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Hydro project gets solid regional support
By Jack Evans
EMC News - Marmora A handful of protesters bravely waved their signs in front of Marmora Municipal Offices Thursday where Hastings County Council was gathering for its October meeting. They remained staunchly opposed to the proposed pumped storage electricity generating project by Northland Power using the former Marmoraton Mining iron ore pit. Despite their arguments, Marmora and Lake Council remains firmly committed to the project. After Thursday’s meeting, it is also heartily endorsed by the entire County of Hastings, plus the County of Peterborough and the cities of Belleville and Quinte West. All had representation at the meeting, which included a tour of the mine pit area and details on how the project would work. John Wright, executive director of Northland, reviewed how the technology has been around for some years and is used widely across the United States and in Europe. Proven as environmentally clean, safe, long lasting and effective, pump and store systems use off-peak (night time) electricity to el-
Following an October 25 meeting of County Council held in the Marmora council chambers, attendees climbed onto a bus and headed out to the mine to tour the site of the proposed Marmora Pumped Storage project. While there, on a perfect autumn day with the former mine in the background, positive input relating to the project was voiced by many, among them Marmora’s Reeve, Terry Clemens; Northland Power personnel, John Wright and Sam Mantenuto; MPP Todd Smith; Hastings County Warden, Rick Phillips; Jay Murray Jones, the Warden of Peterborough County; and Neil Ellis, Mayor of Belleville.
evate the water from a reservoir to a high-rise storage area. The Marmora project,
when activated in daytime, could provide up to 400 megawatts of power for up
to five hours straight during peak electricity use hours, or to accommodate extra loads,
said Wright. It would require hundreds of construction jobs
had no reason to destroy,” added McCann. “We do all this for the community.” But the damage is of a greater concern because of the type of tree vandalized: the butternut, a species protected under the Endangered Species Act. How rare is the butternut? According to a Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) fact sheet, there are about 13,000 left in Ontario. Not many for a province spanning 1.076 million square kilometres. That’s one for every 82 square kilometres. The urgency to save the
trees has prompted the Ontario Forest Gene Conservation Association to establish a Butternut Conservation Group, and one of its main objectives is to locate diseaseresistant individuals to propagate tree seedlings for planting. “This was a good opportunity to establish an at-risk species in the area,” said Brighton Councillor Craig Kerr, who doubles as chairperson of the Lower Trent Conservation Authority. “Now that’s been wiped out.” According to the MNR web site, the Endangered
Species Act came into effect on June 30, 2008, “making Ontario a North American leader in the protection and recovery of species at risk and their habitats.” And the fines are hefty. In the case of a corporation, a first offender is liable to a fine of not more than $1 million. Individual offenders could be fined up to $250,000, imprisonment for up to a year, or both. The fines double for a second offence. As well, if an offence involves more than one animal, plant or other organism, the number involved multiplies the
maximum fine. According to the latest Northumberland OPP statistics, calls for service relating to mischief incidents are actually down this year compared to the three-year average in the eastern end of the county. To the end of September, police have logged 152 calls in Brighton (45), Trent Hills (77) and Cramahe (30). For the same period, the threeyear average—from 2009 to 2011—is 186. Vandalism is usually committed by adolescent boys between the ages of 10 and 19 and counts for almost half
for up to two years or more to complete the project, and continue to operate with a specialized high-paid staff of up to 40 jobs. The small number of opponents continue to suspect corporate greed, danger of flood disaster and misleading information lie behind the project. Northland officials contend the Marmora pit is a “gem” in terms of allowing an exceptionally high drop of water to generate power (almost five times greater than that of Niagara Falls) and close proximity (eight kilometres) to a major provincial power grid line. Cost of construction would be about $600 million. Hastings County Warden Rick Phillips, Peterborough County Warden Murray Jones, Mayor Neil Ellis of Belleville, Councillor Jim Harrison representing Quinte West, and Prince Edward-Hastings MPP Todd Smith all registered support for the project. The gathering on the edge of the spectacular vista looking over the 700-foot-deep pit, was told that construction could start next year if final approvals by the Ministry of the Environment are timely, and be in service in 2016.
Endangered species vandalized in Codrington
EMC News - Codrington Police are investigating an act of vandalism after the discovery of at least six recently planted tree seedlings destroyed along the new onekilometre walking trail at the local community centre. “I was really disgusted,” said Codrington Community Association (CCA) founding member Howard McCann. He and fellow CCA member Larry Smith planted the trees “to beautify things and make it nice for the next generation.” “Trees are something they
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One of six butternut seedlings, snapped in half in an act of vandalism, at Codrington Community Centre.
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