Will you help save Arran Lake? - Ontario Wind Resistanceontario-wind-resistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/... · 2013. 9. 18. · 2 emissions actually increase as a direct result

Will you help save

Arran Lake?

This site is entirely inappropriate for industrial wind turbine development

Beautiful Arran Lake has been targeted for a 46, 2.5 mw turbine wind energyproject by foreign multinationals, Mesa Energy (T. Boone Pickens of Texas)and General Electric with Leader Resources. There are at least 4 moreproposals for our township.

This is one of Bruce County’s most important community assets for recreation (camping, fishing,

photography and boating), nature study (Huron Fringe Festival events) and tourism.

Why is Arran Lake special?

•A provincially significant wetland complex made up of 3 separate wetlands of great diversity and unusual size (1235.6 hectares)

•International migratory bird corridor and staging area

•The wetlands and surrounding uplands are home to 22 threatened and endangered species

Arran Lake NorthLife Sciences ANSI(Regionally significant)

Arran Lake SouthLife Sciences ANSI(Regionally significant)

ARRAN LAKE WETLAND(PROVINCIALLY SIGNIFICANT)

Saugeen RiverLife Sciences ANSI(Regionally significant)

Saugeen RiverEast of SouthamptonANSI(Regionally significant)

Saugeen River SoutheastOf Port Elgin Life Sciences ANSI

Saugeen Valley Conservation AuthoritySaugeen Bluffs C.A.

SANG’SCREEKFEN(PROVINCIALLYSIGNIFICANT WETLAND)

Grey-SaubleConservation Authority

Conservation Authority

ARKWRIGHT DRUMLINS(PROVINCIALLY SIGNIFICANTEARTH SCIENCES ANSI)

Saugeen River Recreation Access Point 14

Chantry IslandFederal Bird Sanctuary

The project area will create a barrier around the lake, fragmenting habitat and blocking migratory flyways

Seasonalmigratoryflight path

Migratorystagingareas

Migratorystagingareas

MigratoryStagingareas

Among the 22 threatened or endangered species around Arran Lake at risk from wind turbines are:

The Bald EagleThe Red-headed Woodpecker

The Short-eared Owlseveral kinds of rare snakes and turtles

and even the Grey fox

The lake and surrounding farmland form a Natural Heritage System (MNR) within site boundaries

• Significant FISH HABITAT

•Significant portions of habitat of

ENDANGERED AND THREATENED

SPECIES

•Provincially SIGNIFICANT WETLANDS

•Significant WILDLIFE HABITAT

•Significant WOODLANDS

•Rare WOODED DRUMLIN

• MIGRATORY BIRD SANCTUARY and

nationally significant IBA (Important

Bird Area) connected to Arran Lake by

daily migratory corridor for foraging

•Significant VALLEY LANDS

•Arran Drumlins PROVINCIALLY

SIGNIFICANT EARTH SCIENCES ANSI

(Area of Natural and Scientific

Interest)

The proposed site contains :

Colonial bird nesting sitesWaterfowl nestingShorebird migratory stopover areasLandbird migratory stopover areasReptile hibernaculaBat hibernaculaBullfrog concentration areasMigratory butterfly stopover areasRare vegetation communitiesAmphibian woodland breeding pondsTurtle nesting habitatSnake hibernaculaSpecialised raptor nesting and hunting habitatAnimal movement corridorsAreas of high diversity

Sensitive wetland creatures depend on the surrounding uplands for foraging and part of their life cycle.

Upland woodlands and creeks provide wildlife corridors vital for survival.

How wind turbines affect sensitive habitats

•Biologists are most concerned about habitat disruption anddisturbance, leading to long term irreversible abandonment

•Access roads, towers, rotating blades and new power lines fragment habitats and create barriers leading to collision mortality for birds and bats (especially songbirds, waterfowl and raptors)

•Disruptive noise and vibration, particularly prolonged intermittent and low frequency, lead to reproductive difficulties and species decline

•This will inevitably result in loss of biodiversity

Collision mortality with turbines and transmission lines is increased during adverse weather conditions.

