Turtle triumphs over wind turbines

Story by Alisa Howlett

The David and Goliath battle is over and the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists have a little turtle to thank.

The Environmental Review Tribunal turned down Gilead Power Corporation’s nine-wind turbine proposal for Ostrander Point in Prince Edward County last week.

The decision was based on the harm that could be caused to the habitat of a threatened species of turtle called Blandings.

The Prince Edward County Field Naturalists, a group dedicated to the preservation of the environment, initiated the appeal. They were only allowed to appeal on the grounds that the turbines would cause serious and irreversible harm to wildlife and plant life.

“We are ecstatic and we are not surprised. That’s why we took the appeal, because we thought the Environmental Review Tribunal would agree with us that this is the wrong place for any development, especially renewable energy,” said Myrna Wood, president of the naturalists’ group.

Ostrander Point is the only land undeveloped on the north shore of Lake Ontario, besides the parks, said Wood. It is known as a sanctuary for Blandings turtles and a migratory stop for birds and other aviators.

A road would be created around the power project. Roads are the number one cause of turtle mortality.

The Blandings turtle has one of the slowest reproduction rates of turtles across Canada. They start reproducing around 25 years. Females lay 10-15 eggs annually.The survival rate for an egg to hatch is zero to five percent. The survival rate of a hatched egg is the same.

Ontario Nature is the umbrella group for the field naturalists. They have been providing court statements throughout the appeal. They don’t disagree with the renewable energy project, they disagree with the location.

“Renewable energy is incredibly important but we have to be careful where we site locations. This is a very good example of a good project but in a very bad location. It’s in an area of international importance for bird migration and species at risk, such as Whippoorwills and Blandings turtles,” said James Paterson, reptile and amphibian atlas coordinator of Ontario Nature.

Todd Smith, MPP for Hastings and Prince Edward County says this long appeal could have been avoided.

“The Ministry of Environment should have never approved the wind turbines on this site in the first place because of the endangered species being there,” he said.

“The Environmental Commissioner for Ontario said this was the exact worst place in the province to locate wind turbines because it’s in an important bird area.”

Throughout the appeal, Gilead hired wildlife experts to assess the mitigations of the power project on the environment and wildlife, including Blandings.

Dr. Christopher Edge was one of the hired experts on Blandings turtles. He said the mitigation measures made by the power company were sufficient and would not increase the mortality of the turtles. However, he said there should not be a risk versus reward approach to the process.

“We shouldn’t be thinking of this as the value of green energy projects versus the wildlife. We really should be evaluating all the projects under the same umbrella and be evaluating them on what the threats are,” he said. “We shouldn’t be providing leeway because a certain project is green. If a project is going to have harm on animals that’s how we should be evaluating it, not on sort of trade-offs between green energy versus non-green energy.”

Gilead Power Corporation did not respond to requests for comment.

Although the appeal that has been going on for months ended in favour of the naturalists, it was costly. Smith said approximately $130,000 has gone towards legal fees throughout the process, which has yet to be paid back.

Regardless of the dollars spent, Wood said it was for good cause.

“We have to take responsibility for preserving whatever land is left,” she said.

Even though the Blandings turtle was the primary cause to turn the tables, the little creature made a big difference.

“There are so many different reasons why industrial wind turbines should not be going up in Prince Edward County, and the Blandings turtle is just one of them. So I am pleased that no matter what the reason was, the wind turbines won’t be going ahead in Prince Edward County,” Smith said.