Sydney Goodreau/The Herald
New industrial wind turbines may be coming to Chatham-Kent in the coming years thanks to Capstone Infrastructure, a group that proposes that a wind turbine complex called Crossfield be built east of Chatham, south of Thamesville, north of Ridgetown, and just south of Moraviantown. 
A group of people who have some experience with wind projects in North Kent wanted to let Ridgetown residents know the problems they have had with the projects in their community.
They held a meeting at the Ridgetown Royal Canadian Legion to discuss what landowners can expect if new wind turbines are to be built. 
Christine Burke of Dover was the first to share.
“Our nightmare started in 2009 when the first five turbines were drilled about a mile and a half away from our home. I know this because our daughter was attending university, and a lot of our clothes went into the garbage because of what looked like black sludge stains that wouldn’t wash out. Our washing machine broke down, as did the dishwasher.
“Over time, we thought the issue had subsided. We were wrong. In 2012, GDF Suez, now Engie Canada, constructed another 55 turbines, pile-driving 100-foot steel H-beams into our aquifer again. They swiss-cheesed the area. A black powdery substance began appearing in our tap water and gradually got worse and worse.”
Jessica Brooks and her family, who live five minutes north of Chatham, were the first to lose their well with the construction in 2017. 
“My husband had come home from work and went to have a shower. There was no water,” says Brooks.
“We checked the pump. The sediment had so clogged the intake that he had to finish his shower using our rain barrel. This happened two days after they started pile-driving around our house. Since then, I’ve learned more about underground geology and water and wells than I ever wanted to know in my life.” 
She had testing done on their well water before and after construction. In August, their water had 10 times more turbidity than what the province would consider the normal amount for palatable water. But she was told by the Ministry of Environment that the change in her well was normal and not related to local construction. 
“Now, we just bypass our well. Every Sunday, my husband goes to our local water tower and fills a food-grade box with water that he pumps into our tank.”
Chatham-Kent Councillor Rhonda Jubenville received “unanimous support directing the administration to write a letter to the Minister of Health, putting the province on notice for not completing the all-hazard investigation conducted between 2019 and 2021 in response to the water well interference to several property owners within the North Kent wind farm project area.”
The investigation was criticized when released in 2022 because it failed to sample sediments in the affected water.
“Chatham-Kent sent the resolution and did not hear anything from the Ministry of Health after 45 days. We sent it again, and to this day, we have not heard a response from this resolution to ask the Ministry of Health to reopen this investigation. So they have ignored us,” said Jubenville.
As of June 2025, there are 159 municipalities out of 444 in Ontario that have passed resolutions to be unwilling hosts to industrial wind turbines.
Jubenville put forward a motion on July 15, 2024, directing the municipality to become the 160th municipality to reject any new wind turbine projects.
The motion failed 11 to 3.
“That then paved the way for any industrial wind corporations, like Capstone, to come knocking on our doors. They have, and here we are today,” said Jubenville.
Jubenville says Capstone Infrastructure will be coming to Chatham-Kent Council in September to request permission to apply to the IESO procurement to set up shop on local farms in east and south Kent. She urges anyone with concerns to share them with ward councillors, Mayor Darrin Canniff, and all of council.