Petitions - Ontario Rivers Alliance

Petitions

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Speak up for Ontario rivers!!

If you are concerned about the health and well being of our lakes and rivers, then please consider helping by signing our petitions below.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is promoting its hydroelectric facilities as “clean” and “non-emitting” when there are hundreds of independent third-party studies reporting that hydroelectric reservoirs are a consequential source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in boreal, temperate and tropical regions.

Over the last ten years, OPG sold over $5.5 million in Clean Energy Credits (CECs) to polluters to offset their GHG emissions that, in the end, are paying to fuel climate change. In fact, reservoirs are a significant and ongoing source of biogenic GHGs, including methane, which in some instances can reach the same emission rate as gas-fired facilities.

We are in a climate crisis, so OPG must stand up to its moral responsibilities to detect, measure and publicly report on all GHGs coming from its fleet of 66 hydroelectric facilities in Ontario and 87 in the US.

OPG recently reported to the Minister of Energy, recommending up to 5,000 MW of untapped hydroelectric potential to be harnessed for a "clean energy future".
Please sign and share the petition to send a strong message!

Hydroelectric is NOT a Pathway to Decarbonization

To Minister Todd Smith, Ken Hartwick, OPG, Julia McNally, IESO

I am writing to express my strong objection to Ontario Power Generation (OPG) promoting its hydroelectric power generation as “clean” and “non-emitting” when there are hundreds of independent third-party studies reporting that hydroelectric reservoirs are a consequential source of greenhouse gas emissions in boreal, temperate and tropical regions.

Additionally, over the last ten years, OPG sold over $5.5 million in Clean Energy Credits (CECs) to offset greenhouse gas (GHG) polluters that, in effect, end up paying to fuel climate change. In fact, reservoirs are a significant and ongoing source of biogenic GHGs, including methane, which in some instances can reach the same emission rate as gas-fired facilities.

When a dam is built and land is flooded to create a reservoir, microbes decompose submerged organic matter, and throughout the life of the dam, sediment and biomass accumulate behind the dam in a process that leads to methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions.

This is bad news because we already have a methane problem, and Canada, along with 100 other countries, made a global pledge to slash methane emissions by 30% by 2030.

Methane is a potent GHG with a heat-trapping capacity 28 to 34 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time scale, and measured over 20 years, that ratio grows to 84 to 86 times.

Indeed, waterpower makes a significant daily contribution to the earth’s accumulation of GHGs into the atmosphere and has resulted in significant and ongoing negative effects to water quality, water quantity, ecological processes, fish and wildlife populations and habitat, as well as indigenous communities.

OPG owns and operates 66 hydroelectric facilities in Canada and 87 in the US.  OPG, therefore, bears a moral responsibility to validate its CEC guarantee of hydroelectric as a clean and non-emitting electricity source as follows:

1.	OPG initiate the use of a sensitive drone-based NASA technology for mapping all GHG emissions daily to thoroughly measure all emissions within its facility’s zone of influence, including its headpond, turbine intake, spillway and downstream of the dam.
2.	OPG must commit to detecting, measuring and daily public reporting in real-time all GHG emission (CH2, CH4 and N2O) data from each of its hydroelectric facilities and reservoirs. 
3.	All GHG emission data and their feedbacks are effectively quantified and reported to appropriate Ministers to guide decision-making toward climate goals and the sale of CECs.

I also urge the Minister of Energy to reject the notion of opening the province up to any new hydroelectric projects. This is a crucial decision as hydroelectric dams are built to last for 100 years or more and will continue to pollute our atmosphere for the life of the facility.

These comments are also being forwarded to Environmental Registry Posting: EBR-019-6647 - IESO Pathways to Decarbonization Study.

I trust you will take immediate action to comply with my requests.  This will go a long way to protect our present and future generations from the perils of climate change.

Sincerely,

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Funds are not being required up-front for Dam Decommissioning on any of the hydroelectric proposals going through the approvals process. Power Generation Agreements must include mandatory up-front funds for dam decommissioning, so that if for some reason the generating station is no longer viable the funds will be in place to cover costs for removal. There is a very good likelihood of this if the dam becomes environmentally or socially unsustainable due to climate change, or in the event of major damage to the dam caused from ice and/or flooding - this must be made a condition for approval. This expense must no longer fall on the shoulders of the taxpayer, but be borne by the developer.

Dam Decommissioning

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To:    The Honourable Doug Ford

Re:    Burden of Future Dam Removal Must Not Be Left to the Taxpayer

I am writing as a concerned citizen who expects this government to place the protection, conservation and wise management in Ontario of the environment, natural resources, and riverine ecosystems as one of its highest priorities.

Ontario has an extensive history of hydroelectric dam development, where the damage inflicted by these dams has led to the extinction and extirpation of many aquatic species.  First Nations have tried to warn decision makers in the past, but were ignored.  The first defaunation of Ontario streams was due to the mill dams that caused the extinction of Lake Ontario Salmon, and doubtless many other lesser migratory populations that weren’t so well documented; and  twentieth century hydro dams devastated many other species such as the American Eel and Lake Sturgeon.  The numerous problems with hydroelectric have not gone away, and operating strategies devised to take advantage of peak demand have only served to increase the potential for negative impacts.

It has come to my attention that funds are not being required up-front for Dam Decommissioning on any of the hydroelectric proposals going through the approvals process.  Power Generation Agreements must include mandatory up-front funds for dam decommissioning, so that if for some reason the generating station is no longer viable the funds will be in place to cover costs for removal.  There is a very good likelihood of this if the dam becomes environmentally or socially unsustainable due to climate change, or in the event of major damage to the dam caused from ice and/or flooding - this must be made a condition for approval.  This expense must no longer fall on the shoulders of the taxpayer, but be borne by the developer.

I request that you require developers of hydroelectric dams to provide Financial Assurance by placing sufficient funds up-front to cover future dam decommissioning and removal.

Thank you!

Copied to:

Honourable Todd Smith, Minister of Energy 
Honourable Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry
Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance
Honourable David Paccini, Minister of the Environment, Conservation & Parks

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