Meaford’s Pumped Storage Advisory Committee (PSAC) has made a recommendation to council that a third-party consulting firm be hired in order to begin testing the waters of Georgian Bay, the inland and shore wells, and the municipal water supply.
The committee passed the resolution at their April 10 meeting, and it was sent to council for consideration.
“Be it resolved that Pumped Storage Advisory Committee respectfully recommends the Council of the Municipality of Meaford take steps to hire a third-party consulting firm to begin testing the waters of Georgian Bay, the inland and shore wells, and the municipal water supply,” requested the PSAC resolution. “The firm hired to perform the tests, shall be arms length from TCE, with the capability to test for carcinogens, heavy metals and toxins, including but not limited to, PFAS, dioxins, furan, etc., known or likely to exist at the 4th Canadian Training Centre.”
In their resolution, the PSAC recommended to council that the testing should begin immediately, and should continue for the life of the pumped storage project, and that results should be easily accessible by the public.
“The selected firm will then formulate a plan for monitoring the potential release of contaminants from the site, and potential impacts of the Pumped Storage Project on water quality in wells and Georgian Bay. The plan will detail, among other things, the type of tests necessary, including but not limited to all those listed above, the sampling locations, the media (water, sediment, soil, biota), frequency of testing, and criteria for evaluation. The testing should start immediately to characterize baseline conditions, and to proceed through site clearing, construction and operational phases,” read part of the PSAC motion. “The tests should meet provincial water quality objectives for the protection of aquatic life as well as drinking water standards. The testing should start immediately and continue for the life of the Pump Storage Project. The type of tests necessary, the test sites and frequency of testing will be formulated by the consulting firm; and the testing results should be available for the public to access easily and without cost.”
Since the project became pubic knowledge in 2019, proponent TC Energy has said the proposal is a green initiative that would consume inexpensive off-peak power at night to pump water from Georgian Bay into a 374-acre storage reservoir located 150 metres above the Georgian Bay shoreline on the military base. The reservoir, which would hold 20 million cubic metres of water, would be emptied back into Georgian Bay during peak usage periods, driving hydraulic turbines to generate electricity.
The proposed project prompted the formation of advocacy group Save Georgian Bay, which has been raising awareness locally and expressing opposition to the proposal. The group has held a number of protest rallies and has collected thousands of signatures on petitions opposing the proposed facility.
The concerns of Save Georgian Bay and other opponents are many, ranging from fears that the facility would have negative impacts on the environment, including negatively impacting fish in the bay, to concerns that homeowners in close proximity to the site could be in danger of flooding should the reservoir fail.
The PSAC motion first came before council at their May 26 meeting, during which council developed a replacement motion that seeks to gather feedback from TC Energy.
“After the approval of the meeting the minutes at the PSAC meeting on May 8, 2025, the motion was on the Council agenda on Monday, May 26, 2025,” staff noted in their June 9 report to council. “Council discussed the motion in Committee of the Whole and asked for staff input. Following consideration, Council replaced the motion with the following wording: That Committee of the Whole recommend Council of the Municipality of Meaford direct staff to share the pumped storage advisory committee resolution entitled “Motion for Water Testing” from April 10, 2025 with TC Energy to provide comments back to the Municipality in response for council’s consideration.”
Council’s amended resolution to share the resolution with TC Energy in order to gather comments from them passed with a 5-2 vote.
