This weekend, opponents of TC Energy’s proposed pumped storage plant, to be located on the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre’s lands, are planning a floating protest, dubbed ‘Anchors Away’, in proximity to the barge that TC Energy launched in late July to conduct geotechnical testing.
The floating protest will take place on Saturday, August 23, at 11 a.m., and will assemble offshore at Cedar Avenue and Harbour Beach Drive, within sight of the barge.
“The purpose of the water-based demonstration: to highlight the project’s threat to the area’s drinking water, as well as its fishing and recreation industries,” said local advocacy group Save Georgian Bay, which is organizing the protest. “Some residents are concerned that the rig has begun two months of geo-technical boring into the lakebed when the project has not yet won final approvals from either the provincial or federal governments.”
The barge platform is roughly 12 metres by 18 metres in size, and is raised a minimum of approximately three metres above the water. A drill rig is installed on the barge platform. The field teams travel to the barge daily by boat from the Meaford marina. The barge is positioned within the maritime exclusion zone, ranging from approximately 600 metres to 1,000 metres offshore, directly east of 4 CDTC in Georgian Bay.
“As part of continued pre-development work on the Ontario Pumped Storage Project, TC Energy is conducting an offshore geotechnical program this summer. This is one of many important studies TC Energy will undertake as the Project advances,” Sara Beasley, External Relations for TC Energy, told The Independent earlier this month. “The offshore geotechnical investigations currently underway are being conducted with rigorous environmental safeguards and strict adherence to federal and provincial regulatory requirements. Protecting Georgian Bay remains a top priority throughout all phases of project development.”
After the barge appeared on the bay in late July, Tom Buck, director of Save Georgian Bay, called the drilling a “wake-up call”.
“The project could bring four years of unprecedented underwater construction, including boring massive tunnels beneath the lakebed to carry 23 billion litres of water a day up to a 375-acre reservoir the company wants to excavate on a contaminated military base on the Niagara Escarpment. That’s nearly 20 times the volume of water used daily by the city of Toronto and York region combined,” Save Georgian Bay said in a media release issued on August 17.
For further information on the Anchors Away protest, see the event website: anchorsaway.savegeorgianbay.ca
