A wind turbine developer is welcoming News about an appeal of its approved four-turbine project near Belwood.
The appeal was launched by the Oppose Belwood Wind Farm Inc. (OBWF) group after the project was approved by the provincial government recently.
A portion of the appeal was launched after the group received information on a noise impact study out of the United States that found alleged health impacts on residents living near turbines. It also claimed resident concerns were not considered in the approval process. It was sent out by OBWF member Janet Vallery.
wpd Canada, the developer of the Springwood wind project near Belwood, has received notice that an appeal of the decision by the Ministry of the Environment has been filed with the Environmental Review Tribunal.
On Oct. 18, the Ministry of the Environment approved wpd’s Renewable Energy Approval application for the Springwood project.
Under the rules put in place by the Ontario government, anyone who disagrees can appeal the decision, on certain grounds, within 15 calendar days to the province’s Environmental Review Tribunal, wpd communications manager Kevin Surette acknowledged in an email to the Wellington Advertiser.
On Nov. 1, an appeal was filed with the ERT by lawyer Eric Gillespie, on behalf of Oppose Belwood Wind Farm Inc.
“We respect OBWF’s decision to use the process put in place by the Ontario government to appeal the MOE’s approval of our project,” said Ian MacRae, president of wpd Canada. “It is in both our interests (wpd’s and OBWF’s) to ensure our proposed project is safe. The ERT’s independent adjudicators will review our project as proposed and consider evidence presented by both sides, and render a decision, with the goal of maintaining human and environmental health.”
The Springwood wind project consists of four REpower MM92 2.05 MW wind turbines, and will feed an estimated 23,800,000 kWh annually into the local electricity grid. This is the equivalent to the average annual power use of 1,980 homes. wpd Canada says it is committed to, and believes in, the advancement of renewable energy. Active since 2006, wpd Canada has developed a significant list of project opportunities. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of wpd Europe, a developer and financier of renewable energyprojects around the world.
