Amherst  Island is along one of the largest bird migratory paths in the world and a key landing area for migrating birds, especially owls, eagles, hawks and falcons. (Click on image to enlarge.) As a result the National Wildlife Federation has voted it one of the 100 best bird-watching spots in North America, one of only two such sites in Ontario, the other being Point Pelee. Over the course of the year, it is home to an estimated 3 million birds. It is also the number one owl-watching spot in North America, drawing hundreds of bird-watchers and naturalists to the Island each year.

Industrial wind turbines will adversely 
impact migratory and residential bird 
and bat populations to varying degrees. 
Amherst  Island has been identified as 
an important bird area, owing to its
seasonal populations of water fowl, 
field bird and other migrants following 
the eastern migratory corridor. Birds 
that fly at the altitude of the proposed 
wind turbines on Wolfe Island (for 
example) include mallards, great blue 
herons, Wilson's snipe, gulls, pigeons 
and swallows.

Conservation groups have been soft on 
the issue of wind turbines, as global 
warming is considered more harmful to 
the species as a whole. But the 
Audubon society has observed that it 
would be prudent to avoid locations 
where there was the potential for 
harm -- as there is little real research to 
accurately predict and mitigate 
impacts. 

Migratory bird populations are 
protected by international treaty and 
are a federal responsibility.  Residential 
birds and bats are the responsibility of 
the province.  The federal Species at 
Risk Act (SARA) might also come into 
consideration. The Environment 
Canada April 2007 Environmental Audit 
guidance for assessing wind power 
plants suggests that potential sites on 
migration corridors that are staging 
areas for migrating or wintering birds,
or have been identified as Important 
Bird Areas, have high potential risk for 
birds, and require more detailed 
evaluation and perhaps may not be 
appropriate sites.  The example of 
Wolfe Island suggests that this needs 
to be more generally recognized -- 
caution in the face of uncertainty. 

In addition, migrating butterflies and bats (whose principal food is mosquitoes) are also at risk.

Other Environmental Concerns
There is concern that wind-turbine foundation excavation poses risks to water-tables and local wells.  For every 10 metres of height on a turbine, the foundation has to go 1 metre down (i.e., there will be 8-10 metre foundations). Inasmuch as Amherst Island is solid limestone (a layered rock that allows for rapid water movement), blasting to build the foundations may disrupt or contaminate the ground water. Further possible danger to the land and water comes from the hydraulic oil used in the nacelles of the turbines.
Tree cover, already down to 14% on Amherst Island (should be 30% for self-generation) will be reduced further and an extensive service-road system built.

 Large transformers and heavy cables will be required at every turbine site. The transformers and the hydro lines that send the electricity to the grid have to be buried.  This requires the digging and blasting of trenches on land and a cable to go across the North Channel. Thus, there are environmental concerns both during and after the construction period.

Further, owing to the eratic nature of wind, fossil fuel-burning plants must still be kept in operation to even out the power supply to the grid, and to restart stalled turbine blades. It is disingenuous of wind developers to state that the wind is always blowing somewhere: there are days in both summer and winter when there is no wind anywhere in Ontario.  When we have most need of wind generation, it is not available.

The idling of a fossil fuel power station produces more CO2 per MW than if it is running at full capacity. Because of this, wind power does very little to reduce greenhouse gases.