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Erin man volunteers ICG eyes election while helping groups fight Hydro An Erin man who never before offered his lime free for any cause did so last Wednesday lo lead local far mere against Ontario Hydro land assembly here for its power corridor I never volunteered before David Coleman lold about GO people at Ospnnge School when he offered to chair tonight tWed meeting at the same place B 30 people indicated they would come to talk about sharing the newly formed Hills group lawyer in expropriation hearings and funding The Ospnnge School meet ings mean that another group of area residents joined what appears to be an Interested Citizens Group ICG to turn the proposed Bradley Georgetown hydro corridor into an issue for the next provincial election Up and down the route of the proposed watt line the ICG is helping local groups unite Stewartlown two weeks ago al Durham hearings later this month and soon too in East Luther the ICG offers support of Milton who heads the Hills group welcomed the people to share the services of lawyer Dick of Georgetown at ex hearings Both he and Mr Howilt however insisted that there be a group in the Ospringe area Last Wednesday meeting was called to Inform citizens of the steps Ontario Hydro usually takes In its land For this purpose ICG chairman Bill Mann in viledMr and Durham lawyer Peter Both men had already talked to Ihe Hills group at Stewartlown On what lo do about Ontario Hydro and its expropriation notices the advice was delay Delay is what needed because somewhere down the line is an election Mr said The more time you can gel us the more chance we have of getting the corridor out Mr Mann said All three men advised area farmers lo file for a hearing as soon as Ihey receive notices from the public utility You must file an ob jection within days With out a notice no Inquiry is held Mr said Concerning Ontario Hydro attempts to survey farmers land Mr in formed the group thai sur veyors must have tion You con interfere with Ihem There s not merit though In letting Ihem on your land to do work now Hold out as long as possible he said The Durham lawyer also advised residents not lo sign any documents relating to compensation You pro bably won I get paid for a longtime and you II probably find your neighbor has gone to the compensation board and gotten more Mr said Mr invited listeners lo attend the three day hear of necessity for Durham farmers which star Is June at li a m in Durham District High School Mr Fallis however was not optimistic about the hearing outcome He described the inquiry officer Miller of St Catharines in these words We he Miller has a habit of rubber stamping Ihlngs lhat are presented to him Even if Mr Miller does not run true lo the form which Mr Fallis sets him to there is Ontario Energy Minister Dennis Timbrell We fear it the hearing will be a charade and a farce because Dennis says he s fed up with hearings and says it the line Is going ahead no matter what the in officer says Mr said Mr who is also a Hills councillor hopes lo make it two wins in a row against Ontario Hydro Ik and another lawyer sue in the courts at getting a route for a proposed power corridor changed in the Chat ham area in 1973 Based on his Chatham experience Mr detailed some of the utility lactics in land acquisition Once they gel into ex hearings hydro Marls with elderly people who may not want to fight Then frequently they went lo people who don understand English too well They d leave the lough cookies to Ihe end to create the impression hat there are cranks at Ihe centre kicking up a fuss Mr said Hydro appears to have divided the farmers along the proposed route into three groups The north Durham and area Is set for a hearing the south Georgetown and Acton area is receiving notices but no date for a hearing is yel set The middle is just starting to receive notices Mr said that the division is a classic hydro tactic Hydro land either end and works towards the middle and Ihe hearings arc held at different times tie said Mr Mann said is nol against hydro corridors The ICG an indep endent non Ontario Hydro study of the of taking power of the Bruce nuclear iling station on Lake Hun LAWYERS PETER FALLIS left and Dick Howitt spoke to about area farmers at Ospnnge School on Ontario Hydros land acquisition tactics Area citizens are meeting tonight at 30 p m in the school to cuss what to do and funding Mr said lhat the north too wants an in dependent inquiry bcciuse he said power could be trans ported along a utility corridor which would share the foot wide Canadian It not beyond engineering capabilities to bring power way Mr said The ICG proposed another ilternative of bringing the nuclear generated power to the at the menial Hearing Board sessions summer The group mam tamed that Ontario Hydro can use an existing watt corridor as a first line and add a parallel watt line to Essa near Lake Simcoe where it can link with major north south route Bill White It EQsl I asked for and received ICG help in can people in his area Once a list of names is giver lo the ICG Peggy Mann Catherine Donnell will start knocking on doors One Hundred and F rst YearNo 51 ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY