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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2014-03-05, Page 3Wednesday, March 5, 2014 • Lucknow Sentinel 3 Will the Armow Wind project make people sick? Closing arguments given at tribunal hearings Steve Goetz QM! Agency Will the Armow Wind project make people sick? It's a simple question, but the answer has proven anything but at hearings held into Samsung -Pattern's approved 92 -turbine, 180 MVV wind farm. The environmental review tribunal (ERT) - tasked with deciding if the project should go ahead - heard final statements on Feb. 21 from lawyers rep- resenting the director of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), the wind com- pany, and Ken and Sharon Kroeplin, the couple who filed the appeal. If the project goes ahead, a wind tur- bine will be placed within 600 metres of the Kroeplin's home. "I am concerned with my health," Ken Kroeplin said in November before the hearings got underway. "There is too much propaganda out there that [industrial wind turbines] don't cause any health problems," he says. "That is not true." He is worried he will be forced to leave his home like people in the Rip- ley and Underwood areas. "People are moving out of theIr houses because they can't live with it:' The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) approved the project on Oct. 16. The project area covers the northeast- ern portion of the Municipality of Kin- cardine from Highway 9 north towards Tiverton. The Environmental Protection Act allows appeals of approved renewable - energy projects to an ERT. Successful appeals must show a project will cause "serious harm to human health," or "serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life or the natural environ- ment' The Kroeplins' appeal is based solely on the question of human health. The lawyers and a couple of dozen concerned residents gathered at the municipal administration centre on Feb. 21 to hear final submissions. Asha James, lawyer for the Kroeplins, defended the testimony of witnesses reporting headaches, insomnia, ring- ing ears and heart palpitations since the construction of turbines near their property. She argued an inference can be made, without a diagnosis, that the turbines were responsible. "The symp- toms experienced by the post -turbine witnesses indicate that, but for the tur- bines, they would not have suffered any adverse health effects." She pointed to a Health Canada study started last May to investigate the impact of low -frequency noise and vibrations from wind turbines, which is expected to be published this year. She asked why the Canadian government was spending money on such an inves- tigation if it was improbable turbines affect health. Knowing that and having received hundreds of reports from resi- dents, why does the provincial govern- ment continue to approve new projects, James asked. Jeremy Glick, counsel for the MOE director, said the evidence presented by the Kroeplins and in testimony from the post -turbine witnesses failed to prove causation and should be dis- missed, and he asked the tribunal to review previous appeal decisions, which have never accepted such testi- mony as proof of cause. He also noted the noise expert called on behalf of the Kroeplins had appeared at other appeals and failed to convince those tribunals. "None of the testimony comes with a medical opinion from a medical pro- fessional," he said, but medical experts appearing on behalf of the MOE and Samsung Pattern said the conditions created by wind turbines are common elsewhere in society. "The evidence in this case does not prove wind turbines cause serious harm to human health, so the appeal should be dismissed." Sarah Powell, counsel for Samsung - Pattern, echoed much of the MOE law- yer's arguments, adding that the Kroeplins were trying to get around the requirement of proof by arguing wind turbines cause annoyance. "They are still required to prove that annoyance causes adverse health effects." James was allowed to provide a rebuttal and she argued the tribunal was not bound by previous tribunal decisions, and her case did not argue that symptoms reported by post -tur- bine witnesses indicated a specific dis- ease requiring a diagnosis, but that the symptoms themselves were adverse health effects. "An inference can be drawn from the evidence of the post - turbine witnesses that the wind tur- bines caused adverse health effects," said James. "Their medical records will bear this out. There was no other rea- son for these symptoms to occur." She challenged the renewable energy approval process, and said it has failed to protect human health. "The only recourse [for people living near wind turbines] is - if they have enough money - to move. If not, it's a life sentence." The tribunal expects to publish their decision by April 23. If successful, the appeal would be the first ever, though not for a lack of trying. Anti -wind activ- ists have offered a laundry list of theo- ries for what could be causing the widely -reported symptoms Some long wait times for EMS in wintry January CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 1 about downloading anything. "I don't trust the province (with downloading)." Lew said Huron EMS have not approached the province but he sug- gested the same problems exist in Huron and Middlesex -London. "We have tried to solve our concerns about dispatch and deployment with our regional dispatcher," he told council. Coun. Paul Klopp (Bluewater) said problems could arise in-house or through a regional centre. "Sometimes in-house you don't hear the argu- ments but there are still problems." Lew said there has been a large turn- over in management and ambulance call officers at the regional centre. All eight of the EMS operations under the London communications centre have expressed the same concerns raised by Middlesex -London to the centre's management and the emer- gency health branch field office, with little or no change in the system, his report said. The challenges identified signifi- cantly impact how any EMS program is able to operate given that the London CACC has repeatedly failed to follow the deployment strategies that have been provided to them and agreed to by their management, the report states. If the ministry approves, the Middle- sex CAO and EMS Chief will approach each municipality to consider a shared governance model for a Middlesex - London operated dispatch centre. Council received the report for information purposes. "We should be aware of what is going on in our neighbourhood," Lew said after addressing council. "We have had some (dispatch) problems... and 1 will leave it at that." - infrasound, low -frequency noise, vibrations, the "flicker" effect, electromagnetic fields, stray voltage and "dirty elec- tricity" - without any success and giving the ERTs a reputa- tion amongst opponents as a rubber stamp. Kincardine council passed a wind power development policy in 2011, establishing setbacks of 800 metres from residences and three kilo- metres from primary settle- ments. But the province's Green Energy Act (GEA) removed local planning authority related to renewa- ble energy projects, so Samsung -Pattern is not obligated to follow Kincar- dine's setback policy. At least 76 other munici- palities in Ontario have passed resolutions, motions and bylaws aimed at restrict- ing wind turbine develop- ments, and Kincardine council hopes to get them on board a coalition to collectively fund a noise nui- sance bylaw to regulate the turbine noise emissions under powers in the Munici- pal Act left untouched by the GEA. Kincardine has already committed $30,000 towards a war chest to defend the bylaw from expected court challenges. Bruce Power launches Ontario's Nuclear advantage CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 2 and innovative partnership where the company invests its own money into Ontario taxpayer -owned assets. Bruce Power's two major unions, which represent over 90 per cent of employees, are also owners in the business. A majority of employees also invest in Bruce Power. The Ontario's Nuclear Advantage outreach initiative involves web and print adver- tising with major Ontario newspapers, communicating a number of key facts, along with an interactive website that helps tell Ontario's nuclear story. Learn more at www. ontarionuclearcom "We live in a province with many things we should be proud of and our nuclear industry is an important part of the Ontario we are building together," Hawthorne said. ATTENTION 1 West Wawanosh Mutual Insurance Policy Holders Dr. Ken Bridge is running for the position of Director at Large on the Company Board. Voting takes place: Thurs. March 6, 2014 at 2:00 pm at the Annual General Meeting Dungannon Agricultural Hall, Dungannon, ON If you are a policy holder and agree that Dr. Ken Bridge will be a suitable director you should come to the Dungannon Agricultural Hall that day and cast your vote for him.