Comment
Below is a parsed edited version of PEC comments sent to MOECP on the Technical Requirements document.
Technical Requirements for
the Closure of the White Pines Wind Facility
1 DEFINITIONS 2
2 GENERAL 4
3 PRE-DISMANTLING ACTIVITIES 4
4 EQUIPMENT DISMANTLING AND REMOVAL 5
5 SITE RESTORATION 9
6 STORM WATER MANAGEMENT, EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL AND SURFACE WATER MONITORING 11
7 IN-WATER WORKS 14
8 WATER TAKINGS 15
9 BLANDING'S TURTLES AVOIDANCE MEASURES 15
10 CULTURAL HERITAGE RESOURCES AND PROTECTED PROPERTIES 18
11 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES 21
12 EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 22
13 ABORIGINAL CONSULTATION 23
14 RECORDS 23
15 COMPLAINTS 24
16 APPENDIX A 25
1 DEFINITIONS
1.1 In this document,
“120 m Zone of Investigation” means the area surrounding the project location, measured as 120 m from the outer perimeter of the project location;
"Application" means the application for a Renewable Energy Approval dated September 14, 2012, and signed by Khlaire Parré, Director of Renewable Energy Approvals, wpd White Pines Wind Incorporated, and an Addendum to the application for a Renewable Energy Approval dated August 2, 2013, and signed by Shawna Peddle, Senior Project Manager, Stantec Consulting Ltd., on behalf of wpd White Pines Wind Incorporated, and all supporting documentation submitted with the application, including amended documentation submitted up to July 15, 2015 and as further amended by the application for an amendment to a Renewable Energy Approval dated October 10, 2017, and signed by Khlaire Parré, Director of Renewable Energy Approvals, wpd White Pines Wind Incorporated;
“Company” shall mean wpd White Pines Wind Incorporated, their successors and assigns;
“County” shall mean the Corporation of the County of Prince Edward;“Erosion and Sediment Control and Stormwater Management Plan Reports” means the documents of that name submitted by the Company to the Director dated December 9, 2015, January 14, 2016; and February 23, 2016;
"in-water works" means any works or activities related to the decommissioning of the facility that take place below the high water mark during flowing conditions or when water is present;
"Ministry" means the ministry of the government of Ontario responsible for the Environmental Protection Act and includes all officials, employees or other persons acting on its behalf;
“NTU" means Nephelometric Turbidity Unit;
"Qualified Independent Structural Engineer" means a Professional Engineer licensed to practice in Ontario with training and/or experience in structural engineering who is not representing the Company and who was not involved in preparing the heritage assessment reports or the protected properties report in respect of the facility;
"Qualified Inspector" means a person with training and/or experience in erosion and sediment control and storm water management who is not representing the Company and who was not involved in preparing the storm water management and erosion and sediment control plans in respect of the facility;
"Qualified Person" means a professional engineer, hydrologist or other person with training or experience in erosion and sediment control and storm water management;
"Qualified Professional" means, a person with particular expertise who is trained and qualified with respect to Blanding’s Turtles;
“Road Users Agreement” means the agreement between wpd White Pines Wind Incorporated and The Corporation of the County of Prince Edward dated April 26, 2016 attached hereto as Appendix “B”;
"Significant Storm Event" means a minimum of ten (10) millimetres of rain in any twenty-four (24) hour period as measured at the closest Environment Canada weather station;
“Unavoidable” means where the Ministry has determined, in consultation with the relevant specialists and the County, that negative impacts are not able to be avoided or prevented and there are no alternative options;
"UTM" means Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system identifying easting, northing and zone based on a Z18-NAD83 projection.
1.2 In this document, the following terms have the same meaning as in O. Reg. 359/09 (Renewable Energy Approvals under Part V.0.1 of the Act):
“consultant archaeologist”
“natural feature”
“Professional Engineer"
“storm water”
1.3 In this document, the following terms have the same meaning as in O. Reg. XXX/18 (Closure of the White Pines Wind Facility):
“Company”
“Director”
“District Manager”
“facility”
“project location”
“wind turbine”
2 GENERAL
2.1 For greater certainty nothing in this document relieves the Company of any obligations arising from any other statute, agreement or by-law, including, without limitation, obtaining all necessary permits, licenses and approvals required under the Building Code Act, 1992, Highway Traffic Act, Environmental Protection Act ,the Endangered Species Act, 2007 and the Road Users Agreement
2.2 All closure activities and other work described herein shall be carried out by the Company in a safe manner, in accordance with industry standards and applicable laws.
