Water Wells First is planning to hold a peaceful demonstration Thursday morning to protest the start of the North Kent 1 wind turbines.
Group spokesperson Kevin Jakubec says loud pile driving began Wednesday morning at the site on Darrell Line.
Jakubec insists that vibration from the pile driving is disturbing the local aquifer and contaminating well water with heavy metals. He says the area is too sensitive for the pile driving.
"Large clangs that sounded like a church bell going off and then you could feel the vibration in your feet. We had some friends about 500 feet back standing on the rail road track and they also could feel that. So, there's no question that when you're using a pile driver, they're going to generate ground vibrations," says Jakubec.
Pile driving has begun at the North Kent 1 wind turbine site on Darrell Line. June 21, 2017. (Photo by Paul Pedro)
The protest begins at 8:30am.
Jakubec can't rule out civil disobedience if necessary, including trying to stop wind tower construction with blockades.
He says more wells with turbid water are being reported every month and adds it's starting to look like collusion between the ministry and the wind industry.
Jakubec says the Ministry of Environment has too many unanswered questions to allow pile driving before meeting with the group June 28.
"We did our own baseline testing on what was dissolved in the water and we found trace amounts of radium. They're below the safety limit but that just shows you that there's uranium in the bedrock. You don't get radium unless you have uranium, a radioactive decay product," Jakubec says.
He says the tensions are rising but promises the information pickets won't be violent.
"Definitely going to be peaceful, we're law abiding citizens. We don't see violence being the answer to any of this to solve our problems. We're following the system, we're using science and the media to draw attention to this critical heavy metals contamination of a water supply," says Jakubec.