Not enough public consultation on proposed wind-energy project, says environmental advocate

Wednesday marked the deadline for people to have their say on a controversial wind-hydrogen megaproject on the Port au Port Peninsula, but an environmental advocate who made her opinion known is pessimistic about how much impact public comments will have on the project's future.

Tara Manuel, co-chair of a group called Enviro Watch N.L., a citizen-led provincial non-profit organization, says there wasn't nearly enough time for people to examine World Energy GH2's environmental assessment — a 4,000-page document that was submitted 51 days ago, on Aug. 22.

"It's hard to look at this process and say that it's fair. The public have been given a month and a half to analyze a 4,000-page technical document and provide comments. That is not possible. The process is stacked against the people, very clearly," Manuel said Wednesday.

"We're citizens with jobs and lives, and a lot of people have put a lot of time in trying to make sense of it. One cannot make sense of it."

World Energy GH2 plans to put 328 wind turbines in the Port au Port region and the Codroy Valley along with a large processing plant in Stephenville.

Manuel says she's concerned about the project's potential impact on the land and its residents, she said.

"The Port au Port is a small peninsula. They're proposing to build a massive turbine construction … which will take more than 40 per cent of the land," Manuel said.

"It's going to disrupt communities, people's lives. It will deforest and disrupt the natural ecology."

Manuel and Enviro Watch N.L. submitted a letter to the provincial Environment Department as part of the public consultation process — but she doesn't have faith that her concerns, or the concerns of others, will be addressed.

"Will they even be read? I don't know. Who's going to read them? The handful of people working in the Department of Environment?" Manuel asked. "It's hard to have any faith at all in the integrity of the process."

In a statement Wednesday, the Department of Environment and Climate Change said all public comments will be considered before a decision — due by the end of the month — is made on the project.

An environmental assessment committee is also in place with representation from all levels of government, the statement said.

"This committee is reviewing the environmental impact statement and providing technical and regulatory advice for the minister's consideration, prior to a decision on the project," reads the statement.

Manuel said she and others will continue to voice their concerns about the project, including in an online forum that was hosted on Wednesday and peaceful marches planned for the future.

"We have a history in this province when it comes to megaproject development of rushing in too fast," Manuel said. "If we cannot learn from our history, then we are doomed. So let us learn from our history. Let us take our time, and really fully look at this thing."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.