Judges blow away minister's order, $200-million wind farm restarts
Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: 13 minutes ago • 4 minute read
There was always something suspicious about Ontario Environment Minister Jeff Yurek’s decision in December to stop a $200-million wind farm in the countryside south of Ottawa.
The Nation Rise project had been years in the planning, received its main government approval in 2018 and its 29 giant turbines were rapidly being installed in the rural area outside the villages of Crysler and Finch. Then came the giant blow-back.
Equally unexpected was Yurek’s reason for the last-minute cancellation: potential harm to bats, including some on Ontario’s Species at Risk list — a relatively minor issue only touched on in days of environmental hearings in 2018.
A high-level politician suddenly coming to the defence of Hoary, Big and Little Brown bats?
Wednesday, three Ontario Superior Court judges — in polite legal language — agreed an ill wind was blowing. They reversed Yurek’s order, saying he was being unreasonable with his intervention and had no authority to suddenly raise the issue of bat mortality when it wasn’t central to the appeal from a local opposition group.
Though the judges did not delve into possible political bias, critics have pointed out the then newly-elected government of Doug Ford was against giant wind-energy projects — it cancelled 758 early-stage renewable power schemes — and Nation Rise was approved only days before the pro-green Liberals dropped the election writ.
So the sudden standing-up for three species of bats — and, by accounts, there weren’t even many around — had the whiff of political motivation.
“It was just totally ideologically driven,” reacted Peter Tabuns, the NDP’s environment critic. “It had nothing to do with species at risk, something that is not particularly an issue or concern with this government, in any event.”
Tabuns called it a “damning” judgment that is an embarrassment to the minister and his government. The sudden cancellation, he added, had sent a bad signal to clean-energy producers and threatened to cost taxpayers millions.
The judges wrote that the minister “ignored material evidence about the level of bat activity, the low level or risk to the bat colonies in the area and the efficacy of the proposed mitigation and monitoring plans” that Nation Rise had promised.
(Yurek’s office said ministry is disappointed with the court’s ruling and is “carefully considering” its next step.)
This week’s ruling was a bitter blow for the Concerned Citizens of North Stormont, a grassroots organization that has fought the 100-megawatt project for five years, raising and spending in excess of $100,000 to oppose the project.
“Oh, such a huge disappointment,” said Margaret Benke, chair of the group. She was taken aback that even the minister himself, equipped with the full range of information in the case, could not rule on the side of environmental protection.
“The Minister and Ministry of Environment with all of their resources can’t protect our natural resources and species at risk.”
She also spoke of the huge learning curve that citizen groups need to embark on to fight large corporations in these quasi-judicial tribunals where expert testimony is key and layman mistakes can be many. The group intends to appeal.
For years, it has made the case that the large wind farm, with turbines 200 metres tall, is a threat because of the humming noise, the so-called shadow flickers, the effects on the water table from trenches and deep tower bases and even the impacts on livestock. The Township of North Stormont had twice voted not be a “willing host” of the project.
Nation Rise is being built by EDP Renewables Canada Ltd., part of a multi-national corporation. It had done a study on the effects on bats in the area. While they were not numerous, the company had pledged to create a monitoring program to ensure its turbines were not having a drastic effect on the species.
It also had the option of slowing turbine speeds during peak activity by the bat colonies. The judges also noted that it was unfair of Yurek to cancel the project outright without asking EDP what further remedies it might attempt to satisfy his concerns for the vulnerable species.
EDP Canada associate director Ken Little, who has worked on Nation Rise for about eight years, said the project is about two-thirds complete, with six turbines fully erected, 11 partially done and all 29 foundations and service roads ready.
There were as many as 250 workers on the various sites at one time. A restart date is difficult to predict, said Little, because of the logistics of getting specialized workers and contractors back and the effects of the pandemic.
Nation Rise was to be completed and producing power this spring. It was also awarded $126,500 in court costs.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-291-6265 or email
kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-5d555f5c28a0/
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