JUNE 1976 Farming under 500 kV lines hydro demonstrates at Essa Fri ELECTRIC FIELDS exist under kV lines Ontario Hydro admits but claim they are low at ground level and cannot normally be felt Walter Inkis demonstrates a slight tingle can be felt when an umbrella is used to magnify electrical effects By Cole watch demonstrations con ing under high voltage lines The working press was in dueled by Walter a an emphasis on farming to Ontario Hydro a dc- development engineer operations principally De monstration site at Essa Demonstrations are dc cause of the concern In Ihe near Bar last Friday and signed conditions community over the this repor attended to experienced by people work extra high voltage EHV transmission lines such as arc proposed for he Bradley to Georgetown hydro corn dor The four hour program in vited questions and there was no doubt Ontario Hydro came smelling like the Rose of Demonstratioas took place direetly under the only kilowatt lines Ontario Hydro officials including en gineers and an Black fielded questions from skeptical reporters Black pricked ears up when he press and TV representatives he would have no worry about living in a house directly under the kV hydro lines I there is no danger or gene tic effects he said He said Russian studies on switchyard workers indical there were dangers to health were unscientific and would not apply to exposure under hydro lines In fact he said one study done in the United Slates seemed lo indi thai electrical fields such as were generated by hydro lines helped bone growth and the healing of fractures But he said these conclusions were and he knew of no effects One Ontario Hydro lineman Concern for corridor in report The all party Ontario Legislature select committee on hydro rates report will contain a statement on what Is termed Hie continuing concern for the Bradley Georgetown power corridor Julian Reed says Mr Reed told about and area farmers Wednesday at School that the statement will other hydro corridors which are not as far as the watt Bradley lo Georgetown line Mr Reed sat on select committee The main thrust of Ihe committees report is aimed at a per cent rate increase next year The jump in hydro rales is required by Ontario Hydro to cover expected costs It is an accomplishment lo get this concern I for the hydro corridors included in the main body of the report Mr Reed said The remarks preceded a meeting called to inform local residents of Ontario Hydros land acquisition tactics Interested Citizens Group chairman Bill Mann and two lawyers who will be representing farmers at Durham and Hills hearings detailed the Crown Corporations methods Had i monstralion hall directly the kV lines attached a foot aerial and de monstrated there was little Interference Most problems for people near or under hydro lines they said were attributable to old aerials damaged lead ins and old sets or fluorescent lights electric drills skill saws or other such apparatus Ninety per cent of such inter ference emanates from the homes Hydro claims When Hydro docs encounter outside interference men arc despat to find out where it on nates and clear it up Sialic on radio and TV interference mainly originate from weak stations on rainy days Problems and TV reception produced a blue flash similar had a small cheap an arc welder of ap- TV set in their de- proximately two seconds duration and burnt through the rust exposing shiny me tal Mr said they had tried to simulate the condi tions described but with no success Elmer the farmer swore lhat on June 29 1975 at about 10 a he approached his forage harvester which had been parked under the kV line overnight He said the tractor was unhitched and the forage harvester was resting on its un which was a piece of wood Equipped with two rub ber ires it was insulated but being suspicious of the ma chine having picked up a charge he look a half inch by two foot steel bar and stand ing a few feet away threw also multiply on old lines such a manner it struck the wheretechnicalexpertisehas ground and fell against the not been updated rear hitch of the machine Asked why Hydro had no That precipitated the blue cattle under the lines to test flash of two seconds whether there were any gene- He said thai he feels if he tic effects Mr Inkis said it had not taken this precaution had been considered but be- he would not be alive today of financial cutbacks He swore the notarized state- was not feasible Told there menl at Mount Forest on was much concern especially March 1976 from Bruce County cattle Mr Inkis said he was fami Demonstrations also show methods of grounding troughs Which may cause animals to pick up annoying charges Most at the charges felt by reporters in the simulated farm scene were just tingles and Ontario Hydro claimed lhat s all lhat would be felt When farmers operated under the lines effects were annoying rather than but reporters including this one were nol anxious to move under hydro lines Walter Inkis says concern lines stems from fear of Ihe unknown The demonstration centre located across the road from the Essa transformer station key point on Hydro kV transmission link of hydro electric stations in James Bay watershed with the Tor onto area is designed to allay