Eagle spotted guarding the  St. Clair River. Submitted photo.Eagle spotted guarding the St. Clair River. Submitted photo.
Sarnia

Raptor Deaths Exceed Threshold

We're Against Industrial Turbines (WAIT) claims the Cedar Point Wind Project is killing more raptors than allowed by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The 46 wind turbines co-owned by Suncor and NextEra Energy are located in Lambton Shores, Plympton-Wyoming and Warwick Township.

WAIT Spokesperson Kristen Rodrigues says Suncor admitted at the most recent community liaison meeting that turbine-caused raptor deaths were above the allowed threshold during the first year of operation.

Rodrigues says it's troubling because Suncor only monitors deaths from May 1 until October 31. She says the Lambton Wildlife Association and National Audubon Society call this area the raptor capitol of North America over the winter.

Suncor, however, is taking no action to stop the deaths.

"They stated that their experts went out in the field one day, didn't see anything, so nothing will be done about it, despite the fact they had just told us two minutes previously that they're exceeding the raptor kill in the project area over the summer," says Rodrigues. "They said unless the laws change, there's nothing they can do about it. They know they had a problem in pre-construction monitoring but they're not required to monitor deaths except from May 1 until October 31."

Rodrigues is calling on the public to continue to pressure the companies and government to do something about raptor deaths.

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