Dear Editor,
So, Meaford Councillors will visit Ludington, Mich., to see the pumped storage plant there that was touted as the model for TC Energy’s proposed $7 billion plant in Meaford.
They should have done so before giving carte blanche to the proposal in February 2023, a decision taken as though they had no interest in due diligence on behalf of the residents and taxpayers they serve, to say nothing of others who share the same Georgian Bay water.
To make some use of the trip, Councillors might ask:
- How many homes lie below the Ludington reservoir and would be at risk of flooding in the event of catastrophic failure of the reservoir walls? In Meaford, 300 homes and farms with a population of 1,000 lie below the site of TC Energy’s proposed above-ground reservoir intended to hold 23 billion litres of water — that’s 23 million tonnes — over the heads of those residents.
- How much water leaks from beneath the Ludington reservoir and what measures have been necessary to limit that amount?
- What amount of noise or ground vibrations are the homes near the Ludington plant subject to?
- Was the Ludington reservoir built on land contaminated with toxic chemicals as is the Meaford Tank Range site? (The Defence Department has warned of toxic chemicals being disturbed during construction and leaching into Georgian Bay, the source of drinking water for tens of thousands of people.)
- How many fish are destroyed by being sucked into the Ludington pumps? When built, the plant destroyed 150 million fish a year. Court-mandated nets now keep any fish larger than five inches from being sucked in. Therefore, how many fish smaller than 5 inches are still macerated? And what effect has that had on the long-term survival of the fish population?
- How many people are employed to operate the Ludington plant? In other words, how many jobs did it create — not including jobs involved in its current renovation/update — a project subject to a slew of lawsuits because of faulty parts.
- What country is the source of the replacement parts and turbines for the renovation?
By the way, who will pay for this little international excursion? We Meaford taxpayers, or the friendly folks at TC Energy, who never miss a chance to influence decision-makers at all levels of government?
Clair Balfour, Meaford
