S.T.O.P’s Greg Schmalz on 740 Zoomer Radio with Dale Goldhawk
March 2, 2012
Posts tagged ‘CAW turbine’
Mar 15
Letter to Ministry of the Environment from S.T.O.P.
February 6, 2012
Doris Dumais, Approvals Director, Ministry of the Environment
2 St. Clair Ave. W., Floor 12A
Toronto, ON M4V 1L5
Dear Ms. Dumais,
In Fall 2011, you were inundated with letters from Port Elgin residents concerned about the health and safety implications of your decision to grant approval for CAW’s industrial wind turbine in a location less than 550m from homes. People expressed concerns about audible noise, infrasound, and other safety issues. On Dec.12/11, many residents received a letter from you that focused on proving CAW had met, and continues to meet, all MOE regulations. I received this letter, with a ‘cc’ to CAW, even though I never wrote to you.
Based on your assertion that CAW has been, and still is, in full compliance with MOE legislation, I have some questions.
- In March 2009, you approved CAW’s application for an 800kw turbine because ‘the noise emission level would be well below the ministry’s noise standards for urban (class 2) areas”. Did you actually deem the resort community surrounding the turbine to be an ‘urban (class 2) area’ and not a resort/recreational (class 3) area? This incorrect classification increased the acceptable noise emission level to 45dBA (class 2: urban) from 40dBA (class 3: resort/recreation) allowing the 800kw turbine to qualify. And, no doubt you know, this ‘grandfathered’ approval allowed the project to move forward and is relied upon today.
- In November 2011, CAW announced it was de-rating the turbine’s capacity from 800kw to 500kw to “help ensure any noise emitted from the turbine stays at a reasonable level”. Why was this reduction required if the turbine was “well below” your noise emission standards in 2009?
- After CAW’s de-rating announcement, it conducted a November 2011 Noise Study based on the reduced 500kw operation. However, the Study was based on Class 3 resort/recreation. Were you aware the community had been suddenly re-classified? Wouldn’t this change have ‘voided’ your original grandfathered approval certificate?
- CAW’s November 2011 Noise Report stated:
a) one noise receptor (located at a home) exceeds the noise limits
b) for the ‘worse case’ noise scenario that MOE is asking for, 11 noise receptors exceed the limit
c) in order to meet the ‘worse case’ noise limit, the turbine needs to operate below 400kw.
Why was the CAW wind turbine allowed to proceed based on 500kw operation when the November Noise Study Report indicated it did not conform to MOE standards?
- It would appear that you now consider the community to be resort/recreation
(class 3). MOE’s noise regulations impose a 40dBA noise limit for Class 3 locations but require a further 5dBA reduction if the offending noise is cyclical in nature. The turbine’s ‘whoop whoop’ noise is proven to be cyclical. Why is the CAW turbine not being held to an adjusted noise restriction of 35dBA (40 minus 5dBA)?
- The CAW’s November 2011 Noise Study failed to adjust the turbine’s noise level to reflect an average summer night-time wind shear. Had the Study taken wind shear into account, it would have shown the neighbourhood’s sound level to be at 42dBA, exceeding MOE’s basic noise limits by 2dBA and MOE’s adjusted noise limits by 7dBA. Furthermore, the Study did not allow for turbulence which is expected for this turbine since it is located at the top of a ridge line and the wind direction changes as it comes in off of the lake. Are you aware that the Noise Study failed to allow for average summer night-time wind shear and expected turbulence?
In more ways than one, CAW’s industrial wind turbine fails to meet MOE legislation. Why is the turbine being allowed to proceed?
I would appreciate receiving an immediate response since the turbine is nearing completion. This letter is being both mailed and emailed to you with the expectation that a response will be received by Friday, Feb.17/12.
Please note that this letter has been sent to the Shoreline Beacon as these important questions impact the health and safety of all community residents.
Thank you,
Karen Hunter on behalf of S.T.O.P.
Cc: Lisa Thompson, MPP Huron-Bruce
Ben Lobb, MP Huron-Bruce
Shoreline Beacon
Words of Wisdom for Ken Lewenza and the CAW
“No matter how far you’ve travelled down the wrong road…turn back.” – Turkish proverb
THE WRONG ROAD
Curiosity Isn’t Limited to People
Looks like the residents of Port Elgin aren’t the only ones who are stumped by the CAW turbine.
School 1,100 Metres From CAW Turbine
101.7 The One and AM920 CKNX — February 22, 2012
Some Port Elgin residents opposed to a wind turbine hope to enlist the aid of the Bluewater District School Board in their battle. the turbine has been put up by the CAW on its property on Port Elgin’s south end.
Greg Schmalz led a delegation to the Board meeting. He says the turbine will be 11 hundred metres from an elementary school. Schmalz wants the Board to be aware of possible adverse health effects on the children.
He would like to see the school board come out officially against the wind turbine. The Bluewater took no action on the issue after hearing the delegation.
