Water Wells First and a local MPP are demanding that public health opens up an investigation now that families near the North Kent Wind project must go back to drinking from their “visibly polluted” wells.
These reports were sent after Water Wells First sent laboratory tests to the ministry that revealed a 14,000 fold increase in black shale particles since construction started on the wind farm north of Chatham, which is a joint venture between North-Kent Wind, Samsung, and Pattern Energy.
“They cited unknown factors to be the cause and yet offered no explanation to the area effect that was seen,” says Jakubec.
He says families have now been told by the MOE that they can start drinking their well water again.
“If they take the filters out and let that water go through their house, they would have all this black shale going into their washing machine to do laundry, it’d be clogging their shower…it’d be coming out into the sink… you’d have bedrock in your food.” Jakubec says families like the Brooks have no idea what to do.
“It’s alarming to see the ministry has simply dropped it’s responsibility,” he says.
Jakubec says it is now up to public health to determine whether the water is safe to drink.
The NDP sent a news release to BlackburnNewsCK.com on Monday stating that Essex MPP Taras Natyshak sent a letter to the MOE and the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care calling on them to take these community concerns seriously and conduct an intensive health hazard investigation alongside the local medical officer of health.
“The Ontario NDP believes that water is a public trust,” says Natyshak.
“Ministry staff are finalizing their review of the information that will be provided to each complainant regarding the outcome of the ministry’s assessment of their complaint, including groundwater and vibration monitoring results,” says Wheeler.

Students at Estevan’s Westview Elementary School have made it into the top 150 finalists for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge.
The annual Solve for Tomorrow Challenge is geared toward Canadian students in grades 6 to 12 who find problems in their local communities and has them use STEM technologies to address the issues.
Davenport’s Grade 7 class and the other 149 finalists are now that much closer to becoming one of four regional winners, who’ll get presented with $20,000 Samsung technology grant packages.
The four winning finalists will also get a special event with Canadian rocket scientist Natalie Panek, who’s part of the Canadian contingent working on the European Space Agencies ExoMars rover.
“Especially evident with my recent work on the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Rover project, is that a career in STEM carries boundless opportunities.
“I’m so excited to meet these bright minds of tomorrow through Solve for Tomorrow—who knows, they might be the minds designing the next big space telescope or the spacesuits crew members will wear on a mission to Mars!” All of of the 150 regional finalist schools will get a Samsung technology package, which includes a Samsung Gear VR and Samsung Gear360 camera to help them in finishing their next ‘assignment’ as part of the Challenge: documenting the execution of their community solution in a three-minute video.
Mark Childs, Chief Brand Officer, Samsung Canada, said, “These 150 regional finalists embody what Solve for Tomorrow is all about: innovation, teamwork, and a commitment to the future of Canadian communities.
As we celebrate Canada’s 150th this year, we are excited to see inspired student solutions come to life that will have local, national and even global implications.” The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge aims to motivate STEM interest and 21st century learning opportunities in Canadian classrooms, which is an area of issue as less than half of Canadian high school students graduate with senior STEM courses though 70 per cent of top jobs demand expertise in science, technology, engineering and math*.
Together with Solve for Tomorrow ambassador, Paneck, and educational organizations The Learning Partnership and Let’s talk Science, the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge hopes to spark Canadian students’ passion for STEM to solve tomorrow’s problems today.
Other examples of 150 Regional Finalist projects moving on include a mobile app to monitor water pollution levels, a fruit and vegetable production plan to spur healthy eating habits, and other innovative ideas.