3 PRE-DISMANTLING ACTIVITIES
3.1 The Company shall ensure that facility components are de-energized and isolated from all external electrical lines.
3.2 Staging Areas
3.2.1 Prior to any dismantling or removal of any facility components , staging areas shall be delineated at the site of each component of the facility to be dismantled or removed. The same staging areas that were approved for construction activities shall be used for closure activities.
3.2.2 If new staging areas are required on lands that were not assessed as part of the application the Company shall:
a) meet the requirements of the applicable natural heritage setbacks in Part V of O. Reg 359/09 as though that Part applied, without relying on any exemptions set out in those sections; and
b) engage a consultant archaeologist to carry out the archaeological fieldwork necessary to further assess the area in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act, the regulations under that Act and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport's Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists.
3.2.3 A staging area at the location of each facility component shall be used for temporary storage of the components, parking, and excavated foundation spoil pile. This area shall not be excavated or gravelled and shall be restored to pre-construction conditions as part of the closure of the facility.
3.2.4 The dismantling or removal of each facility component shall be conducted within the staging areas described above. This includes ensuring that vehicles and personnel stay within the demarcated areas.
4 FACILITYDISMANTLING AND REMOVAL
4.1 Wind Turbines
4.1.1 The wind turbines shall be disassembled.
4.1.2 The wind turbine components may be temporarily stored in the staging areas until they are removed from the project location.
4.1.3 Any waste shall be processed and safely transported to an authorized disposal facility. No final disposal of waste from any facility component is permitted to occur at the project location.
4.1.4 All salvageable wind turbine components shall be removed from the project location, unless the Company and the landowner have a written agreement that provides for another arrangement and the County Council consents in writing.
4.2 Wind Turbine and Wind Turbine Transformers Foundations
4.2.1 Unless the Company and the landowner have a written agreement that provides for another arrangement and the County Council consents in writing, the Company shall either remove the wind turbine and wind turbine transformer foundations completely, or partially to a depth consistent with the surrounding bedrock as determined by geotechnical investigations.
4.2.2 If foundations are fully or partially removed, the concrete and any other associated material shall be removed from the project location and excavated areas shall be brought to grade with clean fill and topsoil.
4.3 Crane Pads
4.3.1 Unless the Company and the landowner have a written agreement that provides for another arrangement and the County Council consents in writing the Company shall remove all crane pads, including the geotextile material beneath the pads and granular material.
4.3.2 If crane pads are fully or partially removed, the geotextile material beneath the pads and granular material shall be removed from the project location and excavated areas shall be brought to grade with clean fill and topsoil.
4.4 Electrical Collector
4.4.1 Unless the Company and the landowner have a written agreement that provides for another arrangement and the County Council consents in writing, underground electrical collector lines on private land may remain in place provided that both ends that come to the surface be excavated to approximately 1.2 m below grade and capped.
4.4.2 Electrical Collector lines installed in the municipal road allowances, or affixed to a bridge, viaduct or structure or entrance within the road allowance shall be removed and the area restored to original as provided for in the Road Users Agreement. This shall include the planting of new trees as compensation for tree removals during construction as provided for in the Road Users Agreement.
4.4.3 The Company shall provide the UTM of any electrical collector lines that are left in place to the landowner, the County and Director.
4.5 Interconnection Line
4.5.1 The interconnection line, which falls under the responsibility of the Company, and is installed in the municipal road allowances, or affixed to a bridge, viaduct or structure or entrance within the road allowance shall be removed as per a joint use agreement with Hydro One Networks Inc and the Road Users Agreement and the area shall be restored to original condition as provided for in the Road Users Agreement.
4.6 Substations
4.6.1 The substations shall be dismantled by the Company.
4.6.2 Once dismantled the transformers, switchgear, grounding grid and electrical system components shall be removed from the project location.
4.6.3 Unless the Company and the landowner have a written agreement that provides for another arrangement and the County Council consents in writing, the concrete foundation shall be removed to approximately one (1) metre below grade.
4.6.4 If all or part of the concrete foundation is removed, all granular, geotextile and concrete materials shall be removed from the project location and excavated areas shall be brought to grade with clean fill and topsoil.
4.7 Access Roads
4.7.1 All access roads installed by or on behalf of the Company shall be removed, including culverts, the geotextile material beneath the roads and granular material.
