Hope says rebuilding trust is first step in water wells issue

Chatham-Kent’s Mayor will be meeting with officials from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change later this week to ask the government to stop any further wind turbine construction until local water well issues have been properly investigated.

Randy Hope says the first step will be to rebuild a sense of trust.

“We’ve heard about the testing done by the well water group. I think they spent around $230,000 [on it]. AECOM has done testing for Pattern – it seems like nobody trusts anyone”, says Hope.

However, Hope says he has some concerns with asking the province to halt the construction of the turbines.

“Data will support the evidence whether there is [a connection] or isn’t. Stopping the circumstances from occurring [and affecting] whatever is going on doesn’t give you the true database in which you need to get the evidence you need”, says Hope.

Hope says the first hurdle to overcome will be finding a water well investigator that is acceptable to both the municipality and landowners.