Wind Turbines Within City Limits that are Reasonable
Below are pictures of some of the wind turbines situated at Conestoga Mall in Waterloo, Ontario. They’ve been in place since 2009. I have no objection with this type of turbine. They don’t tower 600 feet in the air. They don’t disrupt migratory bird paths and turn raptors into chicken tartare. They aren’t big enough to cause the amount of infrasound noise and shadow flicker that many people in rural Ontario are experiencing, in some cases, causing them to abandon their homes.
If the CAW had applied to have this type of turbine installed on their Family Education Centre in Port Elgin, I don’t think there would have been the outcry from the community that there is now, over their 210 foot eyesore. The CAW would have their “teaching” turbines in place, they would be generating some of their own power and these turbines wouldn’t be as intrusive as the one that they insisted on putting up. But as has been suspected all along, the CAW turbine isn’t about generating power and “saving” the planet. It’s about being paid the grants and subsidies by the Ontario government, to help offset the $5 million dollar debt at the FEC. As if the collosal bailout for the car industry a couple of years ago wasn’t enough.
Conestoga Mall, Waterloo, Ontario
Without a Flickering Shadow of a Doubt
By PATRICK BALES MANAGING EDITOR — Shoreline Beacon — February 21, 2012
As you travel from points east toward the Huron coast of Bruce County, you can see them. The powerful white structures that become pilars of the daytime. The red lights which can guide the weary home late at night. Faint at first, but vivid and powerful as you approach. They are there en masse, a force of giant structures in the midst of a once vast nothingness, overpowering your senses as you travel through. Then, you head north and they stop. You could see them, but only in your rearview mirror.
Until now.
Now, as you travel west toward Lake Huron on Bruce Road 40, you can still see the sprawling wind farm to the south in neighbouring Kincardine. Ever so faintly to the north, a single wind turbine has been erected and is likely a month away from full operation. As you travel north along Highway 21, its shape becomes greater until you crest the hill that begins your descent into Port Elgin, where it has already become a prominent feature, along with the box retail signage at the southern edge of town and the distant shoreline to the west.
You will be hard pressed to find another turbine development, especially for a single turbine, which has faced similar organized opposition from such a large group of concerned citizens. Saugeen Turbine Operation Policy (STOP) has been relentless in their quest to halt construction and operation of the turbine nearing completion at the CAW Family Education Centre in Port Elgin. In the past five months they have organized strong letter writing campaigns, formal protests, a very well attended town hall meeting and numerous other endeavours to force CAW to reconsider its stance on having a wind turbine so close to so many people. STOP’s concern is for the health of the residents of Gobles Grove, something they believe will be directly impacted by the operation of a 500kw wind turbine at the education centre.
STOP’s points are well thought-out, thoroughly researched and with the best of intentions. But they may be very well too late to the game to impact the change they desire. And really, that’s through no fault of their own.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the CAW’s either.
Curse of the CAW Wind Turbine
From the Lakeshore Advance — Grand Bend — Feb. 15, 2012
Letter to the Editor
Unions were created in an effort to STOP the tyranny and abuse inflicted on workers and people by employers. The CAW union was created with this same spirit to help people. CAW members are now finding out that their own management has been what appears to be infiltrated at a high level by persons with shameful attitudes and implementing a policy, “That harming people is OK once again”. Statements by CAW management and others boasting of all the good and fine things the CAW has done for Port Elgin gives one the idea that they are justifying this shameful act. Individual CAW union members must be finding it hard to fathom why their own management would inflict this on the people of Port Elgin. CAW members will have to act quickly with tough questions directed to the people they have in charge of their union. The management of the UAW has now placed its own members in direct conflict with all of the general public and for what, a stupid wind turbine and some quick cash? Is this what a Union and its members now represent?
Charley Urbanek, Port Elgin
Saugeen Shores CAW Turbine Advisory Board
February 15, 2012
According to 101.7 The One….
More information is needed before Saugeen Shores council signs off on a joint committee with the CAW union. The CAW wants to create a community advisory committee to monitor the operation of their now-fully constructed wind turbine in Port Elgin.
Mayor Mike Smith says there is apprehension on council’s part to go ahead with the committee, because the CAW has not made many concessions regarding the building of it’s wind turbine, despite community concerns and protests.
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No shit Sherlock! — Donna Quixote
Shoving Wind Power in People’s Faces — Karen Hunter
Out of the blue last November, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) began the (non-union labour) construction of an industrial wind turbine on the grounds of its Family Education Centre, a facility designed to “encourage…people …to discuss their problems and debate the major issues of the times.”
Despite all the places CAW could have located the mammoth structure, it picked Port Elgin, “considered — one of the leading recreational playgrounds in Ontario” for an industrial wind turbine. CAW’s vacant 128-acre property nearby was deemed too environmentally sensitive. Besides, the land had just been subdivided and its lots stood to rake in $2 million. The FEC’s densely-populated neighbourhood didn’t have such sensitivities.
