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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , Se pt em be r 2 4, 2 01 0 6 w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , Se pt em be r 1 7, 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS Letters to the editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakville- beaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. So do you feel safer now that TransCanada has released a report completed by GL Noble Denton con- sultants stating, in essence, that Oakville residents have little reason to fear the companys proposed 900- megawatt gas-fired power plant on Royal Windsor Drive? According to the consultants, our fears would appear to have been (please pardon the pun) blown out of proportion. Feel safer now? If not, join the club. Frankly, we dont put much stock in any consul- tants report that is bought and paid for by the compa- ny conducting the very project they are examining. Were sure the engineers and experts employed by GL Noble Denton are all very well-qualified people. However, weve seen these types of reports before at numerous Town Council meetings and Ontario Municipal Board hearings. No matter what the project, there never seems to be a problem in getting a qualified expert consultant to provide a report stating their clients project does not pose any safety, traffic or environmental concerns to the community. In the same hearings or council meetings, we have also seen Town staff or consultants hired by the municipality produce reports stating the exact oppo- site. We have yet to see a consultant table a report with a conclusion contrary to the one desired by the firm paying for the study. In our view, these type of hired-gun consulting reports are all suspect. The GL Noble Denton consultants try to downplay the safety risks of locating a giant gas-fired power plant in close proximity (within 400 metres) of homes, schools and businesses by calculating the risks in the hundreds of millions of years. But that doesnt guarantee an accident cant hap- pen. So why risk it? Why place the largest gas-fueled power plant in Ontario in such a highly-populated area? Why not place the plant in an area where even if that once-in-a-several-hundred-million-years accident does occur, it would cause as little damage as possible? Sorry, despite its findings, the GL Noble Denton safety report did little to convince us the TransCanada power plant on Royal Windsor is worth the risk not even in a hundred-million years. The Oakville Beaver is a division of NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is locat- ed at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Letter to the editorNot worth the risk THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENAAward THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIALMEDIASPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian CirculationAudit Board Member Canadian CommunityNewspapers AssociationOntario CommunityNewspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America I was driving down Speers Road and was shocked to see this. The struggle against an incumbent is a difficult one, the struggle against an incum- bent that has a massive federal team behind him is more difficult, but the struggle against an incumbent who is openly linked to the mayor is impossible. ROSS BRAGDON, WARD 6 COUNCIL CANDIDATE Mission impossible Pud BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com Power plant not worth the risk Re: Power plant safe says report, Oakville Beaver, Sept. 22 Oddly enough, it is no surprise to me that the Pre-Construction Safety Report (PCSR), authorized and paid for by TransCanada came to the conclusion that the proposed Oakville Generating Station (OGS) would be of low risk to area residents, transportation facilities and area businesses, etc. Of course, the sources of their data is a mystery, but their findings should make TransCanada happy. Their money well spent, I'd say. Of course, if this plant gets built, that cost is a drop in the bucket of the funds TransCanada stands to gain if they convince the powers that be that it is statistically improbable that anything bad will happen if this plant is built less than 400 meters from homes, schools, daycare centre, religious facilities and the list goes on. So why do I still feel so worried about having a 900 megawatt power plant built less than 730 meters from my home? Could it be that I wonder what the risk assessments were for other large energy facilities that have been in the news lately? In the end, I believe that any risk is too much when you are dealing with the lives of people. Add to that the fact that there are even safer alternative sites to put this plant and the idea of low risk becomes irrelevant. Or how about zero risk? With the number of plants the OPA has already built or contracted for out- side of the OGS, it is questionable as to whether or not this plant is even need- ed at all. Why not wait a while and give tech- nology a chance to come up with new less polluting, hazardous and expensive ways to generate electricity for Ontario's future? For example, the Bloom Energy box, which is a gridless electricity generator that is now being tested by huge companies like Google. If TransCanada builds this plant we will not only be put at risk and locked into an expensive repayment plan con- tracted by the OPA, but we will be locked out of the ability to use newer green technology in the near future. EVA TREADWAY, OAKVILLE