A Huron-Kinloss resident wants power lines connecting the Suncor/Acciona windfarm turbines buried. Dave Colling says they’re letting off stray electricity and making people sick.
Dave Colling lives by the windfarm and is in the business of testing for electrical pollution, also known as stray voltage.
He says there are misconceptions out there because of windfarm companies saying they have buried the lines, when they have not.
Colling says they buried 30 kilometres of line, but left nine above ground.
Colling says before the Suncor development was built, some homeowners had heard at Ontario Municipal Board hearings that stray electricity could cause illness, and they suspected it was the reason they were falling ill.
He later went into their homes and did testing and discovered high frequency electrical pollution.
Colling says the average person can even detect the electricity because it creates static on the AM band of a car radio.
He also is concerned about the cost of decommissioning wind turbines when they reach the end of their life.
Councillor Jim Hanna says the salvage value of the materials won’t likely cover the decommissioning costs.
Colling says one local family is still living in a motel because of turbine-related sickness, and he warns some areas of the township could become totally vacant from people wanting to live away from windfarms.
Mayor Mitch Twolan says Colling has made it his purpose to keep council and the community informed about the situation.
The Mayor says the issue is more than a local problem, noting it’s happening across Ontario.
Twolan says the discussion needs to continue at higher level with CANWEA – the Canadian Wind Energy Association, and he hopes the issues can eventually be resolved.
Twolan suggests Colling bring his information to Bruce County Council.
Three residents from the area around the proposed Reid’s Corners windfarm have also expressed concerns over health issues and decommissioning costs.
Resident Murray Ferguson says the project was delayed because more transmission lines were needed and the leases with TransAlta expired on December 31 2009.
He says some residents don’t want to renew their leases.