It is not uncommon to hear those who visit the County of St. Paul for the first time speak of its beauty. Rolling forested hills, the North Saskatchewan River Valley, and lake after lake make this arguably one of the most scenic and desirable places for recreation outside of the mountains. Or at least it could be. But few people know what we’ve got here, and even fewer entrepreneurs have taken advantage of it.
All that said, how can we speak of “economic development” and “tourism” when this County is just a hair away from being established as an industrial wind turbine zone? As we’ve seen all over the world, including Southern Alberta, once a corporation starts planting these mammoth turbines in a region, they spread like cancer altering the “pristine viewscapes” for generations to come. It’s economic insanity to hand over this beautiful region to corporations who, frankly, have demonstrated that they could care less about our tourism and beauty here.1 Moreover, if you want to impede expanding our taxpayer base (ie. draw in more residents), building turbines is exactly how you drive them away, as Ontario’s experience has shown us.2
Hence, this upcoming election is more critical than many people realize, including those running for office who are still mostly uneducated on the harm industrial turbines would bring to this beautiful region. So here is a shortlist of our two years of research and what the studies and most recent science reveal about wind turbines:
The True Costs of “Renewable” Wind Energy…
- Numerous real estate studies reveal that property values drop 20-40% in areas where turbines go up.3
- Whether it’s in Alberta, Ontario, Germany or elsewhere, wherever wind and solar have become a staple, the cost of electricity has risen, not reduced.4
- Recent high court cases and the most up-to-date science show that living within 10-15km of industrial turbines causes a myriad of health issues for people.5
- Of particular concern to the residents of Elk Point and those living along the river, it’s been found that valleys actually amplify the health impacts as they channel harmful infrasound.6
- Court cases and studies around the world show that animals and wildlife living near wind turbines flee them (if they can) or cause stress-related impacts such as birth defects, sterility, reduced production, and other serious health issues.7
- Wind turbines kill large migratory birds, like eagles. Studies show over 1.17 million die annually in the U.S. alone.8
- Bats are actually drawn to wind turbines for reasons science is still trying to understand. However, the changes in pressure around a turbine actually causes bats to implode. But these creatures are necessary not only for their role in the ecosystem in consuming insects but especially for pollinating crops.9
- Speaking of insects, a single turbine located in a temperate zone can kill up to 40 million insects per year.10
- Studies show that turbine plants actually cause drought conditions in their wake.11
- Studies and firsthand testimonies from farmers show that earthworms will vacate a turbine zone.12
- Recent peer-reviewed research suggests that the ‘entire biodiversity’ is impacted by industrial wind turbines.13
- Turbine blades are coated in an epoxy, which is 40% Bisphenol-A (BPA), a frequently banned endocrine disruptor and neurotoxin to human and animal health. This epoxy “sheds” into the environment from friction, wind, hail, snow, etc. impacting the blades.14
- Because of the toxicity and inability to recycle turbine blades, they are being buried in the ground.15
- Wind turbines not only don’t work when there is no wind but when it is too cold, around minus 27-28 degrees Celsius. At that point, an installation can begin to draw as much energy as a town from the grid!16
- Few realize that child labour is being used to acquire rare earth minerals for turbine elements such as lithium batteries.17
There’s more that could be added to this growing list, but you get the picture. Industrial wind turbines are not just economically unsound, but devastating to the environment on every level. This coming election in the County of St. Paul, I will be running for Councillor in Division One (and Wind Concerns’ Chris Habiak in Division Two), in part, to pass new critical measures and restrictions that would protect this region, its beauty, its people, its animals and its wildlife — to stop the scourge of industrial wind before it takes hold. For how can we speak of tourism and economic development while potentially undermining it at the same time?
I am excited to work with every level of government, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to develop this area. But our economic growth in the County is at risk if industrial turbines take hold here. That’s why this coming election is a rather big deal and educating the public is critical. Electing councillors who understand this issue, and are willing to take it on, is just as crucial.
Advanced Voting:
For Divisions 1, 2, and 3 only:
Elk Point Seniors Centre
Saturday, October 11
10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Other Divisions:
St. Paul Legion
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, October 9, 10, 11
10:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day
Election Day
Division 1
Elk Point Seniors Centre
Heinsburg Seniors Hall
Division 2
Elk Point Seniors Centre
Stoney Lake Community Hall
Polling stations will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day:
- cf. Does Elemental Energy Even Care?[↩]
- cf. Ontarians Nightmare Continues[↩]
- see Propety Values: Gone With the Wind, and Property Punishment[↩]
- see ‘Cheap’ Solar and Wind a Lie, and here, here, and here.[↩]
- see Turbine Sickness: How Far Away is Safe? and here, here, here, and here[↩]
- “Your Guide to Wind Turbine Syndrome” by Dr. Calvin Martin Luther, p. 19, July 2010[↩]
- cf. The Assault on Lakeland Wildlife and Animals; cf. here and here)
- Industrial turbines have destroyed water wells and groundwater in some regions.((Big Wind’s Assault on Water; see also here and here[↩]
- see Wind Turbines Kill Too Many Bats and Birds[↩]
- cf. Bat Apocalypse[↩]
- cf. Big Wind’s Assault On Insects[↩]
- cf. Wind Farms Lead to ‘significant’ moisture reduction); cf. here)
- A study conducted between 2000 and 2022 found a reduction of plant biomass production (PBP) within a 10 km radius of each individual wind turbine.((Journal of Clinical Medicine, June 16, 2025[↩]
- cf. Small Victims…[↩]
- Infrasound: ‘A Huge Threat to the Entire Biodiversity’, says Doctor[↩]
- cf. Toxic Blade Time Bomb[↩]
- see here and here[↩]
- An Icy Reality: Turbines Taxing the Grid[↩]
- see The Devastating Costs of ‘saving the planet’; here, and here[↩]
Mark Mallett is a former award-winning reporter with CTV Edmonton and an independent researcher and author. His family homesteaded between Vermilion and Cold Lake, Alberta, and now resides in the Lakeland region. Mark is Editor in Chief of Wind Concerns.