4.7.2 If the access road existed prior to construction, it shall be returned to a similar condition that existed prior to the start of construction of the facility.
4.7.3 Excavated areas on agricultural land shall be brought to grade with clean fill and topsoil.
4.7.4 All materials generated as part of the removal of the access roads shall be removed from the project location.
4.7.5 The requirements in sections 4.7.1 to 4.7.3 do not apply if the Company and landowner have a written agreement that provides for another arrangement
4.7.6 The requirements in sections 4.7.1 to 4.7.3 do not apply to the entrances to the property if the County has issued permits for the entrances..
4.8 Storage Area
4.8.1 Unless the Company and the landowner have a written agreement that provides for another arrangement and the County Council consents in writing the storage area shall be removed, including any granular material and fencing.
4.8.2 All materials generated as part of the removal of the storage area shall be removed from the project location.
5 SITE RESTORATION
5.1 Natural Features
5.1.1 The Company shall:
a) where natural features have been disturbed by construction or closure activities, restore the natural features previously found in the project location and the 120 m Zone of Investigation to the state that existed before the construction and closure of the facility started; and
b) preserve the current natural features found in the project location and the 120 m Zone of Investigation that have not been disturbed by construction or closure activities.
5.1.2 Unless unavoidable, the Company shall not remove or damage any trees or other vegetation in all areas where closure activities take place including any roads or transportation routes. If the removal of or damage to trees or other vegetation is unavoidable, the Company must contact the Ministry and the County a minimum of five (5) business days prior to commencing the decommissioning activity and describe why the activity is unavoidable. The foregoing shall not limit or replace the Company’s obligations under the Endangered Species Act to the extent that the affected trees or other vegetation in question are identified as extirpated, endangered or threatened species under that Act or are part of the habitat of endangered or threatened species identified under that Act.
5.1.3 Section 5.1.1(a) does not apply in respect of:
a) the portion of the project location on which the landowner has agreed to retain all or a portion of a crane pad, foundation or access road; or
b) any landscaping features described in Section 10.8.
5.2 Agricultural Lands
5.2.1 Agricultural lands that may have been compacted due to construction, operation or closure activities, including crane pads and access roads shall be decompacted to a state that is consistent with agricultural lands in the vicinity of the project location.
5.2.2 Section 5.2.1 does not apply in respect of a portion of agricultural lands on which the landowner has agreed to retain all or a portion of a crane pad, foundation or access road.
5.2.3 The Company shall ensure that any agricultural tile drains capped during construction, or damaged during the closure activities, are repaired to the satisfaction of the landowner.
5.2.4 In consultation with the landowner, the Company shall ensure:
a) any topsoil taken from the surrounding land is added to a similar depth as surrounding areas, where necessary; and
b) all areas are to be graded to pre-construction conditions and restored appropriately.
5.2.5 The Company shall, within thirty (30) days of O. Reg. XXX/18 (Closure of the White Pines Wind Facility) contact the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to discuss its plans to restore the portions of the project location on agricultural lands to its previous agricultural capacity.
5.3 Municipal Road Allowances
5.3.1 Where components of the facility have been removed from municipal road allowances the road allowances are to be restored to their previous condition as provided for in the Road Users Agreement.
5.3.2 The Company shall consult with the County of Prince Edward and Quinte Conservation in respect of the seed mixture.
5.3.3 Erosion and sediment control measures shall be left in place until the site restoration is fully established.
5.4 Potential Contamination
5.4.1 Should soil contamination be noted, the impacted soils will be delineated, excavated, and removed, in accordance with the Ministry publication titled “Soil, ground water and sediment standards for use under Part XV.1 of the Environmental Protection Act” dated April 15, 2011. The contaminated material shall be disposed at an approved facility, and shall be replaced with clean soil comparable to the surrounding material.
6 STORM WATER MANAGEMENT, EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL AND SURFACE WATER MONITORING
6.1 The Company shall take all measures necessary to prevent damage or any related impacts to neighbouring properties, buildings, bridges, structures, roads, railway lines and/or other infrastructure that may be impacted by the discharge or drainage of storm water from the project location.
6.2 The Company shall install and maintain the storm water management and erosion and sediment control measures as detailed in the Erosion and Sediment Control and Storm water Management Plan Reports for the duration of the closure of the facility and the monitoring period.
