Twin chimneys demolished at Nanticoke station near Lake Erie

NANTICOKE, Ont. – Two giant coal smokestacks at a shuttered Ontario generating station were toppled today.

The former Nanticoke Generating Station, near the north shore of Lake Erie, first generated electricity in 1973 and stopped using coal as fuel in 2013.

Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change Chris Ballard called the demolition “symbolic” of the province having eliminated coal-fired electricity four years ago.

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Ballard says ending the use of coal for power generation was equivalent to taking seven million cars off Ontario roads.