A controversial wind power project in Prince Edward County will be decommissioned next month after being cancelled by the provincial government last year.
The White Pines Wind Farm, in South Marysburgh, was a hot topic of debate across the county and was shrunk down to nine turbines, before public pressure led the Ontario PCs to fully cancel the project in 2018, within months of being elected.
Four of those turbines had been built prior to the cancellation and Prince Edward County officials say WPD staff will be taking those towers down between October 15 and January 31.
While a road users agreement with WPD remains in effect, any additional road closures related to the project will be announced to the public.
A second phase of decommissioning will take place in the spring, with crews removing any infrastructure that had been installed.
Meanwhile, the MPP for Bay of Quinte says he’s pleased to see the WPD White Pines Turbine finally being decommissioned.
Todd Smith promised to have the turbines taken down, after Prince Edward County declared itself an unwilling host to the project and says the project should have been killed after the Environmental Review Tribunal eliminated 20 of the proposed 29 turbines.
As for who will pay for breaching the contract with operator WPD and how much that will costs, Smith says we’ll still have to wait a bit to get those answers.
The first phase of the decommissioning will take place between Oct 15 and January 31.
