A meeting was held last night at McKenna Hall for those concerned about the proposed Seven Stars Energy wind farm project through Enbridge Inc. The project is proposed to be built on the RM of Weyburn and RM of Griffin. Kim Brady led the meeting, discussing concerns about the project and how they plan to prevent it. Video and audio recording was prohibited at the event, no representatives from Enbridge or the RM were officially present.
The main concerns addressed environmental, economic, regulatory and health factors.
Environmental concerns include roads being widened and corners softened to allow for the construction of the turbines. Brady discussed cases of turbines setting on fire and causing fiberglass pollution on working farmland, other pollution concerns include possible leakage of oil. It's believed that when the turbines eventually are taken down, concrete will remain in the ground, and the fiberglass blades won’t be recyclable.
Economic concerns are mainly focused on liability. There are concerns that any damage or incidents from the turbines will be the landowner's responsibility. There is also concerns that if the project were to fail, all costs and cleanup would come from their pockets.
Regulations were a big concern at the meeting, Brady says the RM shouldn’t be responsible for creating bylaws for the turbines' size and distance from residences. He says there are no standing bylaws in place currently in the RM of Griffin as their height and distance bylaws don’t account for a project of this size. The RM of Weyburn does have zoning bylaws and this project will be discussed at an upcoming meeting. Brady added that the RM is duty-bound to follow the direction of their ratepayers and should in turn be fighting this project alongside those in protest.
Brady also brought up the possibility of wind turbine syndrome, an array of various symptoms allegedly attributed to living near wind turbines. This alongside annoyances like possible light flashes from the blades and the visibility of the turbines on the skyline.
Brady is pushing for people to take action to prevent the wind farm project. He encouraged attendees to sign their petitions, write letters to the RM and involved agencies expressing concerns, and attend RM meetings.
RM meetings and further meetings with Enbridge will provide opportunities to address concerns.