“What happens in Ontario when you report wind turbine noise?” asks Global National News reporter Shirlee Engel in a two-part special report? “Not much…”
Global News’ investigative team aired the two-part story last week, based on information obtained by Wind Concerns Ontario from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change under access through Freedom of Information legislation.
The report was repeated this past weekend on Global’s news feature, Focus Ontario.
Part 1 is available here.
Part 2 is available here.
A story by Associate Producer Brian Hill is available online here.
Carla Stachura and her husband Mike thought they’d found the perfect spot to retire.
A house in rural Ontario where they run a wildlife sanctuary with lamas and a variety of birds, and planned to spend their retirement years enjoying the peace and quiet of country life.
But that dream was shattered when wind turbines began popping up near their Goderich, Ont. home. Since then, their dream has become a nightmare. The couple says they’ve been unable to sleep and exposed to prolonged periods of annoying noise. Adding to their frustration, they say the provincial government won’t lift a finger to help them, other than order more tests.
The couple purchased the property in 2003. They say it was paradise until the K2 Wind Farm, operated by Pattern Energy, started operations in the spring of 2015.
The Stachura’s complaints of government inaction are not unique. In fact, Global News has learned that Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change does not respond to the majority of complaints made by residents concerned about wind turbines.
Documents released through Ontario’s Freedom of Information Act and obtained by Global News reveal officials from the Ministry of Environment chose not to investigate or deferred responding to – meaning they did not make immediate plans to investigate – roughly 68 per cent of all noise and health complaints lodged against wind turbine operators in the province between 2006 and 2014. This represents nearly 2,200 individual complaints.
The documents also show limited resources sometimes prevented the ministry from responding to complaints.
Originally obtained by Wind Concerns Ontario, the documents include a list of 3,180 complaints. They also include a 458-page collection of “master incident reports,” which the ministry has verified as authentic, detailing the ministry’s response – or lack thereof – in cases where residents complained multiple times.
The documents show that in 54 per cent of all cases – more than 1,700 individual complaints – the ministry did not investigate residents’ concerns. In another 450 cases, roughly 14 per cent of total incidents, the ministry deferred responding to complaints.
In most cases, the documents do not reveal why the ministry chose not to respond. Instead, they tend to focus on whether the wind farm was compliant with ministry standards or past efforts to resolve residents’ concerns.
“The lack of response from the ministry shows just how unprepared they were for the potential effects of putting these giant machines so close to people and their communities,” said Jane Wilson, president of Wind Concerns Ontario. …
Read the full article here, and see video interview with Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Glen Murray.
11 Comments
Sommer
Thanks to Brian Hill for coming through with this story. There is much more that his team could cover regarding low frequency noise modulations and infrasound radiation.
The residents who persisted with sending emails, sent them directly to a growing list of recipients. Eventually, the list included over 50 people, including local municipal leaders as well as relevant people within both the provincial and federal government.
One would think that receiving so many complaints would cause these individuals to apply pressure of some sort on Minister Glen Murray to take expedient action to protect these residents from noise.
These residents also met with the MP to get help with having the Federal Minister of Health enforce the radiation emitting devices act(REDA) because people were experiencing well known symptoms of infrasound radiation and low frequency noise modulation…to no avail.
Many times all recipients were asked to answer questions within 10 business days. With rare exception some responses were received, but for the most part the recipients didn’t respond at all. The Premier’s office sent out the same canned/ robotic response within minutes of receiving those emails, saying how much Premier Wynne valued receiving the messages… and then nothing more.
Prime Minister Trudeau’s office did the same thing.
These emails will be used as evidence.
Barbara
The federal government can’t encourage IWT development and at the same time say IWTs can cause harm.
The federal tax incentives for renewable energy developers has to end.
As far as I know, no religious denomination has spoken out about the harm IWTs can cause people here nor have any spoken out about the increased numbers of those who are now in energy poverty.
Good can never be accomplished by doing wrong.
Yet people say nothing about this and just pretend this is not happening, IMO.
Barbara
UN Environment
About the Environment Assembly
“The United Nations Environment Assembly was created in June 2012, when world leaders called for UN Environment to be strengthened and upgraded during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also referred to as RIO + 20.”
http://www.unep.org/environmentassembly/about-un-environment-assembly
Barbara
EPA as a source of information on:
UNEP
United Nations Environment Assembly
“UNEP is governed by the United Nations Environment Assembly, a Council with universal membership that sets the UNEP agenda.”
http://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/epas-role-united-nations-environment-programme-unep
So far have only found a reference to these organizations names in one Canadian federal document with no other organization information therein.
EPA information is a short-way to this information and only for general/ background information purposes.
Barbara
For general information
Wikipedia: Earthjustice, HQ, San Francisco, Calif.
Programs
“Every year Earthjustice submits a country-by-country report on human rights and the environment to the United Nations.”
Impact on U.S. environmental law
In the 2006 Supreme Court case, (Mass v. EPA) Earthjustice lawyers helped a coalition of state governments and environmental groups force the EPA to fight global warming by limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthjustice
Barbara
For general information
NPR/National Public Radio, Pennsylvania, July 11, 2016
Environmentalists challenge grid operator’s new reliability regulation
The Sierra Club, NRDC, Earthjustice and the Union of Concerned Scientists filed a lawsuit Friday challenging a federal agency’s approval of the new regulation adopted by the operator of the nation’s largest power grid, PJM Interconnection.
https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2016/07/11/environmentalists-challenge-grid-operators-new-reliability-regulation
Notinduttondunwich
Funny how when you look at these little 30 foot wind turbine for the off the gridders…. every site I look at these little wind turbines state to….
Please consult with your neighbours as these miniture turbines can create noise….. hmmmmm… wonder how they remove the sound issue when they mach these things to 650 feet high!!!??? Is there a secret to removing all the ultrasound on these monstrosities??? NOPE!!!!!! They still operate the same…
BIG MACHINES = BIG NOISE!!!!!
Just an observation
Richard Mann
I contacted Huron County Health Board today.
They (re-)submitted their application to Waterloo ethics on May 18th, 2017. They are awaiting a response.
Wind Concerns Ontario
Thank you.
Notinduttondunwich
OMFG!!!!!! Just recieved an email from hydro npne informing me that delivery rates have to be increased due to…..
None of your F@%$@^g business…
wondering if this is an inflationary increase already or just because we can….
Remember folks….
It’s just fairererererer…… that way
Oh my dog!!!!
Stan Thayer
I was informed that Dalton Mac is teaching ethics at Harvard U. Wow no wonder America is so screwed up.
Good luck everyone!
Stan