EDPR Canada is considering a legal challenge against Ontario in the wake of a decision by the Canadian province’s environment minister to revoke approval for the 100MW Nation Rise wind project.
EDPR said it is prepared to “pursue all legal courses of action in response” and “fully trusts” the Canadian justice system as a means of positioning the developer to resume the construction activities at Nation Rise wind farm.
The company said it is “wholly perplexed by this unfounded decision” on the part of the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks’ recent move, purportedly to revoke the project’s Renewable Energy Approval (REA).
The “unprecedented decision” means the REA that was issued by the minister’s own staff, defended by the ministry’s legal counsel and subsequently ratified by the Environmental Review Tribunal is no longer in effect, said EDPR.
A spokesman for the ministry told renews that the minister had decided to revoke the Renewable Energy Approval due to the minister’s belief that the project is likely to “cause serious and irreversible harm to the local bats population.”
The spokesman said, “Upon careful consideration, the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has decided to revoke the Renewable Energy Approval to Nation Rise Wind Farm GP Inc for the building of 33 turbines at various locations in the municipality of United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
“The minister has directed ministry staff to review how harm to bats is assessed as part of the renewable energy approval process and related guidelines, and whether any changes might be necessary.”
In a statement, EDPR said the minister’s decision effectively “overturned previous findings” of both experts and the tribunal, which had both concluded based on “significant investigation, expert evidence, and due diligence”, that the project has no material adverse effects on the natural environment.
Decisions of this nature should be based on science and law, said EDPR, yet there was no expert testimony or evidence presented at the tribunal or to the minister that would provide a reasonable rationale for the decision.
“Instead, the minister based his decision upon an issue the appellant did not raise even once in its appeal submission. The decision also contradicts scientific and expert findings and appears to exceed the minister’s legal jurisdiction under the Environmental Protection Act,” stated EDPR.
The Nation Rise wind farm is a 29-turbine, 100MW wind energy project in the municipality of North Stormont within the united counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry in eastern Ontario, Canada.
Nation Rise began construction in May 2019 and numerous wind turbines are already fully erected, according to the developer. The project was competitively procured under the Ontario grid operator’s Large Renewable Procurement.