concerns and groups are in Any groups interested in viewing the demonslra tions should contact Mr Jim Dunn Ontario Hydro University Avenue Room H8 Toronto Ontario 1X6 or phone collect MacDonald says Reed is too late for study According to Donald C number of dramatic speeches continued when another MacDonald chairman of the emphasizing his parly member James Hydro Select Committee determination to fight the suggested thai the committee Burlington MPP government on the question should including an Julian Reed was two months of hydro corridors and said addendum acknowledging with the notarized state ment but hey could not re peat it and get a charge at the demonstration centre He of no other explanation Demonstrations shown to the press included those with various types of farm fences it is safe and if there under line to illustrate lhat the fences drain static charges through metal or wood posts or contacts with the ground or grass Gener ally Hydro claims the rest late In asking for a report the Bradley to Georgetown hydro corridor said Reed was injecting politics in the issue when the committee faced a deadline for reporting on May and had unanimously decided It would hear no further wit nesses because it had sub stantial testimony on all answers central to terms of reference Mr Reed last week accused Ihe New Democratic Parly of which Mr is a member of taking the was Iwofaccd However MacDonald in a statement issued this week said it was not a policy matter but the lateness of the rcsolu after the committee decided to hear no further in order to meet the May 31 deadline said The Committee down that resolution partly because the Issue was best peripheral to our terms of reference but more im because we had no testimony on the Reed concern with the issue of the Bradley Georgetown Corridor and voicing the strong view the planning and routing of Hydro corn dors should be carried out only with the fullest public Reed refused this alternative it the firm in si le nee of David Peterson Hydro officials indi catcd they would do so at some time in the future when the financial situation was belter Is it safe to ride horses der high voltage electrical lines According to Ontario Hydro it is safe and if there supervisor told the press he arc problems they can be cor has been working on hydro reeled by using a semi con lines since 1D6S including type of insulation un kV and der a saddle Charges have been made by Hills continued to grow farmers that any metallic dual voltage and current in statements that exposure Items in tack bits buckles fences is less lhan that avail to electrical fields could etc will pick up an electrical able from a small flashlight cause ill health and sterility charge which may give the battery Black said he had never horse a severe electrical Vehicles were under the seen symptoms yet from any shock causing unpredictable lines including a farm tractor lineman which would indicate actions by the horse to show that under some they were affected by expo- claimed voltage a charge can sure to hydro lines build up tn the ground near up on the vehicles if en Demonstralor Walter may also a cur void any grounding also made light of charges renl to flow between the front contact Normally Hydro that ozone manufactured by rear legs of a horse be- soys any charge would be hydro transmission corridors a rider and horse when drained through tires a plow could affect the atmosphere rider Is mounting or handling He said quantities were so who though not a member small there was trouble mea sat his elbow during the Committee discussion of the issue If Reed wanted or was going to insist that the Committee should include the Bradley Georgetown Corr He proceeded with a demonstration to also show hat small devices containing ozone were used to purify air in office buildings and homes Higher concentrations of ozone arc harmful he said u in contact with ground or Riders have been cautioned through chains not to allow their horses to Hydro warns against re touch any ungrounded metal fuelling vehicles under hydro lie objects such as a car ma llncsalthoughthedemonstra chine or fence because under with gasoline Illustrated certain sets of conditions the the difficulty of igniting fuel horse could become electro- directly under the lines Demonstrations farm Ontario Hydro says riding buildings including metal TESTING THE electrical field next to a wire fence under the 500 lines draws only a frown from Walter in public and another at heard no tonmony on the J horses under lines covered showed they are the committee on Iteefelt no never shown any ill effects grounded through electrical SSwtf ASSSSS siks voteaHalnst the resolution to rcopenneanngs since llie Issue in al the which would decrease der a transmission but Hydro says usually they ciency We try to keep it as line where contact between a are small less than those low as possible steel bar and a tractor hitch produced by air circulation voteagainst the resolution to reopen hearings deadline for our report Reed noted leader already past eleventh hour Stephen Lewis had made a Furthermore said TRYING TO light line with an electric spark under 500 kV lines is Walter Inkis He says it can be done but only under extra ordinary conditions