PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, Ont. -- An endangered turtle known for its bright yellow throat and smooth helmet-style shell has crawled its way into a tribunal decision cancelling an eastern Lake Ontario wind farm.
The Environmental Review Tribunal decision says the risk to the Blanding's turtle is simply too great to allow the planned 22.5-megawatt project to proceed.
The province gave its stamp of approval to installing nine wind turbines on Prince Edward County land last December in what would have been the first wind farm sitting entirely on Crown land.
The tribunal ruling notes the Ostrander Point Crown Land Block area is an internationally recognized "Important Bird Area" and a vital spot for migrating birds, bats and Monarch butterflies.
It says erecting 135-metre-tall turbines planted on concrete platforms measuring 18 metres in diameter and three metres deep would pose a major threat to the turtle and Whip-poor-will night bird.
Conservation group Nature Canada hailed the ruling as a big win for the animals as well as the first time the tribunal has acknowledged wind farms can cause irreversible damage to wildlife.
