A citizens' group opposed to a 900-megawatt, gas-fired power plant in east Oakville says the weekend explosion of a smaller generating station in Connecticut underscores the need to keep such facilities a safe distance from homes and schools.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the 620-MW Kleen Energy plant under construction in Middletown is in a sparse industrial area along the bank of the Connecticut River, 1.6 km from the nearest homes, whose occupants reported windows broken and objects shaken off shelves. Five people died at the plant.

Doug Mackenzie, speaking for Citizens for Clean Air (C4CA), said the proposed TransCanada Corp. plant, largest of its kind in North America, would be only 320 metres from Chisholm School and about 400 m from homes.

The blast in Middletown was felt 32 kilometres away -- as far as Hamilton from Oakville -- and C4CA says there are more than 11,000 homes and 16 schools within three kilometres of the site near the Ford auto assembly plant at Royal Windsor Drive and the Queen Elizabeth Way.

Mackenzie said, "The (power) plant is stuck right in the middle of 40,000 people, and I shudder to think what devastation there would be in a similar accident here -- at the intersection of highways 407, 403, the QEW and a major rail artery."

Amy Tang, from Ontario Energy Minister Brad Duguid's office, said: "The event in Connecticut is tragic and should be given the benefit of a full investigation which I understand the U.S. Chemical Safety Board is doing. Notwithstanding the lack of facts at this time about the cause of the incident, it is important not to draw immediate conclusions.

"... Natural gas has been safely used in homes and industry and has been a part of power generation in Ontario ... for decades. Additionally, projects and plants are required to meet or exceed Ontario safety regulations and inspection requirements in order to be selected by the Ontario Power Authority."

Peter Tabuns, NDP energy and environment critic, said the U.S. blast shows "very large, gas-fired power plants shouldn't be sited close to schools and residents. Provincial regulations say you couldn't site a wind turbine closer than 500 metres to homes, and this explosion has shown there is potential risk with these plants that is significant."

A TransCanada official issued the following statement yesterday afternoon:"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, co-workers and others affected by this tragic incident. Our focus right now needs to be on their well-being.

"TransCanada owns or has interests in 20 power facilities across North America and there has never been a serious incident during the operation of our facilities.

"Safety is a top priority at our company -- for members of the public living near our plants, employees at our facilities and the environment. We have a high level of confidence in our safety programs and procedures. They have been designed to meet our safety goals and to meet or exceed industry and government standards."

Tomorrow, the company is holding a media conference and public open house on an environmental study of its proposal.

Mackenzie complains that the company has tied up other meeting space at the Oakville Conference and Banquet Centre, preventing his group from holding its own session, and refuses to make a sit-down presentation at which citizens could ask questions with an audience. Instead, the 4 to 9:30 p.m. event is strictly for one-on-one conversations between visitors, company staff and consultants.

C4CA also objects to the company being allowed to conduct its own environmental review of the $1.5-billion project.

"Self-assessment is just a joke," said Mackenzie, who said there are also serious concerns about air emissions in the overburdened Oakville-Mississauga airshed.

TransCanada is also building a 683-MW plant due to open this summer alongside Highway 401 in Halton Hills.

emcguinness@thespec.com

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