Monday, November 4, 2024

Groups opposed to wind farm plans draw crowd at MODG meeting

  • October 9 2024
  • By Alec Bruce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter    

GUYSBOROUGH — Nearly 50 members of the community filled the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG’s) council chambers Oct. 2 to hear a group that calls itself “a collective voice of citizens from eight Nova Scotia counties” explain why it is opposed to plans for several large wind farms in Guysborough County.

In its first address to the MODG’s committee of the whole (COW), Green Nova Scotia First (GNSF) – whose appearance was arranged by local group Protect Guysborough – said that plans by EverWind Fuels to install hundreds of turbines across MODG and in the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s to make green hydrogen for export are unsustainable.

“We support wind energy for the right purpose, in the right place and in the right amounts,” GNSF presenter Gregor Wilson told the COW meeting. However, he added, EverWind’s focus on hydrogen production “is an incredibly inefficient use of the [wind] resource. [Hydrogen] is 33 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. So, if your goal is carbon reduction, it’s probably not the wisest way to go about doing it.”

According to EverWind’s plan to supply its Point Tupper plant – fueling a $6 billion initiative to produce green hydrogen for export to European markets – three wind farms in Guysborough County, scheduled to become operational in 2027-28, will incorporate as many as 400 turbines spread across 64,000 hectares in the MODG and St. Mary’s. That, said GNSF co-presenter Jason Hurst, is out of whack with local tolerances.

“Their wind [farm] one is 84 turbines. Wind [farm] two is 164 turbines. And wind [farm] three is another 164 turbines... What I found that’s really interesting about this is the turbine density,” he said. “Understandably, they want to cram as many turbines as they can into the land they’ve got. However, when you look at community projects that have had community input, there’s been real pushback against that kind of density.”

Colchester-based Wilson – who explained that he once operated an “ecotourism business based out of Sherbrooke” for a number of years – and Pictou-based Hurst, who noted that he has “deep roots in Guysborough County,” said that, while these projects are principally located on provincial Crown land, municipal governments can influence their local impacts.

“I would implore you to seriously consider that both Colchester and Cumberland [counties] have added strong decommissioning [rules]” for spent turbines, Wilson said. “And right now, it seems, that Hants County is going to increase their [required] setbacks [for turbines] from one to 2.5 kilometres.”

In recent interviews with The Journal, EverWind has said, while none of the renewable energy it plans to bring online are initially tagged to reduce Nova Scotia’s domestic dependence on coal, it may add new wind energy sources to help “green” the grid over time. In an email to this newspaper last month, the company’s Engagement Manager Mark Stewart also stated: “We are in the process of forming the Community Liaison Committee (CLC) [as] a platform for ongoing dialogue between the community and the project whereby community concerns are raised, updates and timelines shared, and feedback incorporated.”

In a prepared statement following the presentation, MODG Warden Vernon Pitts said: “The province is the higher order of government, and municipalities are empowered and governed by legislation that is actually established by the province. The municipality does have a zoning bylaw, and we expect developers to follow the bylaw.”

He added: “I don’t have an environmental department; we have economic. So, we pretty much have to rely on what the province tells us and what the federal government tells us. We take your presentation and I expect we will be making a statement following this meeting. I’m not saying tonight or tomorrow, but within a very short time.”

Pitts restricted formal questions from members of the public, stating: “We are not here to exchange questions and answers. I’m sorry. We are in a session meeting, and the meeting must go on... Life goes on.”

In an email to The Journal following the meeting, Protect Guysborough founder Marsha Plant said she was pleased with the event.

“GNSF has done a similar presentation to a few different councils, so we wanted them to present to MODG to show them that it is not just [Protect Guysborough] in the county who have concerns,” she said. “We wanted them to be aware that there actually groups outside the municipality who are questioning what’s going on... They guys did a great job, and I was happy to see [that] council listened to the whole half-hour presentation.”

Regarding public reaction, she added: “We understood that council would not take questions, so after the presentation we filed outside. People in the audience followed and asked us – Protect Guysborough and GNSF questions – questions, [which] we did [our] best to answer... A big win for Protect Guysborough. I now have a list of 14 names [of people who] want to help. [We’re] continuing the public engagement.”