Get a lawn sign: The County / Naturally Green / Turbine-Free
“The County / Naturally Green / Turbine-Free” lawn signs are now available.
We need to send a message to the provincial government and wind developers about the County and what we want for it. You can help by displaying a sign on your property.
There is no charge for a sign. However, as our cost is $7 each, we would pleased to receive a donation of $7 or $10 (or $1000!) to pay for signs and other promotions.
We have arranged a number of pickup locations:
South County
- Milford: Bruce Dowdell 476-8891
- South Marysburgh: Marilyn Lauer 476-7310
- South Marysburgh: Jim McPherson 476-4823
- South Marysburgh: Paula Peel 476-7693
Rest of County
- Picton: Libby Crombie 476-0096
- North Marysburgh: Councillor Robert Quaiff 476-7201
- Wellington / Hillier: Dayna Law 399-5062
OR you can obtain a sign at the South Marysburgh Rally on Saturday, May 26, 3 to 6 pm at the Shed in Milford.
Big rally / social event in Milford on Sat, May 26, 3 to 6 pm
CCSAGE announces “This is NOT a White Pine” Rally
CCSAGE invites you to a rally launching our “Naturally Green” and “Turbine-Free County” campaign.
The May 26th rally (next weekend) in Milford will be a social event with food and music. It will showcase our opposition to plans to install 38 industrial wind turbines (IWTs) in South Marysburgh and Athol. The rally is also a non-confrontational community gathering for everyone who loves the whole County just as it is—a healthy, safe, rural environment.
Now is not the time to be silent and invisible while Gilead Power awaits the Ministry of Environment’s approval to commence construction at Ostrander Point, and while wpd Canada (a subsidiary of wpd AG, Germany) prepares for a final open house before submitting its own approval application this fall. County residents must show that we value the South Shore Important Bird Area as much as do Nature Canada, Ontario Nature, and the National Audubon Society. We must show wpd that its “White Pines” project is an industrial violation of the County’s human and natural heritage.
The CCSAGE rally will provide the latest real information on how these two wind energy projects would harm the County that you know and love. An IWT “is NOT a White Pine!”
Please help keep the pressure on Gilead, wpd, and the Ontario government. You can drop by anytime to enjoy the entertainment, ask questions, meet your neighbours, and GET A SIGN FOR YOUR LAWN.
PLACE: THE SHED, Milford Fairgrounds
DATE &TIME: Saturday, May 26, 3:00-6:00 PM
BBQ by Milford Bistro: Hamburgers, Sausages and Beverages (for purchase)
LIVE MUSIC: Openhearts Society, Rocky Roberts & More
INFORMATION TABLES: Health, Birds and Bats/Habitat, Proposed National Park, Property Values, Electricity Issues, Tourism, Wolfe Island, Economic Impact
To help CCSAGE plan for catering, please e-mail Duncan Fischer, drfischer@sympatico.ca, saying you will attend. But even if it’s a last minute decision, you can count on a welcome.
Orville Walsh, Chair, County Coalition for Safe and Appropriate Green Energy
Do wind turbines harm animals?
There have been many anecdotal reports suggesting that wind turbines cause harm to animals — livestock, non-flying wildlife and pets — in addition to birds and bats and (oh yeah) people. As there are no scientific studies on this topic, there is virtually no consideration of potential adverse effects on these animals that don’t know about required setback distances.
Here is a good article that references many of these reports and gives an idea of the potential extent of the problem. See http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/9615 .
Liberals and NDP cooperate to bypass Ontario’s Endangered Species Act
In the budget bill passed in the Ontario Legislature on Tueday, April 24, 2014, the McGuinty government included 49 amendments to environmental legislation which will excuse landowners and developers from having to take account of endangered species when building and operating wind turbines (or anything else for that matter).
The NDP government voted in favour of the budget bill, in order to avoid an early election. In exchange for their support, the Liberals, who also don’t want an election, agreed to significant changes demanded by the NDP. But this party, which purports to be green, made no attempt to obtain concessions on the environmental changes.
The naturalist / environmental community has been relatively silent on the gutting of the Endangered Species Act. Does nobody care enough about our endangered species to make a fuss, or has everyone simply given up on the McGuinty government?
And if that weren’t enough, it was revealed yesterday (April 27th) that the federal budget bill introduced by the Harper government contains equivalent amendments to federal legislation that will reduce or eliminate environmental protections built up over decades. What a disaster!
Score the impacts of wind projects on your community
[This article has been written by Gary Mooney, a member of the Steering Committee of CCSAGE.]
Here’s an opportunity for you to evaluate for yourself the impacts of large-scale wind energy development on the long-term sustainability of your community, comparing the positives with the negatives.
I have developed a one-page scoring system, presented here. Click on the image and then print it. After completing the scoring, please add a comment to this post, indicating your total positive and negative scores and your thoughts.
The scoring system reflects the criteria and controls imposed by Ontario’s Green Energy Act. While it has been developed for use in Prince Edward County, it is equally applicable for use in other Ontario communities.
