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Common sense dictates power plant in wrong location Continued from page 6 7 · Friday, March 5, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com within two kilometers, and approximately 11,000 homes within three kilometres. The tragic accident at the Kleen Energy Systems power plant in Middletown, Connecticut on Feb.7 occurred on a 137-acre parcel of land separated from communities by a river and buffer zones. This fateful explosion has now claimed the lives of six construction workers, including a man from Hamilton, injured several others and reportedly blew out the windows of a hospital that was three kilometres away and shook homes as far away as 40 kilometres. The fact that it was on a large site, with buffers between the plant and the nearby communities, protected neighbouring communities. In contrast, the power plant in Oakville will be 50 per cent larger and will be built on a piece of land that is one-tenth the size of the Kleen Energy site. And, it is located right in the heart of a residential community, with Canada's highest traffic rail line carrying people and dangerous cargos adjacent to the site. No buffer zone exists resulting in a much greater potential for catastrophic damage and loss of life if a similar explosion were to hap- pen here. It goes against human experience to suggest that such a catastrophic risk could not happen in the Oakville power plant. The crash of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River last year; the natural gas leak explosion in an Etobicoke strip mall in 2003 that killed seven people; the Canadian Pacific freight train carrying chemicals that derailed in Mississauga in 1979 causing a mass evacuation; the explosion at Sunrise Propane in Downsview in 2008; the freight train carrying gas that exploded and crashed into homes in Viareggio, Italy, killing 22 people in 2009; and the collision this month of two commuter trains near Halle, Belgium, that killed at least 18 people are just some of the examples of catastrophes that were never expected to happen. We also know from experience that quality control and risk management systems can never be relied on to provide absolute assurance against mechanical failure, technology breakdowns or human error. The profits awarded by the OPA to TransCanada to build and operate this power plant are significant. On Nov. 4 at their third quarter earnings conference call, the CEO of TransCanada stated, "TransCanada expects to invest approximately $1.2 billion in this natural gas-fired combined cycle plant with an expected after tax unlevered internal rate of return of nine per cent." This amounts to expected after tax earnings of $108 million per year for the next 20 years. It would appear that the pursuit of election promises and profits has put the citizens of Oakville and Mississauga at risk. In addition to these safety issues, this power plant will emit sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter 2.5 microns in diameter, and carbon dioxide into an airshed that the Ministry of Environment's own Clarkson Airshed Study determined is already "stressed." This plant's water cooling process will also draw between 9,482 litres and 17,838 litres of water, per minute, from Lake Ontario ­ which could be an amazing 25.7 million litres per day at peak periods. A large portion of this water would be returned to Lake Ontario at potentially higher temperatures and reduced quality, and the rest released into the atmosphere -- which could cause more safety issues if this vapour cloud freezes on adjacent rail lines and highways. The Queen's Park rally Tuesday told the McGuinty government that these safety, health and environmental issues are of serious concern to the citizens of Oakville and Mississauga. They should also be of serious concern to other towns and cities in Ontario, because they, too, could have a dangerous power plant jammed into their town or city. Premier McGuinty needs to now use his common sense, stand tall and do the right thing -- stop the building of this power plant, and change the process by which these decisions are made. 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