Unexploded bombs

Stacks of what appears to be old, rusted-out munitions boxes are bundled together, ready for removal in an area that has been cleared and labeled for ground clearance at Ostrander Point.

DND contractors clear large swaths of land at Ostrander Point searching for unexploded ordnance

The evidence of a large-scale land clearing effort on Crown Land at Ostrander Point targeted by wind developer Gilead Power has got many neighbours and industrial wind energy opponents rather uneasy over the last week.

These folks have been on edge as Gilead targeted this past August to commence construction of its nine-wind-turbine project. Gilead’s application has not yet been approved; the Ministry of Environment hasn’t yet determined that its application is complete.

But the sight of brush clearing equipment and a large amount of land already levelled has some worried the developer might be jumping the gun. It is a worry not entirely unfounded; Suncor’s project in Chatham Kent was constructed and turbines erected while a Ministry of Environment panel was still hearing an appeal about the impact of the project on neighbours. The quasi-judicial panel sided with the developer—but, by then, the industrial wind turbines were already spinning.

So when the bush hogs appeared at Ostrander Point this week—on provincially owned land home to a wide variety of species including two identified at risk—people took notice.

As it turns out, the clearing work is being done on behalf of the Department of National Defence (DND) by contractors seeking to ensure the site is free of unexploded ordnance (UXO). Much of the south shore of the County was used as an air force target range during and after the Second World War. Specific locations on the proposed industrial wind project site have been identified—they include a bombing range, a small arms range and a grenade range.

Only the bombing range is being cleared under the contract currently underway on the Ostrander Point site. But to do this kilometres of land have been levelled of brush and trees. Only trees larger that three or four inches have been left standing in some areas, according to Orville Walsh, a nearby resident and president of CCSAGE, a citizen’s group opposed to the development of wind turbines in Prince Edward County.

A Bobcat equipped with a bush hog—essentially an oversized lawn mower with a chain instead of a blade, has cleared a large circle with a 50-metre radius. Rusted fuel tanks, likely used as targets, have already been removed. The contractors—all ex-military servicemen—will also clear parallel paths on the site each 10 metres apart. Once that is done they will sweep the cleared areas with a magnetometer, looking for unexploded bombs that may lay just under the ground surface.

It is an important first step in the development of this industrial wind factory as each foundation descends nearly three metres (nine feet) underground. Ensuring excavator safety means making sure no unexploded surprises lie underneath.

Walsh worries that the clearing work—although not being conducted by Gilead Power—represents the first step in an inexorable path toward the County’s first industrial wind factory.

He notes that in Gilead’s draft construction report the DND’s clearing of the site is covered in the site preparation section.

“I’m concerned that in their minds construction has begun,” said Walsh.

He and others had hoped that the MOE’s application review process and the prospect of a more communityrespectful government in next month’s provincial election might sideline the project. But he continues to worry that Gilead may be trying an end run—getting far enough down the path toward construction that the next provincial government regardless of stripe won’t risk the cost of cancelling a partially completed project.

DND’s contractors expect their work on the bombing range to be complete by Friday. There is no word when or if similar clearing work will be conducted on the gunnery and grenade ranges. At least three of the proposed turbines lie within these ranges.