On the proponent's website…

On the proponent's website they state that the local community and local indigenous community will benefit from the development of their BESS facility near Dunvegan, ON. The local First Nation, Akwesasne has a land claim for this territory. The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Akwesasne Rights and Research Office has not received any correspondence from the proponent and were not aware the proposed BESS facility was under construction. There is no public information posted to confirm any consultation with the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne prior to the proponent submitting the ECA application. This would appear to violate the expressed Duty to Consult the local First Nation community.
If Akwesasne did not appear to know this project was under way in their territory how could the proponent claim that its BESS facility will benefit the local indigenous community?

The proponent (North Glengarry Bess Inc/Compass Energy Consulting) has not provided any environmental reports, studies to adjacent neighbouring farmers when asked to share voluntarily in order to alleviate any community concerns and answer questions. For example, does the noise assessment adequately model the continuous low frequency hum from inverters, transformers and cooling systems producing a unique frequency? Does it exceed MOECP NPC-300 limits?

It was not clear during the one and only meaningful public meeting by the proponent, on April 30th, 2025 in Alexandria, what the detailed decommissioning plan was. For example, the proponent did not detail how it intends to remediate the site back to its original condition prior to development. There were no specific details how the hazardous lithium ion battery materials will be disposed of

Not having access to the environmental studies, reports and not finding any public available information the public can not ascertain whether the storm water management system adequately addresses the potential thermal pollution. Runoff from temperature control systems can be heated significantly and could be discharged into the cold water eco-system.

Another concern is the potential spill of toxic electrolytes or firewater that could leach through the soil and contaminate groundwater resources, which is the primary source of drinking well water in the rural parts of North Glengarry Township.

A BESS fire can require thousands of gallons of water per minute for hours or even days. Without a secured and immense water supply how can the proponent guarantee that firefighting efforts will effectively extinguish a fire and preventing any possible further ignition through a thermal runaway event? The residents and farmers depend solely on well water in this area.