The Enterprise Bulletin, Paul Brian
Mississauga-based WPD Canada has been granted the go-ahead by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) to locate distribution lines for two wind turbines proposed as part of the Fairview Wind project along a two-kilometre distance underneath Fairgrounds Road in Clearview Township.

Karen Evans, the Director of Corporate Communications for the OEB said that despite Clearview’s preference that OEB hold their review of the distribution plan application until the Renewable Energy Approval (REA) process was complete, OEB felt it was better to move things forward in one process.

“It is more efficient and prudent for applications to be reviewed concurrently and so the distribution plant proceeding moved forward,” Evans wrote, adding that other government departments in addition to MECC could also potentially be involved in the project approval process but that the OEB will not be involved in the turbine approval process. MECC approval of the REA process is required before the project can move ahead, something Clearview officials had posited as one of their reasons that German-owned WPD’s application should not be given the nod at this point. Read article

London Free Press, John Miner
After warning a wind farm developer that its turbines would interfere with airport radar systems in London and Hamilton and reduce flight safety, NAV Canada says it’s no big deal. In a letter dated Aug. 14 to the developer of the Gunn’s Hill wind farm near Woodstock, Canada’s civil air navigation service provider states all 10 of the planned turbines are visible to the London radar and four are visible to the Hamilton radar.

The impact, NAV Canada says in the letter, includes “a decrease in flight safety for aircraft operating in the area, especially in adverse weather conditions.” The letter also states the Gunn’s Hill wind turbines will increase the workload of air traffic controllers and reduce NAV Canada’s ability to identify and track surveillance targets in the area.

“The final assessment is that the risk increase presented by this proposal may require mitigating actions. Therefore NAV Canada will require an agreement for cost recovery should mitigation measures be needed,” the letter to Juan Anderson of Gunn’s Hill Windfarm Inc. states. Read article

Trevor Thompson, Blackburn News
The turbines near the Chatham-Kent Municipal Airport pose a risk to air traffic. That’s the opinion of one of the B-17 pilots that flew into the airport Wednesday.

Grant Schwartz landed and took off more than a half dozen times. “My reaction is… you probably need a little bit more of a margin between wind turbines and airports,” says Schwartz. “You have to decide what your priorities are going to be.” Read article

Christina Blizzard, Toronto Sun
Darwin understood these things so well. Survival of the fittest. Or, more succinctly, people who do dangerous things often don’t survive their own stupidity.

Sadly, when it comes to building wind turbines near airports, the consequences of a foolish act performed in the name of the flawed Green Energy Act are borne by innocent people who had no part in the stupid decision. Two rural airports in this province are facing the serious consequences of wind turbines sited too close to their runways.

Transport Canada recently issued an order forcing the removal of eight turbines near Chatham-Kent’s airport. And Collingwood airport is fighting a plan to place massive turbines close to its runway. Read article

John Norton, Chatham-Kent’s chief legal officer, met as recently as two months ago with Transport Canada officials and proposed that the eight turbines be recognized as “exceptions.” The proposal was based on an aeronautical expert’s advice.

“It’s a simple solution,” the mayor said. “It wouldn’t cost anybody any money . . . it could be easily resolved.”

Chatham Daily News
Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope finds it ironic that shortly after Transport Canada has ordered the removal of eight turbines near the municipal airport, a C-130 Hercules military aircraft landed there safely for a training exercise.

Sadly, historical Dunnville Airport in Haldimand County is being taken over by 6 industrial wind turbines. The photo above is of the 1st wind turbine of Samsung’s 67-turbine wind project being constructed in Haldimand. This first wind turbine stands at the Dunnville Airport at Port Maitland. The airport was the base for No. 6 Service Flying Training School from the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Over 2,400 pilots from Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US earned their wings here from 1940 -1944. This training school was one of 41 such facilities across Canada and was one of the few remaining ones. In 1999, the airport was re-opened and about 25 planes were stored at and flown from the airport as well as a Skydive business operated there until May 30, 2013 when the airport was closed to flight operations because of an agreement by the owner to erect 6 wind turbines on and close to the airport. Not only did those planes and Skydive operation have to move out but the economy of Port Maitland and Dunnville area businesses will also be affected. Continue reading →

Ottawa Citizen
The construction of large wind farms could drive up the cost of air travel and cause delays in launching fighter aircraft on missions to protect Canada, Canadian Air Force officers are warning in a newly released report.

There are a number of proposals underway to build wind farms, including three near a military airbase in Bagotville, Que., five in Nova Scotia, two in Ontario and one in Saskatchewan, the report prepared in November 2012 for then-defence minister Peter MacKay pointed out.

Wind farms are sprouting up around the world, but aviation specialists are raising concerns that the giant turbines are creating blackout zones for air-traffic control radar. The spinning blades of the turbines are being detected by the radar, presenting false images or generating so much clutter on radar screens that controllers are losing track of airplanes as they fly near the wind farm sites.

The wind turbines can also interfere with weather radar, U.S. researchers have warned. The rotating blades can show up on radar as incoming weather, such as an area of precipitation.

“An entire farm will create areas where we cannot reliably observe or control military/civilian air traffic,” the briefing for MacKay, obtained through the Access to Information law, pointed out. “NORAD quick reaction aircraft would need to be rerouted or launch delayed if aircraft were known to be still flying through the dead zone.” Read article

Chatham Kent Airport Study Report December 4 2012 by… Genivar.