Revoked again

An Environmental Review Tribunal has, for the second time, revoked the permit of a wind developer seeking to build nine industrial wind turbines at Ostrander Point on Prince Edward County’s South Shore.

The Tribunal, consisting of Robert Wright and Heather Gibbs, found that measures, proposed by the developer, to mitigate the harm to the Blanding’s turtle, an endangered species in Ontario, likely would not work. It concluded that fencing, and other control measures proposed by the developer, might reduce the threat to the Blanding’s turtle but that over the lifespan of the project, even a small number of turtle death posed an intolerable threat to the species—given the Blanding’s turtle’s long life and low reproductive output.

No doubt that this case is now precedent setting on a number of different levels,” said Eric Gillespie, legal counsel for Prince Edward County Field Naturalists, the organization that launched the appeal in 2013 and has battled it through a variety of legal venues.

More to come.