6.3 At locations where the need for erosion and sediment control measures have not been assessed the Company shall not commence any work until the written approval of the Director has been obtained.
6.4 The Company shall provide written notification to the District Manager 5 days prior to commencement of any activities for which the approval of the Director was obtained under section 6.3.
6.5 The Company shall employ a Qualified Inspector to inspect all erosion and sediment control and storm water management measures, and perform all monitoring and measurements such as turbidity, as outlined in sections 6.6 and 7.2.
6.6 The erosion and sediment control and storm water management measures shall be maintained for the duration of closure activities and the monitoring period and inspected daily by the Company, and shall be inspected by a Qualified Inspector following precipitation events during the spring freshet period of snow and ice melt and after any Significant Storm Event.
6.7 The measures set out in section 6.5 shall continue until such a time as the Qualified Inspector determines that the measures are no longer required or the Qualified Inspector deems that the risk of surface water and environmental impacts from the activities required to close the facility are negligible.
6.8 For the duration of the closure activities, the Company shall require the Qualified Inspector to monitor in-field turbidity levels for all activities that take place within thirty (30) metres of the high water mark of a waterbody, in accordance with the following:
a) Monitoring shall be conducted on a daily basis upstream of the closure activity, and downstream of the closure activity during the spring freshet period of snow and ice melt and after Significant Storm Events;
b) If the average (arithmetic mean) daily turbidity level downstream of the activities carried out to close the facility exceeds the values specified for a short-term or long-term exposure as defined in the publication Titled “Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life” prepared by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, 2003, the Company shall notify the Spills Action Centre of the Ministry at 1-800-268-6060 within 24 hours and the Company shall take immediate steps to prevent further migration of turbid water into the watercourse.
6.9 For the purpose of section 6, turbid water is defined as any discharge water or diverted water with a maximum increase of five (5) NTUs above the receiving stream's background levels.
6.10 When there is an overlap between regulatory requirements, the Company shall apply the more stringent and the more protective requirements for water bodies, natural features and fish habitat.
6.11 The Company shall ensure that storm water does not contain a concentration of oil or petrochemicals that could be detected as a visible film, sheen or discolouration, be detected by odour, cause the tainting of any aquatic organism, form deposits on shorelines or bottom sediments, or that could be deleterious to aquatic organisms.
6.12 The Company shall ensure that water pumped from any excavations is not discharged at a rate or in a quantity which will cause downstream flooding, erosion, or environmental impact, and that appropriate sediment control measures, such as sediment basin and filter strips will be employed, as necessary, at the discharge location.
6.13 The Company shall ensure that closure activities are located a minimum of thirty (30) metres from the high water mark of water bodies, as identified in the site-specific storm water management plan and erosion and sediment control plan described in section 6.2
6.14 The Company shall maintain records of all inspections, monitoring and sampling data, and maintenance carried out pursuant to sections 6.2, 6.5 and 6.8 and shall make those available for inspection by the Ministry, upon request.
6.15 The records described in 6.14 shall include the name of the Company's representative who conducted the inspections and/or Qualified Inspector, date, locations and timing of inspections and all remedial actions taken.
6.16 When the Company is of the opinion that there is no further need for the storm water management and erosion and sedimentation control measures to be in place the Company shall prepare a written report in accordance with section 6.17 and submit it to the District Manager for approval.
6.17 The report described in section 6.16 shall include, at a minimum, analysis that quality and quantity of the storm water demonstrates that there is no further need for the storm water management and erosion and sedimentation control measures to be in place.
6.18 Once the District Manager provides written approval of the report submitted under section 6.17 the storm water management and erosion and sedimentation control measures shall then be removed.
6.19 For greater certainty during the removal of the works described in 6.18 the Company shall comply with section 5 governing site restoration.
7 IN-WATER WORKS
7.1 In-water works shall be completed in a manner that does not harm fish habitat and other sensitive aquatic species or habitats.
7.2 The Company shall monitor in-field turbidity levels for the duration of the closure of the facility or until such a time as the Qualified Inspector determines that the erosion and sediment control measures are no longer required and/or that the risk of surface water/environmental impacts are negligible, in accordance with the following:
a) monitoring shall be conducted on a daily basis upstream of the facility within the waterbody(s), and downstream of the facility within the waterbody(s);
b) the Company shall notify the District Manager if the turbidity downstream of the erosion and control works is greater than eight (8) NTU from that measured upstream and shall immediately implement additional erosion and sediment control measures to reduce or mitigate the sediment related impacts;
c) the Company shall collect water samples from a location immediately upstream of any in-water works, and from a location immediately downstream of the in-water works to be analyzed for Total Suspended Solids; and
d) the sampling for Total Suspended Solids shall take place at least once daily while in-water works are occurring, unless otherwise directed by the Ministry.
