MOE refuses EA for transformer

The Ministry of the Environment has given its blessing to the hydro transformer station in the Holland Marsh.

King Township last year requested an individual environmental assessment of the proposal, but the Ministry has turned it down.

The decision was contained in a letter, which Mayor Margaret Black said was sent to the Township Clerk. It was dated June 6, but it was just received at the Township yesterday (Tuesday).

"It's not what we wanted," Black declared shortly before 5 p.m. yesterday, adding the letter was lengthy and she had only been able to briefly skim it. She did report there are 16 conditions listed in the letter that Hydro One will have to meet. They appear to address some of King's concerns, but "I don't know adequately or not.".

Hydro One has selected a property on the north side of Millers Sideroad, east of Dufferin Street, as the preferred site for the for the transformer station.

A peer review, conducted last year by Marshall Macklin Monaghan, came up with four points of concern with Hydro One's environmental study report. They cite a "limited level of detail . . . which leaves a number of questions unanswered."