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ARTICLE · 21 JULY 2011

First Appeal Of Renewable Energy Approval Dismissed

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On July 18, 2011, Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) issued its highly anticipated decision in Erickson v. Director, Ministry of the Environment, finding that the appellants who had challenged the issuance of a renewable energy approval (REA) for the Kent Breeze Wind Project (the Project) had failed to show that it will cause serious harm to human health.

CanadaEnergy and Natural Resources
Dennis Mahony
Dennis Mahony
Tyson Dyck
Tyson Dyck
John Terry
John Terry
Valerie Helbronner
Valerie Helbronner
Michael Fortier
Michael Fortier
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On July 18, 2011, Ontario's Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) issued its highly anticipated decision in Erickson v. Director, Ministry of the Environment, finding that the appellants who had challenged the issuance of a renewable energy approval (REA) for the Kent Breeze Wind Project (the Project) had failed to show that it will cause serious harm to human health. The decision comes after a hearing that spanned months in which experts from around the world testified on the potential health impacts of wind turbines.

The 20-megawatt Project proposed by Suncor Energy Services Inc. consists of eight wind turbines located in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. On November 10, 2010, it became one of the first renewable energy projects in the province to obtain a REA (which is now the primary environmental approval for many such projects following the promulgation of the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009). On November 29, 2010, Chatham-Kent Wind Action Inc.

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