PLEASE VISIT OUR NEW SITE AT WWW.CCSAGE.WORDPRESS.COM

OUR MISSION.  The County Coalition for Safe and Appropriate Green Energy (CCSAGE) is comprised of citizens' groups and business owners in Prince Edward County, Ontario.  It was formed to ensure that Ontario's Green Energy Act does not harm County residents, the natural environment or the local economy.

MAJOR CONCERNS.  CCSAGE has two major areas of concern regarding uncontrolled, large-scale wind energy development in rural Ontario:

  • Safety concerns -- impacts of wind turbines on human health and the natural  environment.
  • Economic concerns -- the financial impact on individual property owners and on the local economy, and the lack of municipal zoning control over numbers and locations of turbines.

CCSAGE'S FOCUS.  Initially, the primary focus of CCSAGE was on the human health issue.  While this remains a major concern, our group has now broadened its activities to address environmental issues as well.

IAN HANNA LEGAL CHALLENGE.  CCSAGE has actively supported County resident Ian Hanna's application for a judicial review of Ontario's Green Energy Act , relating to the adequacy of wind turbine setbacks to protect the health of families living nearby.  CCSAGE led the Hanna fundraising drive, which raised more than $250,000 to fund legal and expert witness costs.

On March 3, 2011, the Court dismissed Hanna's application, ruling that the Ministry of the Environment followed an acceptable process in establishing required setbacks.  However, the Court did not rule on the adequacy of the setbacks to protect human health, instead deferring to the province's Environmental Review Tribunal appeal process.  On the advice of lawyer Eric Gillespie, Hanna is seeking leave to appeal the Court's decision.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.  CCSAGE is now actively working to convince the Ontario government not to approve wind energy projects situated in the County's South Shore Important Bird Area, specifically Gilead Power's Ostrander Point project (9 turbines) and wpd Canada's White Pines project (30 turbines).
____________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
 
 
© CCSAGE