Hub Staff

In a motion by Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau and seconded by Councillor Dave Myette, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request will be sent to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) regarding acoustic testing results from the CAW Clean Wind Energy Project, located at the Unifor Family Education Centre in Saugeen Shores.

Charbonneau’s request was that the Municipality ask the MOE to make the testing mandatory and “ensure that one of the sites they test is a place that has actually issued a complaint.” Charbonneau also suggested that if nothing is received this fall, Unifor should be ordered by the MOECC to shut down the turbine permanently and went on to say that Saugeen Shores needs to see the data that has been collected.

“I don't know if we’ll get them through an FOI or not but I’d like us to file a request,” said Charbonneau.

Myette agreed, saying it’s time Council gets more aggressive on the file and insist that compliance is met and promises are kept.

Correspondence dated July 14 from the MOECC to Unifor indicated that insufficient data had been collected “to make a valid assessment in accordance with the Ministry’s Compliance Protocol for Wind Turbine Noise” but requested that all data that had been collected be submitted to the Ministry. From there the Ministry “will determine if there is sufficient data to assess compliance or determine if mitigation should be implemented.”

The correspondence then stated that it supports Unifor’s proposal to reinstall the monitoring equipment in September and that it expects “a full and complete report on all three locations” as early as possible in the fall of 2017.

Councillor Neil Menage said Council should be thankful that the Ministry is using the heaviest language it could with Saugeen Shores CAO David Smith adding that the FOI request would be a prudent approach.

See also: Turbine woes continue