The Blue Mountains council has joined another municipality in opposition to the proposed pumped storage energy project in Meaford.
At its meeting on Dec. 18, council passed a resolution that supports - in principle - a resolution received from the Township of Archipelago opposing the controversial pumped storage project proposed for military land located in the Municipality of Meaford.
TC Energy is the proponent of the project and is currently working through the provincial and federal environmental assessment processes on the proposal.
The project plans roughly include building a 375-acre reservoir dam, elevated from the shoreline, on waterfront property on the military land in Meaford currently used for training. Electric pumps at water level would pull water from the bay with intake pipes far from the shore, and send it up to the reservoir during off-peak hours when demand for electricity is low. Later, when the demand on the grid increases, the water would be released back into the bay by gravity, generating power for the grid.
The pumped storage project would technically use more kilowatt-hours than it returns to the grid, but it would be using the power during off-peak times and "storing it" in the form of water in a reservoir for use during peak times. It will return about 75 per cent of the energy it uses back to the grid.
The full resolution from Archipelago can be found here. It states: “the proposed TC Energy Pumped Storage Project on Georgian Bay would cause irreparable harm to the environment and would have significant negative impacts on the local animal, plant, fish, and human populations. The project would irreversibly alter and damage the unique ecological, cultural, and historical features of the area, putting at risk the important tourist industry, sport and commercial fishing that relies on these natural benefits.”
Coun. Gail Ardiel, who is also a taxpayer in Archipelago, urged her colleagues to support the project.
“It’s very important. This is an environmental issue,” said Ardiel.
Coun. Paula Hope also supported the resolution.
“We just can’t risk the water. We have no data on what the impact could be on our area and I don’t think any of us want to guess,” said Hope.
Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon and Coun. Shawn McKinlay expressed discomfort with one paragraph in the resolution that stated: “the Department of National Defense (DND) have failed to adequately remediate the environmental impacts of the military base over the years making it a brownfield site, meaning that the area is already polluted and that the proposed project would exacerbate the situation.”
“That points the finger at DND,” said McKinlay.
The deputy mayor was also concerned.
“If we agree with this, we’re pointing the finger at DND and I’m not comfortable with that,” said Bordignon.
This led to a brief discussion about receiving the Archipelago motion only and the town drafting its own resolution opposing the proposed pumped storage project. Ultimately, the concerns of Bordignon and McKinlay were addressed by adding that council supports the Archipelago “in principle” and council unanimously approved the resolution.