Earth vibrations from wind turbines have been measured up to ten miles away.

Consider how wind turbine construction will impact wildlife

46 turbines in this project alone: Construction time:

up to 1year

Background noise increased

from 25-30dB to 40-60+ dB

40km of access roads will fragment habitat

13,018 triaxel gravel trucks (46x 283 loads per road) will be needed to build access roads, plus thousands of heavy component transports, cranes, excavation equipment and concrete mixers

93km of excavation trenches will be

needed to bury collector cables

46,000+ tonnes concrete and steel

rebar used in 6-30 foot deep tower platforms

90ft deep steel piles driven down to

anchor platforms

Miles of new transmission lines along roadsides and loss of hundreds of CO2

absorbing trees and wildlife refuge

“When construction starts the first to disappear are the frogs, uncommon birds and the deer”

Do wind turbines kill more birds and bats than cats, cars, and office towers-- as promoters claim?

. . . as if a greater wrong excuses the lesser.

Even using the scant data inconsistently compiled by consultants hired by the wind power developers, it is clear that industrial wind turbines kill many more birds and bats per unit than these other causes, particularly raptors (such as eagles and hawks) and migrating bats and songbirds.

Consider the appalling results for monitoring on Wolfe Island a project the MOE approved-- despite numerous warnings:

• The 86-turbine wind farm on Wolfe Island caused more than a 1800 bird and bat deaths in six months. (This means 3600 in a year).

• Seven of the species have been identified as species of conservation priority by Ontario Partners in Flight (2006):

• 2 American Kestrels, 1 Northern Flicker, 1 Black-billed Cuckoo, 2 Eastern Kingbirds , 1 Bank Swallow, 1 Savannah Sparrow , 8 Bobolinks, 28 Tree Swallows , 1 Bank Swallow , 2 Barn Swallows 7 Purple Martins

• Along with 12 raptors, 3 red tailed hawks and one Merlin.

The Windsor Star recently reported the slaughter of a Bald Eagle at a wind turbine site near Tillsonberg. Eagles are a protected species.

Proponents claim the threats to birds and bats can be justified because “turbines are actually saving even more birds by cleaning the air and reversing global warming”. But this is not true.

Wind power is intermittent, unpredictable, does not replace other sources of electricity and has negligible CO2 savings.

“Wind power. . . can not make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions”.Peter Lang, energy production engineer, 2009

“As the level of wind capacity increases, the CO2 emissions actually increase as a direct result of having to cope with the variation of wind-power output”. Irish Electricity Supply Board (ESB) National Grid Study, 2004

CO2 emissions saved by wind turbines : close to 0

“Wind turbines . . . have produced no environmental benefit in Germany in terms of lowering of CO2 emissions”. Rhein-Westfalia (Germany) Institute for Economic Research study, 2009

“Despite huge investments, wind-generated electricity ‘has had minimal, if any, impact on carbon dioxide’ emissions” in Colorado and Texas. Robert Bryce , energy researcher, Wall Street Journal August 24, 2010

“Thermal power plants in the compensation of fluctuating production of windmills eliminate the major part of the expected positive effect of wind energy. . .” Tallinn Technical University, Estonia study 2003

Inadequate Ontario government regulations:

Wind turbine developments may be placed 120 metres from wetlands—but– even closer if proponent provides a study claiming mitigation measures!

What is the biological justification for the 120 metre setback when we know humans are affected even at 1 kilometre?

Quiet road beside Arran Lake

Study by the Belgian Research Institute for Nature and Forest, 2007

Avoid locating wind farms in regional or internationally important bird or bat areas and/or migration routes

Dr. Mark Avery, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, U.K.

Developers should avoid sites that are important to wildlife

Danish biologists •1 km setback from staging areas

•Wind turbines must not be placed on flight corridors between staging and field feeding area

•Turbines must not be placed on migratory corridors

•Turbines must not be placed in agricultural fields traditionally used by large flocks of foraging waterfowl.

