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Tuesday 13 December 2022

poet as citizen gadfly: Marmora pumped energy boondoggle

published Dec. 15/22 on page 13 of The Community Press


Dear Editors The Community Press,

Late last week I received a postcard in the mail announcing an info drop-in session for yet another proposal for a pumped energy storage project. This is the same project which died a decade ago after public concern was expressed over the safety of building a storage pond on top of the old Marmora mine slag heap, which looms over the village.    

There is no perceived benefit to the residents of Marmora village for this project. In addition to the risk posed by the slag heap dam, there are also concerns over noise levels from turbines pumping water up and down the slag heap at all hours, reduced property values (who wants to live in the shadow of a volcano?), traffic issues etc. .

The drop-in session is scheduled for this Thursday at The Legion from 4 to 7 pm. This is not a convenient date or time of day for most Marmora residents. It's scheduled for 10 days before Christmas during working hours and then dinner time. The drop-in setting discourages residents from attending what should be a group meeting and denies us the ability to hear the concerns of our neighbours. It sounds to me like Ontario Power Generation and Northland Power want to keep this "public" meeting as inconvenient to the public as possible.    

Sincerely,

Chris Faiers   (signed)

Marmora, ON

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