Businessman John Risley says the water problem encountered by residents of the Mainland area, predates his company’s arrival at the scene.

World Energy GH2 is proposing a massive wind farm on the Port au Port Peninsula to power a facility to be built in Stephenville to produce hydrogen for export.

The company is developing two wind test sites to collect data on the proposed project’s viability, one in the Mainland area, the other in Piccadilly.

The work has generated concern among some local residents who have been protesting at the sites.

Last week, heavy equipment owned by contractors at the Mainland site had their windows smashed out and police are investigating.

Protesters are concerned that the work being carried out near Mainland is having an impact on their local water supply.

Risley told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly that if water quality is the problem, then the company is offering to conduct work to determine the cause.

He says the water issue predates their arrival on the scene, but they’ve offered to bring water consultants to the area to determine the cause of the problem. While the offer appears to be welcomed by the population at large, Risley says the protestors don’t seem interested.

Risley is knocking down rumours that the company is planning to expropriate people’s properties to erect wind turbines. He says nothing could be further from the truth.

He says any wind turbine will not be erected within a kilometre of a dwelling.

In the meantime, Risley is disheartened by the vandalism caused to equipment at the Mainland site and the theft of a side-by-side vehicle from Piccadilly last week.

He says they’re only trying to do what they have the appropriate authority, approvals and permits to do, and “we deserve the respect of the local protestors to do that.”