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 019-4219 – Moving to a project list approach under the EAA

By Linda Heron on Monday, January 24th, 2022

West Credit River Brook Trout – Photo by Steve Nokams

When these unregulated projects come home to roost, and the environmental impacts begin to damage or destroy highly valued public interests, such as our lakes and rivers, endangered species, our drinking water, and the economy, the government will pay a very high price. Unfortunately, the damage that will result from these irresponsible and negligent actions will not easily be undone, and in many cases will not be resolved in our lifetimes.

If the government wants to incorporate “one-project, one review”, then it must be a robust EA process with fulsome public and Indigenous consultation, or it may find the process much longer than it might have intended.

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ERO-019-3268 – Strengthening our Environmental Compliance Approach

By Linda Heron on Monday, June 28th, 2021

West Credit River, Photo by Steve Noakes

The ORA offers strong support for polluters being held accountable; however, that isn’t what’s happening here. Rather than strengthening enforcement tools that hold polluters accountable, this government is systematically and persistently dismantling, weakening or bypassing all environmental policy and legislation that was designed to protect the environment and deter those industries, corporations or individuals who would pollute and/or destroy the environment.

These ERO postings consistently mislead the public, especially in the top several paragraphs and titles, which contain misleading introductions to the proposed policy the government is proposing. In fact, you can always count on these “modernization” policy changes to be a further attack on environmental policy and legislation. It is even more despicable that these attacks have largely been carried out during the government’s declared COVID Emergency, where no public consultation is required, and what consultation that does take place is meaningless when the main objective is to cut red tape and remove any roadblocks to development and pollution, in spite of the public’s strong recommendations to protect the environment.

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Trout Lake River GS – Dannenmann to MECP

By Linda Heron on Saturday, December 5th, 2020

Posted in Big Falls, Class EA for Waterpower, Hydroelectric, Part II Order requests, Regulatory, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Trout Lake River

Big Falls – Victory – stopped a proposed hydroelectric project on a sacred site!

The Trout Lake River has since time before memory been out travel route to and from Lac Seul and other places south. That river system is still a travel route. The river is full of wild rice fields, medicines, and other relations who thrive in the interdependence of this water system. The Trout Lake River meets with the Chukuni River and both then flow into the English River. Downstream of the English River are two communities, Grassy Narrows First Nation and Wabaseemoong First Nation. These two communities have already been devastated by the presence of methyl-mercury in the water and in their local food sources. I am sure that you are aware of their ongoing efforts to have the river cleaned up and for their people to be given proper medical care for having been poisoned by this polluted river.

You will find all the submissions made by ORA and our members here.

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Proposed Comprehensive Project List under the EAA – ERO-019-2377

By Linda Heron on Tuesday, November 10th, 2020

While the effects of large hydro projects (200 MW) have been well known and documented for over a century, small (up to 10 MW) and medium sized (10 MW to 200 MW) hydroelectric projects involve many of the same impacts per unit of power generated and, cumulatively, the environmental degradation can exceed that of large hydro projects. Small and medium sized hydro projects are situated on smaller and often more sensitive riverine ecosystems; however, like large hydro projects, will also alter the river’s flow regime and can have significant impacts on the aquatic environment, as flow is a major determinant of a river’s ecological characteristics and its aquatic biodiversity.

A recent study examined scaled hydropower impacts in the Nu River basin of southwestern China, where the researchers calculated impact per MW of capacity across 14 metrics between small and large hydropower projects (with small being below 50 MW as defined in Chinese policy). They found that small hydropower dams had greater impact per MW for 9 of the 14 metrics, including length of river channel affected and impact on habitat designated as conservation priorities.

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Trout Lake River Hydroelectric Generating Station, at Big Falls – Update from 2013

By Linda Heron on Tuesday, October 6th, 2020

Posted in Big Falls, Class EA for Waterpower, Dams, Hydroelectric, Impacts, Mercury, Mitigation, Part II Order requests, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Toxics, Trout Lake River

Big Falls, Trout Lake River

In May of 2013 the Ontario Rivers Alliance made a Part II Order request on the proposed Trout Lake River Hydroelectric Generating Station, at Big Falls, in the Red Lake area. This proposal seemed to die a natural death with no decision on our Part II request, or activity/movement forward on the project. Here we are now more than 7 years later, and last week we received the correspondence below from the MECP stating that

“As part of our government’s efforts to boost Ontario’s economic recovery after COVID- 19, we have passed the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020, including amendments to the Environmental Assessment Act.

