Possible Public Meeting to be held by Horizon Wind May 25th
Horizon Wind Open Houses Announced for May 17th
& 18th
Turbine Talk
The co-chairman of the Nor’Wester
Mountain Escarpment Protection Committee suspects Horizon Wind’s newest
renewable energy approval application won’t look much different than
one the province recently rejected.
Mike Payne said members of his
organization, who object to the construction of a wind farm on the
mountain range, also don’t think the southern Ontario energy company is
really taking their concerns to heart.
“We’ve been begging for
consultation from the very beginning,” Payne said. “That’s been a very
large problem. There’s no public consultation unless they’re forced to.”
The company on Thursday announced
it will host a pair of open houses on May 17 and 18, as required under
the REA application process.
The first is slated for the Blake
Community Hall. The second will be at Fort William Country Club.
Payne said it appears the project
has taken on an entirely new scope with changes being made to the
turbines.
“This seems to be a completely new
project. Before they were talking about 27 megawatts, now they’re
talking about 36 megawatts,” he said.
Horizon, which has said little
publicly since launching a $126-milliion lawsuit against the city last
October, in a release issued on Thursday said the change in scope is
because the nameplate capacity for each turbine has been increased from
1.5 megawatts to two megawatts.
“This will not increase the height
of the turbines. The increase of the nameplate capacity will permit
Horizon Wind to build the first 16.5 megawatts with only eight turbines
instead of the proposed 11,” the company writes. “In other words,
Horizon will be able to build a given amount of megawatts with fewer
turbines.”
On Monday city council voted 8-4
in favour of an amended agreement with Horizon, a deal that saw two
turbines moved further away from residential areas.
The deal also put an end to the
litigation between the company and the city.
Payne said his group found 144
errors, omissions and other problems with Horizon’s first attempt at
the REA process, and promised they’ll be going through the next one
with a fine-tooth comb between now and May 18, the final day to submit
comments to the provincial ministry of the environment.
He rejected Horizon’s notion that
the company’s submitted REA was a pre-submission completeness review.
“Why would you waste your time? I
would put my best foot forward, especially if (they) want to start
digging in September,” Payne said.
He added he’s worried the city’s
compromise means decades of trouble ahead for residents.
“The city has solved its lawsuit,
but it opens Horizon up to do what they want for the next 45 years,” he
said.
NOMEPC members have suggested
property values in the Neebing Ward neighbourhood could fall by as much
as 50 per cent, with Payne adding a multi-million lawsuit from
residents could still be forthcoming.
The province must approve the REA
before the turbine farm will be permitted to go ahead.
Possible Public
Meeting to be held by Horizon Wind May 25th
From the Nor'Wester's website:
"...In related news, we’ve been unoffically advised that Horizon is
apparently holding a public meeting at the NorWesterview Hotel on
May 25th 2011. We are still trying to confirm this and will keep
you posted accordingly."