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Green candidate gets hearing on transmission line

November 5, 2014   ·   0 Comments

Karren Wallace, Dufferin-Caledon Green Party candidate in the June Provincial election is still working for constituents despite a disappointing return at the ballot box.

In response to pleas for help from Melancthon residents over suspected health risks posed by Dufferin Wind Power Inc.’s (DWPI) construction process for transmission poles, Ms. Wallace studied the issues and concluded that the amendments to DWPI’s Renewable Energy Approval (REA,) deemed by the Environmental Board Review to have an “insignificant” effect on the environment, could be potentially harmful.

On October 20, she presented a formal request to the Environmental Review Tribunal for a hearing regarding the Amendment to REA No. 5460-98BPH8 held by DWPI. She received approval for the hearing on October 31st – a big step forward for those who felt abandoned by all levels of government on the issue.

The transmission poles, located alongside the County-owned rail corridor, will carry the power from 49 new turbines in Melancthon to the Hydro One transformer station on the 3rd Line of Amaranth. Construction started last spring and Ms. Wallace says she heard from friends and neighbours “that DWP was violating their site plan agreements.”

Ms. Wallace says she has been “helping concerned citizens for some time to manoeuvre through government to find the people and information to assist them.” About a month ago she and Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner toured the area with an involved citizen, to look at the issue of possible health risks posed by the transmission pole holes, many surrounded by water, some constructed in wetlands, and others near manure piles. Some questioned whether this might be “Walkerton” waiting to happen.

Standing on the railbed, near Corbetton last Friday, Corbetton resident and Melancthon Mayor-elect Darren White expressed concern at every pole in sight.  “The Walkerton tragedy happened as a result of a bad seal on one well during a sustained rainstorm that produced large quantities or rainfall runoff in one farm field,” he said. “In this project there are hundreds of potential conduits for contamination directly to the underlying aquifer.  Many of these are in farmer’s fields which are used regularly for both crops and animal grazing. There are also poles in potential brownfield areas (an area of possible contamination from previous use – in this case the railbed.) The remedial sealing program (ordered by the MOECC for 300 poles in August) was an afterthought and needs to be monitored closely. As a citizen, and as the next mayor, my concerns are to ensure there is no contamination of ground water or local wells and to ensure MOECC has the staff, the resources, and the budget to monitor the transmission line construction on a continuing ongoing basis.”

Following are excerpts from Ms. Wallace’s letter requesting a hearing:

“…the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) has ordered Dufferin Wind Power (DWP) to seal the foundations of more than 300 utility poles to guard against possible groundwater contamination in Melancthon and Amaranth. This is not a minor request, nor is this a minor threat to the drinking water for Ontarians.  In fact an MOECC employee is quoted as saying: “There is a small but nonetheless actual potential for surface water to travel to and possibly into the fractured limestone bedrock,” …

“The entire length of the poles has been coated in pentachlorophenol (penta), wood preservative. The very fact alone that MOECC oversight did not in fact foresee the problem with the transmission poles should be a red flag for a full hearing.”

She said questions that needed to be answered at the hearing were:

“Why did the MOECC not respond to local residents concerns when the issue was first raised many, many months ago? What type of health risks are posed to more than one million Ontarians drinking water as a result of the pentachlorophenol (penta), wood preservative potentially leaking into the aquifer? What type of on-going monitoring will occur and at who’s expense?”

She listed 20 points of relief sought by the residents. They included these four:

• “A public process with a written report answering the above noted questions;

• n investigation into why DWP has failed to respond to the public’s concerns: does not answer provided phone number, does not answer emails, has  moved out of Shelburne office location, and has failed to establish a Community Liaison Committee which is one of the required conditions set out by the MOE in the REA approval;

•  mitigation plan outlining measures to be taken to ensure that no contaminants from erecting transmission poles on the abandoned the rail corridor leach into the aquifer, and

• ocumentation that states, with specifics, that both the MOECC and Health Canada approve the use of penta on poles installed with the methods used by DWP.”

Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones and PC Interim Leader Jim Wilson toured the turbines October 17th. They spoke of re-introducing a previous private member’s bill to give the municipalities some power when dealing with projects covered under the Green Energy Act.

Mayor-elect White commented that Ms. Jones “has supported the Township on this issue through other channels.  I think the Green Party candidate, Karren Wallace, is closer to the issue and has a deep breadth of knowledge on local water and environmental issues and I support her efforts on the review.”

Ms. Wallace said of the MPP’s efforts: “Introducing a private member’s bill with a majority government is an exercise in futility and will do nothing to raise awareness about this issue or protect one million Ontarian’s source water.” She hopes DWPI will be required to assume all costs at the Amendment to REA hearing, and that “the very flawed process throughout this entire project will be exposed and there will be transparency around MOECC’s role.”

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