John McPhee writes in the Aug. 11 Walkerton (Ontario) Herald-Times:
... Nicole Geneau, project manager with NEXTera, along with two consultants, visited Brockton council to provide information on two six-turbine sites planned for lands near Formosa and Paisley. ...Nicole Geneau is a liar. According to Wind Concerns Ontario, two weeks earlier, on July 25, she was sitting at the kitchen table of Daniel d'Entremont's abandoned home in Pubnico, Nova Scotia -- abandoned because of ill health effects from nearby 1.8-megawatt Vestas V80 turbines, the closest one about 1,000 feet (305 meters) away. They began experiencing problems as soon as the first turbine began operating, which was 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) away.
While new regulations are still being studied by the province, they noted the minimum setback for each turbine will most likely remain at 550 metres and the setbacks for larger projects could be set up to 1,000 metres without noise barriers.
Bruce County planner David Smith, who was also present for the Thursday session, did point out that some developers are pressuring the province to go with site specific noise studies that could reduce the setback to 400 metres.
Coun. Dave Inglis argued the setbacks should be bigger for any project. ...
Local officials were more interested in the project near Formosa as part of Brockton is within the study area.
Geneau told them their concerns were unfounded. “The study area is bigger than what we need. We just want to see the potential and the impact, it’s not to say we’re going to put more turbines up there,” she said, adding they couldn’t just put turbines anywhere.
When Mayor Charlie Bagnato asked about the high number of those against wind farms at a recent public meeting in Port Elgin, Becker informed him of public meetings in Toronto where “the majority of people are in favour” of wind turbines. ...
Geneau told council her company is the largest owner and operator of wind turbines in North America with 8,200 operating in 65 different projects across 24 states and two provinces.
“I have not heard one single complaint,” Geneau said. “That tells us the process we’re using is working. We use the best science and follow regulations.” She added her company has even won environmental awards.
Geneau was asked to keep locals informed by updates at Bruce County council.
After the meeting [Coun. Dan] Gieruszak and Inglis were still not convinced. ...
“I am concerned that there will be a long-term reduction of quality of life in rural Ontario, for the benefit of urban populations,” Gieruszak said.
Inglis agreed. “I’ve always had concerns about the health issues and the setbacks, they’re not big enough.” ...
The d'Entremonts abandoned their home on Feb. 21, 2006. Evidently, to Nicole Geneau and her industry, that represents a solution, not a complaint.
The Brockton council has good reason to be concerned.
wind power, wind energy, wind turbines, wind farms, environment, environmentalism, human rights
