It's looking like Unifor has missed a deadline to file acoustic testing results for its wind turbine in Port Elgin.
Saugeen Shores council has not yet received official word from the union or the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, but a consultant hired by council to peer review the results has indicated the testing was not completed by the June 30 deadline.
Deputy Mayor Luke Charbonneau says it's frustrating, pointing out Unifor has promised the voluntary sound testing on several occasions over the past 18 months, but the results have been delayed each time.
In the past, weather, lack of wind, and turbine down time has been blamed for the testing delays, while CAO David Smith suggested to council it's believed rainfall during the testing period may have been a factor for the incomplete results.
Charbonneau says it's time for the provincial government to step in and make it mandatory for Unifor to prove the turbine is operating within its allowable sound limits, or be forced to shut it down.
"The province needs to set a mandatory date for when acoustic audit results need to be received," says Charbonneau. "What makes it mandatory is the day after that, if the test results haven't been received, the [turbine has] got to get turned off, that's how a regulation ought to work."
Charbonneau says complaints from neighbours of the 250 ft turbine continued to roll in even as the testing was underway, adding he's not sure if the testing is still be conducting, pointing out two of the test sites visible from the road have been taken down.
Charbonneau is also taking exception to the test sites selected, pointing out they were located in an area along Bruce Rd. 25, southeast of the turbine, even though the bulk of the complaints have come from a residential neighbourhood northwest of the turbine.