Residents pack council chambers to oppose power plant

Residents pack council chambers to oppose power plant

News

By: Sandra Bolan

Many Bradford West Gwillimbury residents don’t want a peaker power plant built in their town.

That message was made clear to council when hundreds of residents jammed the council chambers, the building’s hallway and the street.

“This proposal is disturbing in the same way tobacco companies disillusioned people into thinking smoking wasn’t harmful,” resident Bernie Tellier said.
Mr. Tellier also provided council with a petition of 1,000 signatures opposing TransCanada building a peaker plant on the 9th Line.

TransCanada first approached Bradford West Gwillimbury Sept. 9, just more than a month before Ontario Power Authority’s original submission deadline for proposed peaker plant sites. That date has been moved to Nov. 4.

“With such short notice, it’s not fair. It’s an under-handed tactic,” Brad Smith of the anti-peaker plant resident group York-Simcoe MegaWhat said, noting the other companies announced their proposed sites throughout the summer.

“Such short notice does not allow for (the) municipality to consult a third party and make an informed decision,” according to MegaWhat.

However, that’s exactly what Bradford West Gwillimbury council is doing.

Earlier this month, the municipality hired RWDI Consulting Engineers to provide information on the health risks associated with a single cycle gas-fired peaker plant.

“This council won’t make hasty decisions for or against anything and this council will never put our residents in undo danger,” Mayor Doug White said.

The potential health risks are a primary reason why area residents don’t want TransCanada to construct a peaker plant on the 9th Line.

“When heat energy settles on crops, what happens when the Ministry of Environment tests the soil? They could potentially put (my brother) out of business,” resident Jim Masin said.

The peaker plant, according to the Ontario Power Authority, will produce up to 400 megawatts and operate about 10 per cent of the time, or 900 hours a year.

“It doesn’t make any sense that anyone would invest a quarter billion dollars...and that it will run only 10 per cent of the time,” Mr. Smith said, noting the power authority was unable to provide MegaWhat with a guarantee the peaker plant will only run 10 per cent of the time.

Even with a 400 megawatt peaker plant operating 900 hours a year, according to Dr. Peter Strawbridge, a general practitioner, there will be serious health consequences.

“(It) would produce the same amount of nitrogen oxides as at least 35,000 home furnaces per year. This would be equivalent to natural gas furnace emissions from a small city all coming from a single point source,” he said.

According to the Ontario Medical Association, there is no safe level of air pollution.

“You never see air pollution on a death certificate, but it certainly moves things along,” he said, noting it exacerbates asthma in children and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults.

“This plant will affect the airshed no matter where it is located,” Mr. Smith said.

That’s why he wants Bradford West Gwillimbury to pass a resolution declaring the municipality an unwilling host for the plant, which is what other northern York region municipalities including Georgina, East Gwillimbury, Aurora and King have done.

“If Bradford council does not do the same, you will be saying that you are a willing host,” he said.

Mr. Smith also noted residents need to take this fight not only to local council, but to Premier Dalton McGuinty and his government.

“You can’t fault the power plants for building this. You need to blame the Ministry of Environment,” Mr. Smith said.

The Ontario Power Authority wants to build a peaker plant in northern York region because it claims that as the area’s population continues to grow, there is inadequate capacity available from the Vaughan transmission line and the Armitage transformer station.

However, according to MegaWhat, people are consuming less.

In 2006, consumption was at about 11.85 gigawatt hours per capita, which is down from 12.7 gigawatt hours per capita in 2002.

“It is true that we are growing, but we are also conserving,” Mr. Smith said.

MegaWhat will be holding a rally in Queen’s Park Oct. 23 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information, contact info@megawhat.ca. TransCanada will host and open house in town Oct. 29.

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