Horton is a township located about 100 kilometres west of Ottawa at the confluence of the Bonnechere and Ottawa rivers.
It could also be the site of community protests and direct action should the Energy East pipeline be approved and construction proceeds.
Inside Ottawa Valley reports, “Horton council has passed an option-to-purchase agreement with TransCanada Energy East Pipeline. The company will buy [a 40 acre] gravel pit property on Lochwinnoch Road only if the pipeline proposal is approved. …The agreed-upon sale price is $144,000 [at $3,600 per acre], not including the cost of the gravel. …[Horton CAO/clerk Mackie] McLaren explained that when the proposal was first made the company determined a new pumping station would need to be built somewhere between Pembroke and Stittsville. Then-mayor Don Eady suggested Horton’s gravel pit and the township made the suggestion to TransCanada.”
The article adds, “In the Ottawa Valley area, the pipeline would run close to Pembroke, Renfrew and Arnprior through several townships, including McNab-Braeside, Horton and Admaston-Bromley. It will cross the Madawaska and Bonnechere rivers.”
Council of Canadians energy and climate justice campaigner Andrea Harden-Donahue has written, “The Madawaska River flows from Source Lake in Algonquin Park, some 230 kilometres before joining with the Ottawa River in Arnprior. It continues to be an important waterway for First Nations, and is a well-loved whitewater rafting destination. Much of the river is now dam-controlled to generate hydro-electricity. The pipeline crosses the Madawaska River, less than 30 kilometres from Arnprior (9,000 residents) who use the river as their drinking water source.”
The Bonnechere River flows from Algonquin Provincial Park to the Ottawa River near Renfrew. The river is part of the Saint Lawrence river drainage basin.
The Energy East pipeline will require numerous pumping stations as indicated by the black markers on this map. If you see your community noted in this map as a potential location for an Energy East pipeline pumping station, be sure to tell your municipal council you oppose this climate- and water-destructive project.
For more on our campaign to stop Energy East, please click here.
