Wind Turbines-Danny Mills

I sent this out to all on our list a while ago, and am circulating it to some of you to get a picture of how things work......Even the Halifax Chronicle Herald, our only provincial Daily,is yet to carry it while this morning there was a front page story on lightening striking 7 turbines in Cape Breton on Tuesday>>>>Selective editing?????The report from government came out last Friday!

Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 10:59 AM
Subject: Re: article on Digby Wind Park EA decision from NovaNewsNow.com


If you don't get the Courier you may not know that this article was on-line only and not,as I thought, in the printed version.....I even sent a note of congratulations....Maybe they are awaiting feedback from Skypower and Municipal Council.....Or maybe,as has the Comical Herald, they are burying it to protect Council and the proponent from embarassment....Just a week or so ago, the Skypower flyer announced with certitude an approval of the EA by the end of June! (How cocky can they get?)So, I am going to e-mail the item to everyone I know who gives a hoot.....I'm starting to smell a rat...."Iam fetid" for all ye old latin scholars.....iam is one word! Do you remember? (Think of Lazarus......) danny

Environmental Assessment decision throws caution to the Digby Wind Power Project
by Geoff Agombar/Digby Courier

Article online since June 23rd 2009, 17:04



Environmental Assessment decision throws caution to the Digby Wind Power Project

DIGBY COURIER/NovaNewsNow.com



Nova Scotia's Deputy Minister of Environment has issued a decision on the Digby Wind Power Project's Environmental Assessment Report that appears to leave the project twisting in the wind.

For how long, however, remains unclear.

In a June 19 letter addressed to SkyPower Corporation VP Charmaine Thompson, Deputy Minister of Environment Nancy Vanstone states quite simply, "I have determined that the registration information provided is insufficient to allow me to make a decision."

The letter boils down to numerous requests for additional information before the Ministry of Environment can proceed with issuing a yay or nay. It does not make clear whether these are issues that should have been resolved previously, or whether these are new concerns discovered during the review process.

Some examples of the Deputy Minister's requests:

SkyPower will have to provide more data about the impact of turbine placement on landscape connectivity and species movement.

Noise simulations will have to be recalibrated to account for the effects of the ocean on noise levels.

More information is needed about how SkyPower plans to reduce public exposure to noise.

Further study is required to identify potential sources of low-frequency noise and address any related health concerns.

Less specifically, "SkyPower Corp. must provide the details of all issues and concerns raised by local residents and how the company proposes to address them."

In a recent newsletter, SkyPower and partner Scotian Windfields Inc. had predicted the Ministry of Environment would approve their Environmental Assessment Review by the end of June.

That optimism now appears to have been premature.

SkyPower has one year to respond. The Minister will have 50 days to issue a judgment on the appended submission.

Construction of the 30-megawatt development was supposed to begin this September. The facility was expected to become operational as early as Spring 2010.

The June 19 decision would appear to jeopardize that September start date. Looking at the measurements, consultations, and re-analysis required to comply with the Deputy Minister's missive, it is difficult to predict just how long the Digby Wind Power Project will need to find its second wind.

The Courier has contacted SkyPower Corp, Scotian Windfields Inc., DoE's Environmental Assessment Branch, and the Municipality of the County of Digby for comments. Updates will be published as those perspectives become available.

To read the Deputy Minister's letter, visit www.gov.ns.ca