Horizon not giving up on $50-million wind power project despite environmental concerns

"Which way to Highway 61? I'm looking for something to eat..."
“Which way to Highway 61? I’m looking for something to eat…”

Power developer failed to meet First Nations concerns; claims wildlife will “benefit” from roadways
The Chronicle-Journal, November 17, 2015
Horizon Wind is to appeal a provincial decision to deny its application to build a wind farm on the Nor’Westers escarpment. The Ministry of the Environment said Monday the company announced its intention to appeal on November 12, just a few days before the deadline. The appeal is to be heard by the Environmental Review Tribunal. A date for the hearing has yet to be set, an MOE spokesperson said Monday.
In it decision released by letter last month to Horizon Wind Inc., the ministry found that the company’s proposal for 16 turbines did not provide “certain specific information in response to the ministry’s detailed inquiries on the potential impacts on moose and moose habitat.”
The ministry said it needed that information to address concerns “that the potential impacts on moose, moose habitat, and the traditional moose-hunting practices of members of Fort William First Nation had been adequately addressed and mitigated.”
“It’s what we’ve been saying all along, “Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins said in an earlier interview. Collins said that, among other things, the First Nation hunters felt that a proposed requirement to stay about three kilometres away from the turbines was too restrictive.
Horizon Wind could not be reached for comment Monday. The company has been trying to develop the $50-million, 32-megawatt Big Thunder Wind Park for several years.
Horizon has argued that moose wouldn’t have been negatively affected by the turbines because the animals would benefit by having additional pathways to browse for food.
 

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9 Comments

  • Andre Lauzon
    Posted November 17, 2015 2:50 pm 0Likes

    WHAT…………we should now build pathways for wildlife to find food?
    Is that with or without resting benches and sidewalks?

  • Gord Schneider
    Posted November 17, 2015 4:34 pm 0Likes

    Anything for the almighty dollar. I don’t know anyone from a windpower company personally, but I bet they’re lonely, lonely people. I wonder what it’s like to have no friends.

    • Tom
      Posted November 17, 2015 11:37 pm 0Likes

      My favorite question to them is “does your mother know what you do for a living”?. Watch them do a “soft shoe shuffle” as they answer you without looking you in the eye.

  • Bert Zegers
    Posted November 17, 2015 6:45 pm 0Likes

    Why do hunters have to “stay away three kilometer from Horizon Wind turbines”? The wind companies and government claim that 550 meter is a safe distance to live with turbines.
    Maybe stray bullets from “annoyed” hunters are the Achilles heel of wind turbines.

  • Lynda
    Posted November 17, 2015 7:33 pm 0Likes

    Moose browse for tidbits in wet areas. Perhaps the wind turbines shouldn’t be there anyway. Why do these foreign companies disregard sensitive environmental areas when they source locations? Stupid is as stupid does.

    • Wind Concerns Ontario
      Posted November 17, 2015 8:12 pm 0Likes

      That particular location is unsuitable for several reasons, that’s just the one that “caught”: the construction would also require the razing of the escarpment top, which would include felling hundreds of sugar maples in what is the farthest northern growth area for the trees in Ontario, and it is also habitat to peregrine falcons. Completely inappropriate location.

      • Lynda
        Posted November 17, 2015 10:50 pm 0Likes

        The White Pines project is unsuitable for all the same reasons, but we were not given a ‘pass’ by the Ministry even though THEIR top expert advised them not to proceed . Hundred year old maples are coming down for transmission line roadways, wetlands and aquifers will be destroyed, It’s not just peregrine falcons in that area…dozens of species make this area their home and dozens more use the ‘migration flyway’ including the monarch butterfly. Why bother having a Ministry of Natural Resources anyway? Kathleen Wynne could save a bundle of money if she fired the whole lot of them. They won’t even do the job they should be doing which is protecting our wildlife and environment. Salary should be commensurate with the level of service they are providing for Ontarians…$0.00

  • Tracy
    Posted November 17, 2015 9:51 pm 0Likes

    There is no where on this planet suitable for a wind turbine. Oh..just a minute, excuse me; on second thought I can think of a place “Dalton.” How about in your backyard??? ha!

  • saving the moon
    Posted November 18, 2015 1:25 am 0Likes

    Why should Horizon care, they only want the cash cow promised to them from the GEA.
    All great comments.

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