ERO-019-6647 – IESO Pathways to Decarbonization Study

By Linda Heron on Sunday, May 14th, 2023

Posted in Algae, Campaign, Clean Energy Credits, Dams, Energy, Environmental Registry, Heavy Metal Contamination, Hydroelectric, Industry, ORA Submissions, Pumped Storage, Regulatory, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Species at Risk, Water Quality

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Reservoirs

The ORA will never be in favour of streamlining the regulatory, approvals and permitting processes as they were put in place to protect our natural environment and communities, and have already been significantly undermined.

Instead, we need strong and rigorous environmental assessment and robust public, Indigenous and stakeholder consultation if we are to build climate resilience into our air, land and freshwater resources.

I will briefly address my rationale and the dangers of streamlining the regulatory regime of hydroelectric facilities in particular, as it is commonly claimed by governments and industry to be ‘clean’, ‘green’ and ‘non-emitting. However, this is misleading the public at a pivotal time when we should be following the science.

Related Information:

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Hydroelectric is not a Pathway to Decarbonization or Net Zero

By Linda Heron on Thursday, April 13th, 2023

Posted in Dam Removals, Dams, GHG Emissions, Government, Hydroelectric, Industry, IPCC, ORA Submissions, Pollution, Regulatory Submissions, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Species at Risk, Studies & Reports, Water Quality

Dear Ministers Guilbeault, Wilkinson and Champagne,

ORA understands the urgency in fulfilling the vitally important commitment the government has made to cut GHG emissions to 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030; however, we will present evidence from independent third-party peer-reviewed studies indicating that an effective path to decarbonization is not through hydropower.

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Is hydroelectric a pathway to decarbonization?

By Linda Heron on Sunday, March 12th, 2023

Posted in Art, Dam Removals, Dams, Energy, Government, Hydroelectric, Industry, Media, ORA Submissions, Regulatory, Regulatory Submissions, River Concerns, Video

Watch our video to understand how hydroelectricity is greenwashed by Ontario Power Generation as “clean” and “non-emitting” when there are hundreds of independent third-party studies to the contrary. Read our full submission here!

Please sign and share our petition to protect Ontario Rivers and send OPG a strong message!

2023 Annual Acquisition Report – ORA Feedback

By Linda Heron on Thursday, March 9th, 2023

Posted in Dams, Energy, GHG Emissions, Government, Hydroelectric, Industry, ORA Submissions, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk

Big Falls, Trout Lake River

There are currently three pumped storage projects going through the planning and approvals process, that would add approximately 2,000 MW of electricity to the grid. Developing that same Installed Capacity from small hydroelectric projects would involve 200 – 10 MW proposals that would cause untold environmental damage to dozens of Ontario rivers. It is imperative the province does not rush or over-reach its targets and develop new electricity projects unnecessarily.

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OPG: Proposed Coniston Generating Station Life Extension Project Environmental Report

By Linda Heron on Monday, February 27th, 2023

Posted in Climate Change, Coniston GS, Dams, GHG Emissions, Hydroelectric, Industry, ORA Submissions, Repair/Replacement, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Wanapitei River, Water Quality

Wherever water levels have been lifted from their former undeveloped elevation must be considered the full extent of the reservoir/s. This crucial detail is not set out in the ER; however, the full extent of the cascading facilities must be considered when detecting, measuring and reporting total GHG emissions (CH₂, CH₄and N₂O). This cascading system creates one very large artificial and ongoing multi-level series of reservoirs that are highly regulated through the WRWMP, and likely very high in GHG emissions.

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Hydroelectric and its “Pathway to Decarbonization”

By Linda Heron on Friday, February 10th, 2023

Posted in Clean Energy Credits, Dams, Energy, GHG Emissions, Government, Hydroelectric, Industry, ORA Submissions, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Species at Risk, Water Quality

Abitibi River – Twin Falls GS

Please sign and share our Petition: Hydroelectric is NOT a Pathway to Decarbonization.

The increasing role of hydroelectric reservoirs as GHG emitters and negative environmental effects has resulted in thousands of independent peer-reviewed studies laying out the facts. However, the hydropower industry and governments have done a thorough job of promoting waterpower through a powerful disinformation campaign to mislead the world into believing it is clean and non-emitting while turning a blind eye to the growing body of evidence to the contrary.

ORA strongly recommends that OPG begin the use of drone technology to detect, map and measure GHG emissions within the entire zone of influence of its hydroelectric facilities – in the upstream reservoir, turbine intake, spillway and downstream of the dam. This will ensure that those who have purchased clean energy credits from OPG are getting what is claimed – a clean and non-emitting source of electricity. All data should be placed in real-time on the OPG website and made available to researchers and the public.

