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By MARILLA STEPHENSON
The Chronicle Herald
Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau: 'I think these projects are important. . . . The opportunity to use our renewable resources are there in front of us and some of these projects need to be looked at seriously
FROM DIGBY NECK to Denmark, from New Zealand to California, concerns about wind turbines come down to one main question: How close is too close?
Legislators, industry and private citizens have wrestled over the issue of setbacks for turbines for years. With a worldwide focus on developing renewable energy resources to reduce our dependency on fossil fuel, the debate over the safety of locating turbines near people’s homes will only escalate.
“We are addicted to fossil fuel,” Sterling Belliveau, Nova Scotia’s environment minister, told me in an interview. “I think these projects are important. . . . The opportunity to use our renewable resources are there in front of us and some of these projects need to be looked at seriously.”
Belliveau last month gave a green light to a 20-turbine wind farm in Gullivers Cove on Digby Neck, the latest of several wind farm projects in the province.
The 30-megawatt, $82-million project will generate enough electricity to power 10,000 homes, though three of the 20 turbines will have to be relocated. They were within approximately 600 metres of homes, while the remaining 17 are about 750 metres from the nearest dwelling.
Project partners SkyPower and Scotian WindFields have a 20-year contract to sell the output to Nova Scotia Power, which has been told by the province that it must produce 25 per cent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2015. NSP has already complained that it could have trouble meeting the very first target deadline - five per cent by next year - because of provincial delays in approving wind farm projects.
Given the government-dictated deadlines, it makes sense that the government would do what it can to encourage green energy projects. But what about environmental impacts?
I asked Belliveau about the setbacks, noting that one turbine at the Pubnico wind farm was built within 350 metres of a home several years ago. That family subsequently moved out, insisting that the noise was making them sick.
Belliveau said he looked to the expertise of the World Health Organization and Health Canada.
“I understand the concerns of the residents who may be in close proximity to windmills, but the science is basically suggesting that these are safe devices.
“The safety and welfare of all Nova Scotians is in my mind when these decisions are made.”
Opponents to the setbacks at the Digby Neck project have pointed me to Dr. Nina Pierpont, a U.S.-based pediatrician who has studied health impacts on people who live near windmills. Her position is that no windmill be located within 2,400 metres of a dwelling.
In Europe, where the wind power industry received its start, the debate over setbacks in still raging. In one region of Spain, for example, the setback requirement is 500 metres; in another, 1,000 metres.
In mostly landlocked Germany, towers are higher because of lighter prevailing winds - much higher than the 80-metre heights that are proposed in Digby. In that country, restrictions are based on decibel levels of sound produced by the turbines.
Barry Zwicker is president of Scotian WindFields. He told me that an independent sound study, conducted as part of the project’s environmental assessment submission to the province, determined that none of the turbines at Digby Neck will produce sound levels above 35 decibels at any of the local homes. That’s lower than maximum levels allowed in a number of European jurisdictions.
Setbacks are under debate in many countries, he says, but a single setback distance is not the answer, given that topography and the size and height of a turbine all have an impact on sound.
He also dismissed the setback position of Pierpont and her contention that the turbines are causing myriad health impacts, saying her information has been reviewed by the Canadian Wind Energy Agency.
“They’ve hired guys to go through and review this material. . . . They’re basically saying that there isn’t anything out there that substantiates what she’s saying.”
Harold Theriault, MLA for Digby-Annapolis, believes the province should be playing a bigger role, both in determining environmental impacts and establishing setback legislation. Leaving it for each municipality will create another patchwork of rules across the province that will lead to confusion and resentment, he says.
The Digby-Annapolis area has what it takes to provide both wind and tidal power, but some people are concerned about potential unknown impacts.
“Those are two things in great demand on the energy side,” he said. “We’ve got the potential here for both. We just need to get a few more answers.”
Jim MacAlpine is the deputy warden of the Municipality of Digby, which includes Digby Neck. He does not favour provincially established setbacks, saying it should be up to the municipalities to hammer out their own bylaws and decide whether they will host wind energy projects.
“We don’t want to have a project come in at all costs, but we want to make sure people know we’re open for business. We’ve had a decrease in population and for the most part it’s because the employment just hasn’t been here for the young people. So we have to send a message that we want employers to do business in our municipality. We don’t want more people to have to move away.”
Belliveau said he is open to a “serious review” of provincially legislated setbacks, but it would be preceded by an open discussion with citizens and municipal leaders.
Charting the roadmap between reducing fossil fuel dependence and building new green energy projects will be as challenging for Nova Scotia’s NDP government as it has been in communities around the globe. A measure of compromise on wind turbines, balancing profit and proximity, will best serve communities, the health of their citizens and their long-term energy needs. Getting it right will be no small task.
Debi VanTassel of Gullivers Cove says clean energy is fine, but it has to be done correctly.
“We just want to be able to live in our homes.”