7.3 The Company shall carry out in-water works in a manner which:
a) maintains the stream bed, substrates, stream bank, instream and near-shore habitat, and flow characteristics; and
b) adheres to any timing restrictions or mitigation requirements imposed under any other Act of the Government of Canada or Ontario.
8 WATER TAKINGS
8.1 The Company shall not take more than 50,000 litres of water on any day by any means for the purpose of carrying out the closure of the facility unless the written approval of the Director has first been obtained.
9 BLANDING'S TURTLES AVOIDANCE MEASURES
9.1 The Company shall implement and adhere to the avoidance techniques and best management practices to avoid adverse impacts to Blanding’s Turtles and its habitat, in accordance with the following:
a) Species at Risk Report White Pines Wind Project, dated August 2012 prepared by Stantec Consulting Ltd.;
b) White Pines Wind Project Natural Heritage Assessment; and
c) Environmental Impact Study - Addendum 2 , March 2013 prepared by Stantec Consulting Ltd.
9.2 For greater certainty the requirements described in section 9.1 include but are not limited to the following:
a) The Company shall avoid all Blanding’s Turtle overwintering habitat, during the overwintering period of October 15 to April 15.
b) The Company shall not perform in-water works from October 15 to April 15 of any year as turtles could be hibernating.
c) Closure activities for project components located within Blanding’s Turtle habitat shall only occur between October 15 and April 15.
(i) If closure activities between April 16 and October 14 are unavoidable, the Company must contact the Ministry a minimum of five (5) business days prior to commencing the closure activity and describe why the activity is unavoidable. Every attempt must be made to avoid harassment or injury to Blanding’s Turtles, including, but not limited to the following further restrictions:
(A) Immediately prior to closure activities a Qualified Professional shall search all work areas to identify the presence of Blanding’s Turtles.
(B) Should a Blanding’s Turtle(s) be observed within the project location, all closure activity (within thirty (30) metres of the observation) shall cease immediately until the Blanding’s Turtle(s) vacate(s) at least thirty (30) metres from the area of the closure activity of its own accord.
9.3 Prior to commencing closure activities, the Company shall clearly stake the limits of the work area.
9.4 The Company shall ensure that no disturbance occurs beyond the staked limits and that edges of sensitive areas adjacent to the work areas are not disturbed.
9.5 The Company shall employ regular monitoring of the work area limits to ensure the objective of minimal disturbance beyond the staked limits.
9.6 Should monitoring described in section 9.5 reveal that disturbance has occurred beyond staked limits, the Company shall, at the direction of a Qualified Professional, take mitigation action that could include rehabilitation of the disturbed area to pre-disturbance conditions, with enhancement of any disturbed areas.
9.7 If a nesting turtle or the nest site of a Blanding’s Turtle is encountered within the project location, the Qualified Professional shall determine if a decommissioning activity may adversely affect the nesting turtle or nest site, and shall provide any direction and/or measures to avoid impact. The Company shall follow any direction and/or measures as recommended by the Qualified Professional.
9.8 The Company shall maintain a staff training manual that describes at a minimum how to identify Blanding’s Turtles and steps to be taken upon encountering a Blanding’s Turtle.
9.9 All persons entering the project location shall be provided training with the manual mentioned in section 9.8 about Blanding’s Turtles and shall, before entering the site, be trained in the proper steps to take upon encountering a Blanding’s Turtle.
9.10 Vehicle traffic on access roads is only permitted during daylight hours from April 15 to October 15.
9.11 The Company shall maintain restrictions on vehicle speeds on access roads to 15 km/h or less until closure activities are completed.
9.12 The Company shall maintain speed limit signage to communicate the 15 km/h limit on all access roads, until closure activities are completed or until such access roads are removed. Signage shall be removed once access roads are removed.
9.13 The Company shall ensure that gates prohibiting access remain in place at the entrance to all access roads that occur in or adjacent to Blanding’s Turtle habitat until closure activities are completed or the access roads removed.
