Category Archives: At Soo Crossing

ORA Celebrates 10 years of Service to Ontario Rivers

By Linda Heron on Saturday, October 16th, 2021
Posted in Almonte GS, Annual Reports, Armstrong Creek, At Soo Crossing, Bala Falls, Big Eddy, Big Falls, Blanche River, Bonnechere River, Camp Rapids, Camp Three Rapids, Cascade Falls, Cedar Rapids, Crown Land Use Policy, Dams, Enerdu GS, Energy, Erin WWTP, First Chute, Fourth Slide Falls, Frederick House River, Half Mile Rapids, Hydroelectric, Ivanhoe River, Kabinakagami River, Kapuskasing River, Larder River, Marter Township GS, McCarthy Chute, McPherson Falls, Misema GS, Misema River, Mississippi River, Moon River, Neeskah, ORA Reports, Peeshoo, Petawawa River, Presentations, Raven Falls, Regulatory, Removal, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Serpent River, Sewage, Sturgeon Chute, Temagami River, The Chute, Third Falls, Trout Lake River, Vermilion River, Wabagishik Rapids, Wahpeeston, Wanapitei Dam, Wanapitei River, Wanatango Falls, Wapoose, Waste Water Treatment Facilities, West Credit River
A presentation made by the Chair of ORA:

A presentation made by the Chair at ORA’s 16 October 2021 Annual General Meeting:

Continue reading →

Terminated FIT Contracts

By Linda Heron on Wednesday, July 13th, 2016
Posted in At Soo Crossing, Big Eddy, Blanche River, Cascade Falls, E-Newsletter, Energy, FIT Program, Fourth Slide Falls, Frederick House River, Green Energy Act, Half Mile Rapids, Hydroelectric, Ivanhoe River, Kapuskasing River, Lapinigam Rapids, Larder River, Marter Township GS, Matawin River, McCarthy Chute, McGraw Falls GS, McPherson Falls, Middle Twp., Near North Boundary, ORA Reports, Outlet Kapuskasing Lk, Petawawa River, Raven Falls, Regulatory, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Serpent River, Sturgeon Chute, The Chute, Third Falls, Vermilion River, Wabagishik Rapids, Wanapitei River, Wanatango Falls

The Ontario Rivers Alliance filed a Freedom of Information Application with the IESO in February of 2016 to obtain the following list of terminated Feed-in-Tariff Contracts: Continue reading →

10 Ontario Rivers Protected from 19 Hydroelectric Projects

By Linda Heron on Wednesday, July 13th, 2016
Posted in At Soo Crossing, Big Eddy, Blanche River, Cascade Falls, Class EA for Waterpower, Dams, Energy, Environmental Reports, Fisheries, Fourth Slide Falls, Frederick House River, Government, Half Mile Rapids, Hydroelectric, Industry, Ivanhoe River, Kapuskasing River, Lapinigam Rapids, Larder River, Marter Township GS, Matawin River, McCarthy Chute, McGraw Falls GS, McPherson Falls, Middle Twp., Near North Boundary, ORA Reports, ORA Submissions, Outlet Kapuskasing Lk, Petawawa River, Press Release, Press Releases, Raven Falls, Regulatory, River Concerns, Rivers at Risk, Serpent River, Species at Risk, Sturgeon Chute, The Chute, Third Falls, Vermilion River, Wabagishik Rapids, Wanapitei River, Wanatango Falls, Water Quality

Wabagishik Rapids – Vermilion River

MEDIA RELEASE:  For Immediate Release:  13 July 2016

10 Ontario Rivers Protected from 19 Hydroelectric Projects

SUDBURY:  The Ontario Rivers Alliance (ORA) is celebrating a major victory in the protection of 10 Ontario rivers that have been under threat from 19 proposed hydroelectric projects.   Actions taken by the ORA and its members have led to what was considered to be impossible – the termination of 19 Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) Contracts.

