When It Comes To Anti-Wind Power Appeals, All Turtles Are Not Created Equal

The Environmental Review Tribunal has dismissed another anti-wind power appeal, holding that evidence to substantiate claims of "serious and irreversible harm to animal life" must be site-specific, species-specific, and quantifiable. The Tribunal released its decision in Bain v. Director, Ministry of the Environment, 2014 WL 888126 on February 27, 2014, allowing the five-wind turbine Emestown Windpark in Lennox and Addington County to proceed.

The appellants had based their argument on the second branch of the appeals test, arguing that the project would cause serious and irreversible harm to turtles, birds and cattle. Despite the fact that the Tribunal preferred the evidence of the appellants' turtle expert over that of the MOE and the approval holder (and found the approval holder's turtle survey to be inadequate), the appellants failed to satisfy the onus upon them by failing to prove species, location and quantifiable mortalities.