9.14 The Company shall maintain turtle crossing signs along access roads that occur in or adjacent to Blanding’s Turtle habitat. Signage shall also be removed once access roads are removed.
9.15 All observations of Blanding’s Turtles on the project location shall be recorded and submitted to the District Manager within two (2) business days of the observation, with any observed fatalities reported to the District Manager immediately.
9.16 Until closure activities are completed the Company shall continue to implement the additional avoidance and mitigation measures as outlined in the report “Additional Avoidance and Mitigation Measures to Minimize Potential Impacts to Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)”, prepared by Natural Resources Solutions Inc., dated July 2016, including implementation of the mitigation measures described in Tables 2-1 to 2-5 and 4-1 of that report.
10 CULTURAL HERITAGE RESOURCES AND PROTECTED PROPERTIES
10.1 . The Company shall avoid any closure activities within sixty (60) metres of any cultural heritage resources listed in Appendix A.
10.2 Where carrying out any closure activities within sixty (60) metres of any cultural heritage resources listed in Appendix A is unavoidable , the Company shall ensure that peak particle velocity levels associated with those activities are within the acceptable level as determined by a Qualified Independent Structural Engineer retained by the Company.
10.3 The Company shall perform continuous vibration monitoring when carrying out any closure activities within sixty (60) metres of any cultural heritage resources listed in Appendix A to ensure that peak particle velocity levels associated with those activities are within the acceptable level as determined in accordance with section 10.2. Such monitoring shall commence prior to any of those activities and continue constantly until the activities are completed. Vibration monitoring equipment must be continuously and constantly supervised by a person.
10.4 Should the levels referred to under section 10.2 be exceeded based on the vibration monitoring carried out under section 10.3, the Company shall cease any closure activities within sixty (60) metres of any cultural heritage resources listed in Appendix A until an acceptable solution can be identified by the Qualified Independent Structural Engineer .
10.5 The Company shall also retain a Qualified Independent Structural Engineer to perform an inspection of structures and their foundations on the cultural heritage resources listed in Appendix A post all closure activities and compare the inspection results to pre-construction inspections completed during the construction phase of the facility.
10.6 For the purposes of section 10.5, the Company shall attempt to contact the applicable owner(s) of the cultural heritage resource(s) to arrange for the post closure activity inspection(s) by the Qualified Independent Structural Engineer to take place on the cultural heritage resource(s). Where the owner(s) of the applicable cultural heritage resource(s) chooses not to allow for the inspection(s) on the cultural heritage resource(s), the Qualified Independent Structural Engineer may also complete the applicable inspection(s) from publicly accessible properties
10.7 The Company shall avoid changes to the trail surface of Millennium Trail from the removal of below-grade infrastructure. If disturbances to the trail surface are unavoidable, they shall be repaired immediately following removal activities to restore the trail surface to pre-construction conditions and as provided for in the Road Users Agreement.
10.8 Landscaping features along Royal Road and Maypul Layn Road streetscape and Millennium Trail, such as trees, fencing or vegetation shall not be removed or damaged during the closure of the facility. If removal or damage is unavoidable, they shall be repaired immediately following closure activities, to restore the landscaping features to pre-construction conditions and as provided for in the Road Users Agreement .
10.9 If disturbances to landscaping features described in section 10.8 are unavoidable, they shall be repaired immediately following closure activities, to restore the landscaping features to pre-construction conditions as provided for in the Road Users Agreement. If the disturbances are unavoidable, the Company must contact the Ministry and the County Clerk a minimum of five (5) business days prior to commencing the closure activity and describe why the activity is unavoidable.
10.10 The Company shall restore or replace any landscaping features described in section 10.8 that were removed or damaged during the construction or closure of the facility to as close to the pre-construction conditions as possible. Where it is not possible to return the landscaping features to pre-construction conditions, the Company shall seek the direction of the County Council in writing .
10.11 The Company shall not remove any extant cabins, log houses or built features encountered in wooded portions of the project location during the closure of the facility without the undertaking of a Heritage Assessment of the resource in accordance with section 23 of O. Reg. 359/09.
