Probe into polluted water at turbines – Sunday Times

THE owners of Britain’s largest onshore wind farm will be accused this week of contaminating private water supplies to dozens of homes in west Scotland.
A public inquiry to consider five new turbines at Scottish Power’s Whitelee wind farm will be shown evidence that tests of drinking water taken after construction of the wind farm began in 2006 revealed levels of bacteria more commonly expected in a third world country.
The wind farm sits on a drinking water catchment supplying water to more than 70 homes and two public water reservoirs, Craigendunton and Lochgoin.
There is no evidence that Whitelee has caused water pollution and Scottish Power, which runs the 215-turbine wind farm, denies tainting private water supplies. However, opponents of the extension believe the construction of Whitelee affected at least 27 properties that rely on groundwater from the White- lee plateau. Some local residents claim to have suffered stomach pains after drinking tap water, while others said their water supplies dried up.
While residents accept that private water supplies are likely to contain higher levels of bacteria than water in the public network, which is treated before it reaches homes, there is concern that the levels found in recent years suggest a potential public health issue that has yet to be taken seriously by Scottish ministers.
In the worst example, samples of drinking water collected in homes in East Ayrshire in 2008 indicated the presence of up to 730,000 coliforms per 100ml of water — levels that if found in the public water supply would spark a major investigation. The World Health Organisation states coliforms, a family of bacteria that includes E coli, should not be present in the public water supply.
John Campbell QC, who is representing home owners at the public inquiry, is expected to press Scottish Power over why it failed to notify residents and the local authority when tests on private water supplies revealed startlingly high levels of bacteria.
Such information should have been shared under the terms of Whitelee’s planning consent, but much of it has only come to light following freedom of information requests. Scottish Power has also had to provide information for the public inquiry.
There will be further scrutiny of a report commissioned by Scottish Power that showed unusually high traces of DEHP, a potentially toxic compound commonly used in plastic products to make them flexible, in water tests on the Whitelee site between 2006 and 2008. The report, carried out by an engineering firm, blamed laboratory contamination, but no attempts were made to establish the precise cause. The laboratory, in East Kilbride, previously suggested to this newspaper that such high levels of contamination on their premises was unlikely.
Rachel Connor
In all, 73 households in rural Ayrshire and Renfrewshire rely on groundwater flowing downhill from the Whitelee plateau. It collects in subterranean water pockets and unlike the public network managed by Scottish Water, does not pass through treatment works.
Among those who believe their water supplies have been adversely affected by Whitelee is Dr Rachel Connor, a retired radiologist who lives with her family in Waterside, East Ayrshire. In her submission to the inquiry, she accuses the energy giant of displaying “a callous disregard for human health”.
Another is Tim Harrison, from Cauldstanes, also in East Ayrshire, who claims he lost his water supply during the construction of Whitelee.
Connor said: “I believe the impact of industrialising large rural water catchment areas with windfarm developments has not been adequately considered by developers, planning authorities, local authorities, health authorities, various water regulatory authorities and, in particular, the Scottish government. I have been unable to get the authorities tasked with protecting our water environment and drinking water to investigate my concerns.”
A spokesman for Scottish Power Renewables said it was not appropriate to respond to specific claims before the public inquiry. “We are currently completing the normal planning process for this extension project and the inquiry will provide the opportunity for any issues that have been raised to be addressed in an open and transparent manner,” he said.
In 2013, Scottish Power admitted not warning anyone that drinking water from 10 homes near Airtnoch Farm in Ayrshire was, at times, grossly contaminated. The wind farm branch of the firm, ScottishPower Renewables, insisted twice that its regular tests had found no contamination but refused to publish its results.
When they emerged, serious contamination was shown over a three-year period before, during and after construction of the second phase of Whitelee.