The changes to the Environmental Assessment Act will allow us to build a strong environmental assessment program that effectively considers the input of local communities and focuses on projects that have the highest impact to the environment. The Act will continue to consider “the protection, conservation and wise management in Ontario of the environment”. A key change made to the Environmental Assessment Act was to limit Part II Order requests to potential adverse impacts of projects to constitutionally protected Aboriginal or treaty rights. All Part II Order requests that were under review which do not pertain to potential adverse impacts on constitutionally protected Aboriginal or treaty rights have been terminated by the amendments.”

The COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act was passed earlier this year, and this legislative amendment is retroactive in its backwards reach to 2013. In spite of the government’s misleading claim that the changes to the EAA “will allow us to build a strong environmental assessment program”, it couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, there is now no mechanism to request a more rigorous environmental assessment, and public consultation and consideration on these risky projects, as well as the ability to make a Part II Order request, is no longer a possibility. There was also no public or Indigenous consultation before the passing of the Economic Recovery Act.

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Bill 197 & Proposed Major Amendments to the Class EA for Waterpower

By Linda Heron on Saturday, August 22nd, 2020

Posted in Bill-197, Class EA for Waterpower, Environmental Assessment Act, Fisheries, Hydroelectric, Industry, ORA Submissions, Part II Order requests, Regulatory, Regulatory Submissions, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Species at Risk

Instead of exemptions or a more streamlined Class EAW, the OWA should be proposing amendments to provide for a much more rigorous and accountable process that ensures fish friendly turbines, effective and safe fish passage, a more rigorous cumulative effects assessment, and a more comprehensive and meaningful consultation process. We should be making our rivers more resilient in the face of climate change – not exempting waterpower projects from the Class EAW. Instead, the OWA and the Ontario government are placing our environment and communities at risk.

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Calabogie Generating Station Redevelopment Project – Notice of Completion

By Linda Heron on Saturday, January 25th, 2020

Posted in American Eel, Calabogie GS, Class EA for Waterpower, Energy, Environmental Reports, Hydroelectric, Lake Sturgeon, Madawaska River, ORA Submissions, Regulatory, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Species at Risk

The fact that Lake Sturgeon and American Eel no longer exists in this section of the Madawaska River, is all the more reason that OPG should make every effort to rehabilitate these populations and include effective fish passage for these and other fish species at this facility. OPG is a provincial entity and as such should set the example as a beacon for responsible and sustainable hydroelectric facilities and operations in Ontario.

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ERO-013-5101 & 5102 – Discussion Paper – Modernizing the EA Program and EAA Act

By Linda Heron on Thursday, May 23rd, 2019

Posted in Class EA for Waterpower, Environmental Assessment Act, Environmental Registry, ORA Submissions, Part II Order requests, Regulatory, Regulatory Submissions

The ORA is opposed to this proposal that would gut the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA) and the Environmental Assessment (EA) program. Since the EAA was amended in 1996 there have been many official calls for an improved EAA and EA program, amongst those calls were the Environmental Commissioner for Ontario and the Auditor General of Ontario. Over this time, the EA program and EAA have become more and more streamlined, and this has led to increasing uncertainty for stakeholders and proponents.

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Updating the Part II Order request process under the Environmental Assessment Act – EBR: 013-2099

By Linda Heron on Thursday, April 12th, 2018

Posted in Class EA for Waterpower, Environmental Assessment Act, Environmental Registry, ORA Submissions, Part II Order requests, Regulatory, Regulatory Submissions

Many individuals and groups embarking on the Part II Order process are new to it, have no legal assistance or background, and are unfamiliar with the terminology and rules; therefore, if we are truly aiming to provide help to the public it is extremely important that clear, succinct and concise instructions be provided in this policy/guidance document.

Download (PDF, 328KB)