Farmers in the
Sarnia area have been warned to stay away from wind turbines when they harvest
their crops this fall.
Canadian Press
reports from the Ontario legislature in Toronto that the Progressive Conservatives are demanding a safety audit of all
industrial wind turbines in Ontario after reports of sensors flying off some of
the huge blades.
Tory environment critic
Lisa Thompson says farmers in Bluewater near Sarnia are being advised not to
harvest crops near the giant turbines until they notify the wind farm owners so
the blades can be slowed down.
The Bluewater municipal
council has asked its staff to investigate the reports, and Thompson wants the
province to look into the situation as well.
Environment Minister Glen
Murray says wind power is among the safest forms of energy technology and he
insists it would be premature to suggest there's a problem.
NextEra Energy Canada did
not immediately respond to requests for comment about the potential safety
threat from sensors coming off the giant wind turbines or say how big the
devices actually are.
Murray dismissed Thompson's
call for a safety audit of industrial wind turbines, but says he takes the
reports of parts flying off very seriously, and his ministry will look into the
complaints to see exactly what is happening.
"There are sometimes
issues with every form of energy and we always send out inspectors," he
said. "We've had issues before where people have attributed things to wind
turbines that were in fact not to be the case."
That sounds pretty lame, Mr. Murray.
