I would like to respond to  a letter  published in the Picton Gazette on April 1,  which was written  by  Mark Russell who was  responding  to a letter the previous week written by Elizabeth Dacombe.

The horrendous noise  Elizabeth  is relating to in her letter  comes from turbine bases and turbine towers being smashed, ripped , hammered, crushed and dragged on sites  8 , 9 ,  and 10 of the cancelled White Pines Wind project.These sites are approximately  five  kilometres  from the Dacombe residence, and even from that distance the noise is nerve wracking.

Mr. Russell lives in Wellington, so he has no idea what is going on in Milford. It’s unlikely he has ever  taken  the  time to come and look at the wind farm when it was being built, or after the turbines were erected because if he had  he would have known how long the project took to create.

This wind farm project was a decade in the making and there was certainly nothing “rushed ” during  the long process.  All rules and regulations were followed and respected by wpd, despite the relentless backlash and fighting from the dozen or so anti-wind  activists. There was never anything done “”illegally”” by anyone  in any way connected to the privately owned company.

Whether  Mr. Russell  was against the wpd project or not,  the fact that tearing down a wind farm that was already constructed and ready to produce clean , green renewable energy before it produced a single kilowatt of power is idiotic , wasteful and an environmental disgrace. Not to mention the first time in history that this has ever happened.

The damage being done today,  and for the next couple of years while this destruction continues is harming  the land, air, wildlife, and the local  neighbourhood with all the  diesel pollution and  noise pollution  that begins each day at   seven a.m. and continues until 7 p.m.

Since the  environment is obviously  of no concern to Mr. Russell  despite the fact that we are experiencing the effects of climate change brought on by human impact, or that solar and wind  energy are becoming the  fastest growing   and cheapest form of energy, and  is being encouraged by countries around the world as we transition away from fossil fuels, then maybe it will bother him to know that  this  wind farm tear down  has already cost him and his fellow Ontarians more than $141 Million.

That wasted money could have built a pretty nice hospital here in the County,  or helped with dozens of other worthy causes.  Everyone has a  right to their own  personal opinion on whether they support wind energy or not,  but no one should have the right to  support  this wasteful and  extensive  damage to our shared environment being witnessed in Athol and South Marysburgh today.

Jen Ackerman

Athol