To the Editor,
I am writing out of deep concern regarding Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney’s motion to disband the Pumped Storage Advisory Committee (PSAC). This decision would silence the only structured mechanism Meaford has to evaluate the TC Energy pumped storage proposal and to bring community concerns to Council — at the very moment those concerns matter most.
The justification offered is that the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) has begun its own process. However, TC Energy has not yet submitted a complete impact statement, meaning IAAC cannot fully assess the project. More importantly, IAAC does not address many of the risks specific to Meaford — the very issues PSAC was mandated to examine.
One of those issues is public safety. At a recent information session, resident Rick Martinson highlighted that IAAC is not evaluating the risks posed to Meaford’s well-known flood zone, which affects more than 2,000 residents, including the Grey Road 7 trailer park. Dismissing this as NIMBYism ignores a serious, measurable risk that requires municipal oversight. PSAC was created to gather exactly this kind of local information and advise Council accordingly.
The committee has also not completed its mandate to gather technical research — particularly regarding the Niagara Escarpment’s karst topography. The proposed project sits atop a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve known for unstable, highly soluble limestone formations and unpredictable groundwater pathways. While the military base may be exempt from geological study requirements, TC Energy is not. Yet TC Energy has released no geological stability studies, if any exist at all. Understanding the risks to drinking water, private wells, and land stability is essential, and it falls squarely within PSAC’s responsibilities.
Additionally, the Escarpment Corridor Alliance has recently secured major land conservation areas across South Georgian Bay, including land in the Meaford region — highlighting a broad recognition that the ecosystem here is fragile and irreplaceable. These are not minor details; they reflect a landscape where caution and science must guide decision-making.
Another unanswered question involves federal land-use decisions. The Department of National Defence refused a much smaller radar project in Clearview Township, yet continues to entertain a pumped storage project with a vastly larger footprint and far greater environmental impact. Why? This inconsistency deserves scrutiny, and PSAC is the appropriate body to examine it.
To dissolve PSAC now is to interrupt its work midstream — before it has gathered the research, completed its analysis, or provided informed recommendations to Council. It removes transparency, reduces accountability, and deprives both Council and IAAC of the community-based evidence needed to evaluate the project responsibly.
Meaford deserves a fair, complete, and transparent process. Disbanding PSAC ensures the opposite.
I urge Council to reject the motion and allow PSAC to finish the critical work it was created to do.
Pat Zita, Meaford