Dr Scott Petrie, Bird Studies Canada

2km setback frodevelopment. (Based on our satellite tracking data of field feeding swans) m staging areas to ensure that there are sufficient field feeding opportunities between the staging/loafing areas and the IWT

Recommendations of international biologists

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Interim Guidelines to Avoid and Minimize Wildlife Impacts from Wind Turbines 2003

1.) Avoid placing turbines in documented locations of any species of wildlife, fish, or plant protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

2). Avoid locating turbines in known local bird migration pathways or in areas where birds are highly concentrated. . . . Examples of high concentration areas for birds are wetlands, State or Federal refuges [sanctuaries], and staging areas. . . . Avoid known daily movement flyways (e.g., between roosting and feeding areas).

3.) Avoid placing turbines near known bat hibernation, breeding, and maternity/nursery colonies, in migration corridors, or in flight paths between colonies and feeding areas.”

Do our tourists want this? Or this?

SUMMARY of presentations at the Tara Town Hall Meeting, 30 Sept, 2010:

1. Even at a setback of only 550 metres, there are still far too many people complaining about adverse health effects. There is a move in England leaning to 5 km setbacks from homes.

2. Many farmers continue to experience serious health impacts on livestock resulting from unresolved problems with stray voltage, often associated with wind turbine installations.

3. Many people living near wind turbines are unable to sleep, experience continuing stress and increasing health problems. Some have had to abandon their homes.

4. While wind turbines are being sited unsafely, exposing homes, traffic and our families to ice throw and blade fragmentation risks, government noise regulations already in place are being violated on a daily basis.

5. Our hydro bills are skyrocketing because we are paying twice for wind produced electricity: once with extravagant feed in tariff rates to benefit producers and a second time to run polluting single-cycle gas plants to back up wind.

6. Real estate values are affected by wind turbine developments. Industry generated “studies” fail to take into account that houses near wind turbines remain unsold and are often withdrawn from the market or abandoned.

7. The environmental footprint of a wind turbine is not benign. It does little to save CO2 emissions, does not replace coal, but it is destroying our natural habitats, endangered species and biodiversity.

Bottom line: Wind power is undispatchable, unreliable, inefficient and expensive.

Why are we allowing our provincial government to destroy our health, deplete the value of our homes, jeopardize our safety, sell us unaffordable electricity, degrade our natural heritage and channel our taxes into welfare for multinational energy companies?

Saugeen Valley lands

What can you do?

You can help us to save Arran Lake by sending a letter to Ministry of the Environment officials.

Please use this form letter or write your own letter. Emails also help and the addresses are listed on the form.

Please help us to stop the wind turbines in Arran-Elderslie.

Date…………………………..

Name…………………………Address ………………………………………………………..Tel……………………………Email…………………………

The Honourable John WilkinsonMinister of the Environment11th Floor, Ferguson Block77 Wellesley Street WestToronto, ON M7A 2T5

Email: [email protected]

Dear Minister Wilkinson:

RE: ARRAN WIND ENERGY PROJECT

It would be difficult to imagine a natural habitat more inappropriate for an industrial wind turbine development than that of the Arran Wind Energy Project. Within its boundaries are a functioning Natural Heritage System (MNR) comprised of provincially significant Life or Earth Sciences ANSIs; provincially significant wetlands forming a 1235.6 hectare wetland complex; several migratory bird staging areas; and an international migratory flight corridor. The site is also significant habitat for 23 threatened or endangered species.

We believe that the time has passed for government rubber stamping of industry commissioned environmental reports. These need careful unbiased scrutiny by professional biologists. We believe also that environmental regulations must be amended to prevent areas of very high sensitivity such as Arran Lake from being degraded by industrial wind turbines. 120 metre setbacks from wetlands and ANSIs are woefully inadequate in comparison to the 2-5 kilometres that are being recommended by international biologists. They insist that migratory corridors adjacent to staging areas must be avoided completely.

We believe that industrial wind turbine developments should not be forced on communities that do not want them. Ontario’s communities must have a say in planning their future. We look forward to receiving a reply outlining your proposed remedies at your earliest convenience.

Yours truly,

…………………………………