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WPD wants the Lorrain Valley

It's Aboriginal Day. Ironic in many ways as we hear the words of the wpd employees tell Land Owners that they were so sorry and should have contacted them before crossing their land. The appology, after the fact, illustrates blatant disrespect. Now the "Second Peoples" may be able to understand First People's dilemma a bit better, eh.

The moccasins of the 'Third People" are not walking their talk, either.

(DISCLAIMER: this comment is perfectly in keeping with my opinion and does not represent the opinions of any other people involved in the "Protect Lorrain Valley" community. Anonymity is temporarily needed. But most of you already know who "valley girl" is, right?)

WPD, an international corporation with headquarters in Germany (and you should take a look at the countryside's beautiful old cottages surrounded by turbines EVERYWHERE) , is measuring, planning, filling out forms and crunching numbers in an effort to prove project viability for a Large Renewable Program on Crown Land.

The Provincial Government has made it as easy as possible for them to do so. The Environmental Protection Act, the Ministry of Environment, The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, The Ministry of Mines and everyone else involved has rewritten long standing and carefully thought out rules and regulations. In a YEAR of hastily thrown together legislation they've decided that everything will be just fine.

It could never go wrong, go wrong, go wrong....Look how well they've managed everything else.....................

The Southern Ontario Wind Turbines have blighted the landscape and. in spite of reassurances to the contrary, dramatically reduced property values. Real Estate estimates put the loss at 30% in most areas where turbines are nearby.

The day to day observation of these operating turbines is also starting to call into question the technical data upon which the projects are based. Wind measured on Crown Land has to include things like the flow over forested areas. Researched data, that I have linked on the website under "info", shows this to be a completely different calculation than flat or farm land wind behaviour.

Things I want to know:

1. Ontario must have what amount of 'renewable power' ready to go online before shutting off a nuke. How close are they to that mythical number?

2. a. How much of this power is already being paid for as "unuseable" due to non peak production?

(after all it's hardwired into the grid so no power can be saved; only created and used) b. How much more money must be spent on these contracts before we can use the accumulated power to shut off the nuke? (that is the point, right?)

3. How is it that i can be fined and jailed for killing an eagle but turbine companies have a QUOTA of endangered and protected species to kill without recourse?

4. How is it that the noise level is always being compared to "traffic" noise? (we don't have traffic and so none of us are used to the noise levels of the turbines.)

5. How big is the 'carbon' footprint of the installation ALONE for these monsters. Can they even pay for their own use of fossil fuel in the construction phase of the project?

.....and i will leave it there for now. It is mind boggling to me that the government of the day has sold out like this. The math doesn't add up. I use solar and haven't had a problem with noise, have killed NO bats or eagles, have no fear of fire AND i can fix them with a ladder. The cost of manufacture is probably not even too bad

.

I am calling this "The Green Grab".

With a mind boggling lack of foresight, the contracts signed in Ontario actually agree that we will pay for 20 years FIT (Feed in Tarrif). Whether or not the turbine is running; whether or not its feeding into the grid and even if the deal outlives the the life span of the turbine each contract must be paid. Seriously.

Southern Ontario looks like this photo below.

Red dots indicate Turbine Projects, not individual turbines. Acurate data on numbers, usage and contract details are now at about 7,000.

No surprise then, that WPD and others are up here looking to take away Crown Land. No surprise, either, looking at this map, that we've had a huge reduction in migrating bird populations at our feeder.

It was actually suggested, in a recent email from a wpd employee to me, that eagles seem to be learning their way around the gigantic spinning blades, since there were less of them on the ground.

Of course, it may more likely mean that there are far fewer in the air these days.

The truth is that by the time enough evidence is accumulated to prove that our concern about all life in the valley, contract costs, repair costs, life span and more are valid, we'll see hunks of corroding metal on every hilltop...and that's the 'best case' scenario.

I feel heartsick at the fight ahead of us if we hope to stop the Crown Land aspect of the Green Grab. Lots of people down south have tried and lost, or are in apeals of appeals of appeals.

If you have any information that may help please email us.

Check the info page for details and, for now, go turn off some lights, eh.

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