THUNDER BAY – Saving the Nor’Westers is the goal of a growing group of concerned residents. The Big Thunder Wind Park planned for atop the Norwester Mountain Escarpment is set for a next step by the Ontario Government. This evening live from the Neebing Hotel in the south of the City of Thunder Bay a rally is being hosted to educate and inform people about the project’s long-term implications.
“Everyone of the two thousand letters has to be resent, between now and June 22nd,” stated Irene Bond, addressing the large crowd of supporters at a rally and fundraiser at the Neebing Hotel tonight south of Thunder Bay.
“We need money, we need letters”, Bond continued. The Nor’Wester Escarpment Protection Committee is seeking to raise the money for the next steps of the fight.
Members of the audience chanted that there is ‘NO WAY’ the proposed wind park will be allowed at the proposed location.
Save the Nor’Westers
Fort William First Nation member Wyatt Bannon states that one of the problems facing the proposed wind park is that the members of the Fort William First Nation simply oppose the project. One of the reasons is that the members of the First Nation have never been consulted on the project.
“The impact of the project on the Loch Lomond Watershed is simply unacceptable,” asserts Wyatt.
“The company has demonstrated that they can not possibly grasp the cultural implications of their actions on the Fort William First Nation. If the members had been consulted from day one, they would have realized that their location is the wrong place for their project”.
Moving the proposed wind farm to a mutually agreed location is something that could benefit us all.
Fort William First Nation intends to use the water from Loch Lomond as the drinking water for the community. The proposed wind park would contaminate the drinking water.
Ministry of Environment on Water
That would oppose the program from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
The MOE state:
Ontario protects our source water through the Clean Water Act which:
- requires that local communities – through local Source Protection Committees – assess existing and potential threats to their water, and that they set out and implement the actions needed to reduce or eliminate these threats;
- empowers communities to take action to prevent threats from becoming significant;
- requires public participation on every local source protection plan – the planning process for source protection is open to anyone in the community
- requires that all plans and actions are based on sound science.
When Ontario launched the Safe Water Legislation, then Minister Broten said, “It ensures communities are able to protect their municipal drinking water supplies through developing collaborative, locally driven, science-based protection plans. Communities will identify potential risks to local water sources and take action to reduce or eliminate these risks”.
“The act will better protect the quantity and quality of water in aquifers, rivers and lakes, including the Great Lakes. The legislation is rooted in the Walkerton Inquiry‘s recommendations that Ontario needs multiple barriers to protect drinking water starting with the sources. Every one of us in this province has a fundamental right to safe, clean drinking water,” said Broten.
“Fort William First Nation certainly deserves the same level of respect from the Ontario Government,” states Bannon.
Tonight’s Rally has attracted a large crowd of supporters who are enjoying fellowship, hamburgers and cold beverages after the rally.
For more information visit www.savethenorwesters.com or www.bigthunderwindpower.ca
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