In closing, the ORA requests that the Minister finally remove the label of clean and non-emitting from hydroelectric generation. Certification will mean nothing if there is no authentic and verifiable science-based method of reducing Ontario’s GHG emissions. Furthermore, it would be unethical and fraudulent to mislead the public and corporations into believing they are paying for clean and non-emitting electricity when they are actually paying to fuel climate change.

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ERO-019-6141 – Legislative & Regulatory proposals affecting Conservation Authorities

By Linda Heron on Thursday, November 24th, 2022

Posted in Bill 23, Conservation Authorities Act, Endangered Species Act, Environmental Registry, Industry, Municipal, MZOs, Ontario Water Resources Act, ORA Submissions, Planning Act, Provincial Policy Statement, Regulatory Submissions, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Species at Risk, Urban Development, Water Quality, Watershed Planning

“Consider This” by Storm Crypt is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The Ontario government’s own 2020 report, “Protecting People and Property: Ontario’s Flooding Strategy,” which resulted from the 2019 flooding disaster, states very clearly that “Flood risk management is achieved through multiple provincial acts, regulations, policies and technical guides and a wide range of provincial programs and services. Successful implementation relies on partnerships between provincial ministries, municipalities, Indigenous communities, conservation authorities, stakeholder organizations and the federal government.” 1

Instead, this proposal seeks to do the very opposite. It proposes to exempt the CAs from their authority under ten crucial Acts and their associated regulations; it blocks the CA partnership with municipalities and stakeholders and takes the authority of CAs away from permitting so they cannot properly fulfill the recommendations of this report that was commissioned by the Ontario government only a few short years ago. Now, where is the wisdom in that?

[1] Protecting People and Property: Ontario’s Flooding Strategy, 10 March 2020. P-7/42

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Hydroelectric Program Development and Assessment – IESO Small Hydro Program

By Linda Heron on Friday, May 13th, 2022

Posted in Class EA for Waterpower, Energy, Heavy Metal Contamination, Hydroelectric, Industry, Ontario Water Resources Act, ORA Submissions, Pollution, Regulatory Submissions, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Species at Risk, Water Quality

First, it was enlightening to be provided with a clear definition of small and large hydro facilities in the Hydroelectric Program Development and Assessment webinar, as well as a total amount of power generated by these categories. You informed that the definition of small hydro would have a scope of installed capacity of 10 MW and under, with 30 companies representing 50 facilities generating a total of 120 to 150 MW, and large hydro having a scope of installed capacity of over 10 MW, with 3 companies representing 22 facilities producing a total of 1,000 MW.

The increased number of small hydro facilities making such a small contribution to our electricity grid impacts on multiple Ontario riverine ecosystems, whereas the 22 facilities producing 1,000 MW of power on presumably fewer rivers has a much lower trade-off value. Additionally, larger rivers have a greater capacity to buffer some of the worse effects of hydroelectric.

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ERO 019-4108 – Expanding Administrative Penalties for Environmental Contraventions

By Linda Heron on Saturday, March 12th, 2022

Posted in Environmental Protection Act, Environmental Registry, Industry, Ontario Water Resources Act, ORA Submissions, Regulatory

The ORA strongly supports the proposed penalty regulations under the Environmental Protection Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act that would revoke and replace existing penalty regulations under these acts.

That being said, this regulation would have been even more beneficial if this provincial government had not spent the last 4 years (more than 2 years of which have been under a COVID Emergency) totally gutting our hard-earned protective environmental legislation (all in the name of “cutting red tape”) and degrading (in some cases eliminating) the public’s ability to have input into a Project, to be consulted, and to appeal a Minister’s decision. Proponents have no worry of polluting or protecting the environment when there is no effective legislation left to comply with.

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Agnico Eagle Upper Beaver Gold project – ORA Comments

By Linda Heron on Saturday, October 2nd, 2021

Posted in Government, Heavy Metal Contamination, Impact Assessment Act, Industry, Mining, Misema River, ORA Submissions, Pollution, Regulatory, Regulatory Submissions, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Upper Beaver Gold, Water Quality

The ORA strongly urges the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) to determine that a federal Impact Assessment is required to ensure that the ecological, social, and cultural effects of this proposed Project are rigorously assessed and mitigated. A federal IA would ensure that the potential ongoing cumulative effects of this Project on the environment, Indigenous communities and the public are fully addressed to ensure a more environmentally and socially sustainable outcome.

Upper Beaver Gold Project – IAAC Portal.

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