Hibernating turtles slow drain fix

Friday, April 8, 2016

When Dunnville-area farmer Arie Vanderknyff noticed that a contractor building a wind turbine access road used a too-small culvert in the local municipal drain, he contacted Haldimand County. The grower of annual flowers worried backed-up spring runoff would flood his greenhouse and expected his municipality to fix the problem right away.

The county's engineering director inspected the culvert and agreed a fix was needed.

Only there was a problem. Work would be delayed because threatened turtles might be hibernating in the ditch.

Vanderknyff couldn't believe his ears. Flooding would have come and gone by the time the turtles woke up. Moreover, other than the painted turtles in his pond, he'd never noticed the critters around.

Asked if he'd considered approaching council, Vanderknyff said no. "Who can you fight if the engineer comes up with this nonsense?" he said. "I wouldn't even know where to start."                 

Tyson Haedrich, the engineer, says the repair is up to Niagara Region Wind Farm Corporation (now FWRN LP), which is establishing the wind turbine on Vanderknyff's property and building the problematic access road.  

He said the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources likely flagged the construction as requiring approval because of the presence of the turtle. "And so there's only certain windows that you can work so you don't disturb their hibernation," he said.

Haedrich didn't know the turtle species. Likely a yellow-throated Blanding's turtle, said Michael Reles, communications specialist with the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.

It's described as "threatened" on the province's endangered species list. BF