In 2011, ORA came into being to address a rash of 87 proposed hydroelectric proposals initiated under the Green Energy Act.  The offer of generous incentives to produce power during peak demand hours had proponents rushing to claim access to falls and rapids on rivers all across the province.  The number of proposals to actually receive FIT Contracts was soon reduced to 41, and of those, Xeneca Power Development Inc. had secured 19 contracts for projects involving 23 Crown sites on 10 Ontario rivers. Continue reading →

Baby Snapping Turtle Hatch – 2012 – Vermilion River

By Linda Heron on Sunday, April 7th, 2013
Posted in At Soo Crossing, Cascade Falls, Cedar Rapids, McPherson Falls, Media, Photos, Rivers at Risk, Snapping Turtle, Species at Risk, Vermilion River, Wabagishik Rapids

The Snapping Turtle is a special concern species under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. A management plan will be prepared.  The Snapping Turtle has also been assessed nationally as a special concern species by the federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).  Status: special concern provincially and designated special concern federally.

At Soo Crossing, Vermilion River – Hydroelectric Proposal by Xeneca

By Linda Heron on Tuesday, October 30th, 2012
Posted in At Soo Crossing, Dams, Energy, Hydroelectric, Rivers at Risk, Vermilion River

Site of the 4th in a series of hydroelectric dams proposed for the Vermilion River.  The powerhouse would be located only meters away from a public beach at Centennial Park.

The proposed dam is a “modified run of river” which entails rapid and extreme changes in water flow velocity and levels several times daily under some flow conditions, and holding water back in head ponds for several hours, and sometimes days in order to release during peak demand hours to generate power.

This type of operating strategy can make ice conditions unstable and unsafe during winter months, and make swimming, fishing, boating or in-water recreation extremely dangerous.   Vermilion River Stewardship is opposed to this type of hydroelectric dam.

Precious Wild Rivers – Calendar, by Aleta Karstad

By Linda Heron on Sunday, October 21st, 2012
Posted in At Soo Crossing, Big Eddy, Frederick House River, Ivanhoe River, Media, Petawawa River, Rivers at Risk, Sturgeon Chute, The Chute, Third Falls, Vermilion River, Wabagishik Rapids, Wanapitei River

ORA FUNDRAISER – 50% of the profit from the purchase of these calendars will go to help Ontario Rivers Alliance in our mandate to protect, conserve and restore riverine ecosytems.   This calendar would make a great Christmas present!

A BIG THANKS to Aleta and Fred for making this possible!

A calendar for 2013 of Aleta Karstad’s oil paintings en plein air of rivers, rapids, and waterfalls in Ontario. Aleta travels with her biologist husband Fred Schueler to precious wild rivers that still run free with rapids and waterfalls, to paint and explore for little-known native mussels and crayfish, documenting these vulnerable wild communities in art and science. The image of each painting is accompanied by Aleta and Fred’s writings about their adventures in discovering the special nature of the place, as well as the nature of the threats to its integrity, leading us to enquire whether new hydroelectric projects on our wild rivers are desirable or necessary.

Standard Edition – 11×17 – Open:

Premium Edition – 13.5 x 19:

River at Risk – At Soo Crossing, on the Vermilion River

By Linda Heron on Saturday, October 20th, 2012
Posted in At Soo Crossing, Media, Rivers at Risk, Vermilion River
The Falls at Soo Crossing (oil on canvas 5 x 7 in.)

Aleta Karstad – 30 September finds me painting the falls at Soo Crossing, 3 kilometres east of Whitefish, Ontario. The falls beneath the railway trestle show whitely from where I sit on the bank of the Vermilion River beside the old bridge. The autumn colour of Red Maples on the glacier-carved granite hills seems to grow warmer as the evening grows cooler. We arrived here late in the day, so I’ve selected a small canvas and underpainted it greyish purple, the cloudy colour between bright ripples on the river.

For more information on At Soo Crossing – click here.

My Resignation from the Vermilion Stakeholders' Advisory Committee

By Linda Heron on Sunday, August 12th, 2012
Posted in At Soo Crossing, Cascade Falls, McPherson Falls, Rivers at Risk, Vermilion River, Wabagishik Rapids

The following is an important development with regard to the 4 Vermilion River hydroelectric proposals currently going through the approvals process.  In March of 2011 I was asked by Mark Holmes, of Xeneca Power Development Inc. (Xeneca), if I would sit on a Vermilion Stakeholders’ Committee (VSAC), and early in 2012 I eventually agreed, on the grounds that if the VSAC were to find these projects were not environmentally and ecologically viable that the project would be dropped.    The following correspondence clearly sets out why I am no longer a member of the VSAC Committee.