Water Wells First Rep Kevin Jakubec holds up turbid water following a preliminary Environmental Review Tribunal hearing in Chatham, August 23, 2016 (Photo by Jake Kislinsky)Water Wells First Rep Kevin Jakubec holds up turbid water following a preliminary Environmental Review Tribunal hearing in Chatham, August 23, 2016 (Photo by Jake Kislinsky)
Chatham

Water Wells First Meeting

Water Wells First members are holding an information meeting Thursday night.

A Facebook post from the group says they'll be providing information for "important preparations" that landowners should take to "protect your water well from the imminent construction of North Kent 1."

They're inviting anyone who lives within an 11 km radius of the proposed turbine locations to show up at Country View Golf Course from 7pm to 9pm.

The group says they want to make sure landowners are ready before the pile driving begins, adding that they "only have a few weeks now to get organized" and that they "need everyone's participation to defend this water supply."

They're also claiming that Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope and other members of council have "sold out their own constituents."

The group recently accused the Ministry of the Environment of not doing enough to protect local drinking water.

In response to those allegations, ministry spokesperson Gary Wheeler told BlackburnNews.com ministry staff collected water samples from two locations in June and let residents know that ministry findings and next steps will depend on the outcome of the groundwater assessment and vibration monitoring work being undertaken as part of the North Kent 1 Wind Project.

Officials with the North Kent Wind Project released a statement in October 2016 saying they’ve been advised by scientific experts that there are “no grounds to believe that vibrations caused by the construction and operation of the wind turbines in the project will influence groundwater.”

They also posted the Golder Associates document that provided support for that claim. That information can be found here.

Officials with Samsung and Pattern Energy told landowners in October 2016 that they are willing to providing an “adequate quantity of water in appropriately sized containers if necessary," but they don't anticipate needing to provide water during construction.

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North Kent Wind 1 Proposed Wind Turbine Construction Area

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