The turbine’s proposed location was so beautiful, it posed a problem: the land’s picturesque, clean beach and nature trails led to its classification as a tourist and recreational community. Therefore, the turbine’s noise emission would exceed legislated standards. Not easily deterred, CAW found a quick fix: Classify the small tourist community as “urban” on the turbine application since acceptable noise emission levels are higher. No one will notice. The scheme worked, and the Ministry of Education (MOE) approved it. Voila.
Full story Karen Hunter article
Feb 9
A Response to Lewenza’s letter to Owen Sound Sun Times
RE:CAW president says union turbine meets setback regulations
By John Barber – Owen Sound Sun Times
I read this letter and then had a quiet chuckle to myself. You play the bait and switch game by concentrating on the legalities of the physical location rather than the real issues raised which are the health and economic impacts of placing the wind turbine at this location.
If it happened to be the government building this wind generator, the CAW would be manning the protest lines, side by side with the home-owners, while loudly proclaiming this as a another example of how the government ignores the legitimate concerns of the working public and this is why you need the unions to protect you.
Well, the shoe is on the other foot now. You are determined to press forward, with deaf ears, no matter what health or economic consequences this has on the population in the near proximity. Your hypocrisy is really quite startling!
CAW president says union turbine meets setback regulations
Owen Sound Sun Times — Posted 1 day ago
Editor:
Over the past weeks I’ve read various letters and stories from a number of sources that have misconstrued facts about our wind turbine, particularly regarding compliance with existing provincial regulations.
I want to take this opportunity to correct the record.
The Ontario Ministry of Environment, after reviewing our certificate of approval and applicable noise tests, has publicly stated in no uncertain terms that our turbine is in full compliance with all provincial setback rules and regulations as they stand today.
While it is true that the Ontario Green Energy Act exempts wind turbine projects approved prior to its coming into force from current setback rules, I want to be clear that even if our project was submitted today, it would fully comply with current setback rules under the act.
The 550-metre setback rules laid out in the GEA only apply to those turbines that emit noise (at the generator source) louder than 102 decibels — ours falls below this threshold.
I can assure you that we are not exploiting any regulatory loopholes, as has been suggested.
To state that our turbine isn’t governed by the current setback regulation of 550 meters as its approval took place before the new rules were put in place incorrectly implies that our project wouldn’t have been given the go-ahead if submitted today.
Our project is onside with current provincial standards, not past standards and I hope this offers some comfort to our neighbours who have been led to believe otherwise.
We anticipate the turbine will be in full operation, generating clean, renewable power, by the end of March.
It will be running at a capacity of 500 kW and is expected to offset 60% of the family education centre’s power usage — or 350 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
In keeping with our promise, we will be putting forward a proposal to Saugeen Shores council representatives for the establishment of a community committee that aims, in part, to share information and monitor concerns with respect to the turbine’s operation.
Ours will mark the first fully union-owned and operated wind turbine in Ontario. It’s a testament to our commitment to environmental sustainability and a step in the right direction in our collective efforts to tackle climate change.
Ken Lewenza President CAW
Lewenza’s CAW Quote of the Day
Do you have a Ken Lewenza quote that you’d like to turn around and throw back at him? Send your submissions to KeepOntarioBeautiful@hotmail.ca
We’ll publish one each day. That shouldn’t be too hard. The man is full of hypocrisy, so there’s lots of ammunition.
Today’s quote is courtesy of Kevin from the STOP group in Port Elgin.
Lewenza’s original quote on Monday, January 30th in Bayshore News: “People can’t run away from the fact that alternative forms of energy are being sought.”
Port Elgin translation: “Port Elgin can’t run away from our national reputation for greed as we benefit from the FIT (Feed In Tariff) program. It’s just a small town and we are willing to sacrifice it “
Lewenza’s Quote of the Day
If anyone knows of a bigger hypocrite, please feel free to let us know.
Media Advisory – CAW Urges Public to Join Campaign Opposing Harper Coast Guard Cuts
TORONTO, Feb. 8, 2012 /CNW/ – CAW President Ken Lewenza welcomes the release today of a public petition to the House of Commons opposing the decision of the federal government and Canadian Coast Guard to cut service hours at 11 of 22 Marine Communications and Traffic Services centres, and close another by the end of 2012.
“This government has to wake up to the fact that it’s simply not worth putting Canadian lives at risk to save a few bucks,” Lewenza said.
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Is he freaking serious??? Again, I wish to God I could throw these words right back in his face. Let’s see…
“This CAW union has to wake up to the fact that it’s simply not worth putting Canadian lives at risk to make a few bucks putting up a turbine.”
Yep, that sounds more accurate to me. What a lying, hypocritical blowhard this guy is!
Feb 5
New Homes Put on Hold in Port Elgin.
One of three building lots where the purchaser backed out, after learning of the CAW wind turbine being built only a short distance away from this subdivision. Another builder (Mariposa Homes) lost an entire block sale of houses. Again, special thanks go to Dalton McGuinty, Ken Lewenza and the CAW leaders who made this vision possible.
