Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1982-04-07, Page 24• The EMU Itattkir ,Wag of April 7, 19/12 oodland committee opposes hydro line route • By Stephanie Levesque STRATFORD - The foodland-hydro corn- mittee opposes the , construction of a transmlssion line between Bruce Nuclear Power Development (BNPD) and London and does not reconunend any specific route of the six offered by Ontario Hydro. The committee presented its brief to the Consolidated Hearings Board on March t. The board is hearing evidence on the six transmission line routes proposed by On- tario Hydro. Hydro prefers a route (MI) fromBruce to the London area and from there to MiddlePort to the Hamilton area. Chairman of the foodiand-hYdro commit- tee, Tony McQuail of RR 1, Lucknow said while the committee (made up of 15 farm organizations) does not recommend a • specific route, it considers route IVLS; at least part of it, the best of the six, Mr. McQuail • said the Bruce to Essa part of the plan has the least impact on agrieulttire, "This is the area where alternative routes that will have minimal and accep- • table impact on, class one and two agricultural land' ean be found. Other ad- vantages of this interconnection are it offers the shortest transmission line required to connect Bruce to the existing 500 KV system. It would provide the shortest route to Northern and Eastern Ontario as well as the major load centres of Toronto," Mr. Mco Quail said in his brief. • Another important factor stated by the committee, is "it does not lend itself to the ;addition of a further generating complex on the shore of Lake Huron". The farrn com- =laity considers such a complex as. "ex- tremely, undesirable because of its impact on the more productive agricultural lands in Southwestern Ontario.`' Accepting the first portion of M3, the com- mittee has "serious reservations about On- tario Hydro's proposals for new transmission corridors into the London area from the east". The second half of M3, calls for one 500 KV double -circuit line from Mid- dleport to Milton and two 500 KV single- cireuit lines from Nanticoke to the London •area. We strongly recormnend that Ontario Hydro rebuild one of the existing corridors to incorporate a 500 KV line," the foodland- hydro committee's brief stated, Mr. McQuail said the committee is mak- ing the suggestion for rebuilding because of its deep concern for the speciality crops in the area. Bill Jongejan of Goderich, secretary of the foodland-hydro committee said M3 meets the three criteria Ontario Hydro said it wants. 1 -le said M3 will alleviate the bottleneck problem at Bruce, solve the system security question and will allow an interchange with Michigan utilities. "Really, the farm groups have come quite a distance in accepting a line out of Bruce," said Mr. McQuail. He said the fania groups will support a second line out of Bruce and will continue to work with hydro. Mr. Jongjan submitted a 1981 report of the Ontario Energy and Agriculture policy com- mittee, which he said supporta some of the foodland-hydro eommittee's proposals. The report makes 59 recommendations to aid agriculture on the future supply, demand, and price of energy and its implications on the production of food in Ontario. Mr. Jongejan cited ecommendation number 43, under the heading foodland development, 'evaluate more fully the ef- fects of urbani industrial and utility cor- ridors on agricultural productivity, in eluding the effect of environmental regula- tions that impair the efficiency of agriculture". . Besides Mr. Jongejan and Mr. McQuail, three other panels from the committee sub- mitted evidence to the Consolidated Hear - bags Board, Elbert VanDonkersgoed of the Christian Farmers Federation and Lloyd Moored of the Concerned Farmers of the United Townshlps presented evidence on public participation and the development of the methology used by Ontario Hydro to deter- mine route sites. Mr. McQuail presented evidence on environmental impacts and Mr. •VanDonkersgoed made up the fourth panel by presenthig evidence on load forecasting. The Board continues to hear evidence from participants. Huron county council prefers MI power route •GODERICH - Strongley opposed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food's preference for transmission line route M5, Huron County council reaffirmed its • preference for M1, At its meeting on March 25, Huron County • Council approved a motion stating the above because of M5's increased • impact on the farming orzununity. • • Hullett Township Reeve Tom. Cun- ningham has 'been 'attending the Con- • solidated Hearings Board in Stratford which • is hearing evidence on Ontario Hydro's six • transmission line routes. Reeve Cun• - ningham presented a report to council, but made no recommendations. The motion was. presented and approved later in the meeting. • • In his report, Reeve Cunningham said the farm groups have made a presentation at the hearings supporting M3; a transmission line route from Bruce Nuclear Power Development to Essa and from Milton to the London are. • "I would like .to reconimenci supporting them in asking for M3,..but I have some questions concerning this," said Reeve Cunningham. He added M3 has no effect on Huron County. • "From what I have read in all the reports and heard , at the hearings, I feel that • sek „-t•:.k.-k • INTIiIMIll'IMMONr.1.011.11.11.11111.1W technically, plan M3 is not as good as Mi or M5. It is also inferior in terms of overall environment effects and the Hearing Board must loOk at all aspects, not only, agriculture," said Reeve Cunningham. He expressed concern that because the Institute of Pedology, and the Association of Agrologists support M5, and the fact M3 is not technically as good, in his opinion M5 might be the choice of the board. "It should be noted that in the Middlesex Federation. of Agriculture brief, (they are supporting M1)...it stated there would be 1,268 single circuit towers between Bruce and London with M5, versus 716 double circuit towers under Mi, quite a lot more towers. Because of this, the direct effect of construction would be doubled, as would the • ongoing effect," said Reeve Cunningham. • Both Mi and M5 go from BNPD to London. "In the case of both sets of towers on the same right of way, the same group of farms would be affected twice at different periods of time. The second line would be in a less , advantageous location than the first, the • best location being used for the first line. If different rights-of-way are used, then two sets of fanners would t* affected," said Reeve Cunningham. When asked for their personal preference, both county planner Gary Davidson and Tiwi 4.1. ;MRe.. Ohm *+, s:§:t• iuckn�w feed mill ltd. 1 528-3000 1. high quality feeds and medication for healthy animals 20% Baby Chick Starter 401KG. 20 , 16% Lay •for Laying Hens 40KG. Wean -Ade ••Soft Moist Pellets •Use for Runts or Slow Doers • 10KG. Pail 9 $ 20 e. • 18% Calf Starter Grower Pellets $10 30 LS100 • Water Soluble Powder for Swine Disentry 150 pm. Pkg. $ 51• °° Pkg. • ” 13 ari-Dri" Milk Replacer 25KG. $30• (4) ‘ • Deduct 2% For All Cash Purchases