evidence: Adverse health effects and industrial wind turbines by Dan Fiorito

Dan Fiorito — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:16:55 +0000

If he wants to reply, I don’t have an issue, he was told that if and when he posts reliable information (for or against) I would consider it for public release. He was told that and he has yet to post anything, so I wouldn’t hold my breath on him even answering, he’s set in his ways and I’m personally tired of trying to explain to him. You do make some valid points in your post. For the record,
WE ARE IN FAVOR OF WIND DEVELOPMENT when done properly. Just not this project nor the developer for obvious reasons.
Dan

Comment on A Summary of new evidence: Adverse health effects and industrial wind turbines by Tiredoit

Tiredoit — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:08:52 +0000

Wayne, since you didn’t answer my questions on the TBNewswatch site, try doing it here (Dan, please let him respond).

Wayne, the difference is, NMEPC is trying to save the Escarpment and is NOT ANTI WIND, that’s your take on it, and they are against this project for a variety of reasons. That’s the part you can’t seem to accept. You were BAND and yes, I spelled it like that on purpose, since you so love to point out my spelling mistakes (you’ve made your share mind you).

You didn’t show or post any scientific data that I could see (Dan seems to confirm that information as well, sure you’ll say he didn’t post any of it), as for the Cell Tower, again, you just seem to be looking for another reason to simply start something. Again, it’s called SAVE THE NORWESTER ESCARPMENT COMMITTEE, the goal of stopping this project and preserving the escarpment in its current form.

Why has every major city in Ontario stopped the development or attempted to?

Why has Ontario now determined that a 5km setback on lake installations is not far
enough?

Why has the Australian Government now started looking at minimum setbacks of no less that 5km from any residential areas (based on independent scientific studies, the only real ones done to date on any continent) and a large number of European countries considering the same?

Wind is a great source of alternative energy when done properly, which includes outside of
residential areas.

Even Dr. Arlene King has admitted that the information she used to determine her findings were not based on actual scientific data, but peer reviews, however McGunity doesn’t really want that information out there (by the way, what’s her medical background Wayne?).

Once the so called golden subsidies dry up in Ontario, the Wind Developers will simply abandon their projects, just like the have all over the world. It’s proven fact that this is what will happen and has happened, hence the reason many other cities demand a minimum of $100k per turbine and most charge an average installation fee of $35k to help offset future costs of rehab. Horizon has shown it’s colors and doesn’t really care, hell, they even sued the city because they wanted 2 turbines moved.

Why is the Mayor Orangeville Ontario so pissed about the installed wind parks in his town and have so many people lost money on their houses who live close to them, the vast majority of them have been trying to sell their homes and they just can’t sell, these are nice homes in what was once a nice area of town. You can state that the Wind Industry clearly states that there is no lost value in homes, but ask those trying to sell (that’s reality).

How many jobs is the Horizon site going to create? 3, two of which are based in Toronto according to Horizon, the one job here will be to basically clean up the dead birds for a 3 year period known as the “study period”. Any maintenance work on the turbines will be done by the manufacture who will simply fly the tech in, do the work and leave.

Who will be on the hook in 25 years for the cleanup, Horizon has stated the will only provide $20k per turbine and will do it in 16 years. Estimated cost in today’s dollars to properly rehab a turbine site is in excess of $100k (again, this is an estimate since they don’t know the true damage caused to the mountain range).

Here’s some more facts based on the Italian industry which is similar to ours, however they didn’t offer a great a subsidy as Ontario did:
Carlo Stagnaro and Luciano Lavecchia of the Italian Bruno Leoni Institute found that: “Our figures only seem to confirm what is intuitive: that the green economy may be very profitable for those who receive the subsidies, but that they are detrimental to the overall economy.” [Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2010]
Lavecchia and Stagnaro calculated that each green job Italy created came at the expense of 4.8 jobs in the broader economy or 6.9 jobs in the industrial sector specifically.

Those are FACTS Wayne.

Comment on Ministry will NOT issue Horizon Wind a permit to Harm/Harass/Kill by Dan Fiorito

Dan Fiorito — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:02:02 +0000

Hi Kalle, thanks for the post.
I couldn’t agree more, Horizon was told from day one from the residents and the local experts that this was a big issue, however they didn’t want to nor bother to listen to anyone, they only saw the project from one perspective, the one that generated a multimillion dollar bank account.

Their experts were one the sames ones that stated: “The trails are rarely used in the area due to the amount of trash or lack there of they found” Because the residents choose to keep it clean they must not use it much!

Comment on Ministry will NOT issue Horizon Wind a permit to Harm/Harass/Kill by Kalle

Kalle — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:42:17 +0000

Great news- its about time
With the resources that have been spent to save the peregrines, it was absurd to even consider a wind farm on the nor’westers. Apparently one of the more important Peregrine areas in the Province

Too bad the developer didnt listen to the people who told them all the problems with their site – they were told about the Peregrines but they obviously thought they knew better- their ‘expert’ told them there were no important bird areas there

Makes me wonder about their other ‘experts’ and studies.

Comment on CAUSE FOR CONCERN AND PUBLIC FRUSTRATION! by Dan Fiorito

Dan Fiorito — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:52:34 +0000

Hi Gerald, You make some great points, not sure why they would want to do that here, but nothing this government does lately suprises me in the slightest. It all boils down the the only green that matters, the GREEN CA$H it all generates and the huge profits.