I have been living and doing business in Oakville/Clarkson for 23 years and am very concerned with the government's decision to site a 975 MW power plant within 320 meters of a school and local residences.  This should matter to all Ontarians because by moving forward with this plant, the province is setting a terrible precedent - in other words this could happen to you in your community.

I believe that it is up to all of us to hold our politicians accountable and to do the right thing.  Even if you don't live in Oakville, you can help.   So I am asking for your support.

Please enjoy the attached newsletter, and I encourage you to go the C4CA web site and join - it's free.  After working hard on this issue for 8 months, C4CA believes that they are at the tipping point of impacting the decision.  So that means that every gesture of support matters.  This is an issue that is very important to me personally, and I invite you to learn about the issue and get involved.

After meeting with the volunteers from C4CA, and learning the facts, I have joined C4CA as a Street Captain, a source of information and awareness for my neighbours and contacts. 

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What can you do?

• Sign up with C4CA through their website (http://www.c4ca.org Facts Page: http://www.c4ca.org/facts)
• Get a lawn sign from C4CA to show your support (Contact me for one)
• Make a donation if you can to help with legal costs (Contact me to make a donation)
• Make your view know to the Government (FREE and EASY! - see below)
• Meet C4CA at Midnight Madness on July 16, downtown Oakville

Make your view know to the Government

We must all take immediate action to urge Premier Dalton McGuinty to order an Individual Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Oakville Generating Station.

Help stop the proposed Power Plant. Call, write or eMail Premier McGuinty.

Here's what to say:

"Premier McGuinty, please tell your Environment Minister, John Gerretsen, to order an Individual Environmental Assessment, including an evaluation of alternatives such as Nanticoke, for the proposed Oakville Generating Station project. Oakville and Mississauga families deserve this measure of protection. Please do it now."

• CALL Dalton McGuinty at 416.325.1941
• WRITE Dalton McGuinty at Legislative Building, Queen's Park, Toronto ON M7A 1A1.
• eMAIL Dalton McGuinty through his Web site form
  https://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/feedback.asp?Lang+ENLang=EN
• FAX Dalton McGuinty at 416.325.3745

All the facts

• The Minister of Environment can order an individual environmental assessment (IEA) for the proposed Oakville Generating Station project.
• The terms of reference for the IEA should include consideration of alternatives, such as the conversion of the existing coal-fuelled units at Nanticoke into a natural gas-fuelled facility.
• TCEL's environmental review under the Electricity EA regulation is satisfactory for many electricity projects, including smaller plants or plants in industrial areas with proper buffers, but it is inadequate for a massive 975MW plant located in the heart of a residential community.
• The proposed strip of Ford land is incredibly small for such a massive 975MW plant - only 13.5 acres; the site is so tight and so close to rail lines that TCEL had to ask for a variance to allow it to be only 7.5m from the lines.
• The Ford strip of land is only 60 metres from an office building, 15 metres from high speed rail, 320 metres from a school and 400 metres from houses.
• The lack of any real buffer results in serious safety issues, which must be assessed as part of the IEA. If a problem arose, there would be no margin for error given the lack of setbacks.
• TCEL has chosen water cooling that would use existing water intake pipes from Lake Ontario. The daily water use would be massive compared to what Ford uses. The extreme challenges with water cooling relate to the formation of ice and fogging in and around the plant, which is a significant safety issue that must be assessed in an IEA.
• Given that Nanticoke has an existing link to the transmission grid, this would be the natural and logical location for a new natural gas/biomass fuelled plant.
• There is very recent precedent for a company undertaking a large scale project to request an IEA. This was done by Shell for the expansion of its refinery in Sarnia, even though no EA was required.
• Oakville and Mississauga families deserve this measure of protection. Please call or write the Premier.