Sustainability, as applied here, requires consideration of four major areas of impact: economic, social, environmental and cultural. Within each area, I have listed possible factors — both positive and negative – affecting community sustainability over the longer term.
I have attempted to be objective with respect to the factors included. While there are more negative factors than positive, these are the factors that I was able to identify and validate for inclusion. I have not included factors that apply outside the local community – e.g. new jobs elsewhere – because this scoring system is intended to focus on a particular community’s sustainability.
The idea is for you to assign a score to each positive and each negative factor, with possible scores being 0 = invalid / not relevant / not applicable, 1 = low significance, 3 = medium significance and 5 = high significance to you. It is preferable that you be knowledgeable about each factor, but if not, at least your impression is reflected.
Your participation will be most useful if you make an honest effort to score each factor relative to all factors and to give careful consideration to both positive and negative factors, regardless of your prior position on wind turbines.
In general, there should be more scores at lower values than at higher values, because an objective person will likely regard many factors as being less significant, and only a few factors as being highly significant. For this reason, the scoring system specifies maximums for the number of medium and high scores, respectively.
I would be pleased to consider the addition of other factors not previously identified that fit the criteria described above. Please email me at gary.mooney@actel.ca if you have suggestions.
Don’t forget to submit a comment (below) indicating your total positive score and negative score, and any thoughts.
Note: I have shown copyright for this scoring system. Anyone may use it for their own purposes, but must present the content of the document exactly as is.
Misery in South Marysburgh and Athol c. 2014
[Misery is a strong word. Read through this article and decide for yourself if it's appropriate.]
If WPD’s White Pines project goes ahead, what is the future for many families in South Marysburgh and eastern Athol Wards of Prince Edward County, starting in 2014? No crystal ball is needed. The future is revealed in the testimonies of more than 100 Ontario families now suffering adverse effects from industrial wind turbines and associated infrastructure.
The following excerpts from 22 testimonies describe serious medical symptoms experienced by some Ontario residents living in the vicinity of industrial wind turbines. Almost all of the reports are from southwestern Ontario, but the first is from nearby Wolfe Island.
These families are not comfortable .. not healthy .. not safe in their own homes. And many are trapped there for financial reasons, due to an inabilty to sell out at a reasonable price — in some cases, at any price.
The primary medical risk zone (called the Turbine Risk Zone), is a 2-km circle around each industrial wind turbine (see the statement by the Society for Wind Vigilance at http://wp.me/p1M8CZ-hE ). The combined footprint of all Turbine Risk Zones from WPD turbines in South Marysburgh and eastern Athol Ward is shown on the map at http://tinyurl.com/843ure4. Within this area, it is conservatively estimated that 20% to 40% of people will experience medical symptoms, ranging from mild to severe to home abandonment.
This post is very long, but even a quick read will give you an idea of what’s in store for many South County families starting in 2014, if the WPD project is built. We need to make sure that this doesn’t happen.
Testimonies from 22 families
(Testimony T01) Eastern Ontario, Concerned Parents
Where do I start… my family and I feel as though we’ve been lied to by the wind company that has built in our community [community name] We were told that these things were whisper quiet THEY’RE NOT !!! – I have a ** year old child that has never had a headache in their life, now (after the towers came online) has a headache every week or two. My spouse has migraines, or very severe headaches several times a week, I am now taking sleeping pills to get to sleep. We would sell and move in a second, but there is no way anyone would want to purchase our property, we have about 5-7, 2.3 meg towers within a mile of our home.
But here is another problem, and I suspect there are several people in our position. We feel that if we complain there would be repercussions for our family, we have children in school. I believe that if we register a complaint with the company, the township, or the MPP that everyone in the community would know about it the next day after all meeting at the local restaurant for coffee the next morning. I wish that we could find more like minded people in our community, but we’re reluctant to ask around. Where does someone start, to try and make this right.
County residents rally in Toronto against wind turbines
[This article was written by Henri Garand, Chair of APPEC]
Opposition to industrial wind turbines (IWTs) took to the streets in Toronto on April 3. About 70 people from the County joined 700 other rural Ontarians for a rally against the new Feed-in-Tariffs that will continue to enrich wind energy developers.
A chartered bus carried County residents from Picton and Wellington, Big Island and Huycks Point, and North and South Marysburgh. We went to protest the absurdity of wind projects in a place as beautiful, peaceful and well-settled as Prince Edward County.
Society for Wind Vigilance recommends a 2-km setback for IWTs
Here is an important announcement from the Society for Wind Vigilance (www.windvigilance.com):
The Society for Wind Vigilance issues a Global Guideline for the Minimum Siting Distance of Industrial Wind Turbines
Based on a review of the evidence, the Society for Wind Vigilance is satisfied that there is a significant probability of adverse health effects for human subjects living within 2.0 km of land based industrial wind turbines.
The Society for Wind Vigilance recognizes the urgent need for further human health research to finalize guidelines for siting and noise levels that will protect human health.
In the interim the Society for Wind Vigilance recommends that land based industrial wind turbines be sited a minimum of 2 km from the property line of non participating residents.
Distances greater than 2 km will typically be required for special terrain such as turbines on ridges and offshore turbines.