11 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCES
11.1 The Company shall implement all of the recommendations, if any, for further archaeological fieldwork and for the protection of archaeological sites found in the following consultant archaeologists' reports included in the Application, and which the Company submitted to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, as required by O. Reg. 359/09:
a) 2012, Stage 1 Archaeological Assessment, White Pines Wind Project, Prince Edward County, ON. Twp Lots A-Q; Various Lots in: West Bay; Lake Ontario W of Point Traverse; Con 1 S of Black River, Twp of S Marysburgh; and Various Lots in: Cons 2-5 S Side of E Lake, historic Twp of Athol in Prince Edward County, ON. Filed January 18, 2012 by Stantec Consulting
b) 2012a, Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment, Proposed White Pines Wind Project and Stage 1& 2 Transmission Line and Substation Additions and Modifications, Prince Edward County, Ontario. Filed June 25, 2012 by Adams Heritage
c) 2012b, Stage 1 and 2 Archaeological Assessment - White Pines Wind Project - Transmission Line, Milford to Gorsline Road. Filed December 28, 2012 by Adams Heritage
d) 2013, Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment Proposed White Pines Wind Project and Stage 1 and 2 Transmission Line and Substation WPWF (1-41-013) Stage 2 Archaeological Report January 11 2012, Prince Edward County, Ontario. Filed December 18, 2013 by Adams Heritage
11.2 Should any closure activities take place outside the areas assessed in the archaeological assessments above, the Company shall:
a) engage a consultant archaeologist to carry out the archaeological fieldwork necessary to assess the area in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act, the regulations under that act and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport's Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists ; and
b) notify the Director and the County Clerk within 5 days.
11.3 Should any previously undocumented archaeological resources be discovered, the Company shall:
a) immediately cease all alteration of the area in which the resources were discovered;
b) engage a consultant archaeologist to carry out the archaeological fieldwork necessary to assess the area and to either protect and avoid or excavate any sites in the area in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act , the regulations under that act and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport's Standards and Guidelines for Consultant Archaeologists ; and
c) notify the Director and the County Clerk within 5 days.
12 EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
12.1 The Company shall prepare an Emergency Response and Communications Plan to address the closure of the facility and shall include at a minimum the following information:
a) hazard identification and assessment;
b) communication system including updated emergency contact information for the Company and procedures;
c) administration of the plan including roles and responsibilities, and emergency resources; and
d) emergency response procedures.
12.2 The Company shall finalize the plan within 30 days of O. Reg. XXX/18 (Closure of the White Pines Wind Facility) coming into force and submit the plan to the County Clerk.
13 ABORIGINAL CONSULTATION
13.1 During the closure of the facility, the Company shall:
a) create and maintain written records of any communications with Aboriginal communities; and
b) make the written records available for review by the Ministry upon request.
13.2 If any archaeological resources of Aboriginal origin are found during the decommissioning of the facility, the Company shall:
a) notify any Aboriginal community considered likely to be interested or which has expressed an interest in such finds; and,
b) if a meeting is requested by an Aboriginal community to discuss the archaeological find(s), make reasonable efforts to arrange and participate in such a meeting.
14 RECORDS
14.1 The Company shall maintain records relating to,
a) inspections of the facility, including those required under sections 6 and 7;
b) monitoring and sampling data including those required under section 6 and 7;
c) any complaint alleging an adverse effect connected to the closure of the facility;
d) the UTM of any electrical collector or Interconnection lines that are left in place; and
e)any observations of Blanding’s Turtle
14.2 A record of an inspection shall include the name and qualifications of the person who conducted the inspection, the date and time of the inspection, and all remedial actions taken as a result of the inspection.
14.3 A record of a complaint shall include,
a) a description of the complaint, including,
(i) the date and time the complaint was made;
(ii) the name, address and contact information of the person who made the complaint;
b) a description of each incident to which the complaint relates, including,
(i) the date and time of the incident;
(ii) the duration of the incident;
(iii) the location of the person who made the complaint at the time of the incident;
c) a description of the measures taken to address the cause of each incident to which the complaint relates and to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
14.4 The Company shall make the records available for inspection by the Ministry or the County on request.
14.5 The Company shall retain the records until they are submitted as part of the final closure report to the Director, District Manager and the County Clerk as provided for in O.Reg XXX/18.
15 COMPLAINTS
15.1 The Company shall notify the District Manager of each complaint within two business days after the complaint is received and provide the District Manager with the records of the complaint required under section 14.3 within eight business days after the complaint is received.
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
ROAD USERS AGREEMENT
Submitted November 30, 2018 4:09 PM
Comment on
New regulation under the Environmental Protection Act to close the White Pines Wind Project
ERO number
013-3835
Comment ID
13392
Commenting on behalf of
Comment status