An image taken from SouthPoint Wind's website shows the type of wind turbine the company hopes to install off the shore of western Lake Erie. (SouthPoint Wind)

Members of a conservation group in southwestern Ontario will ask the Ontario government for a full report on a proposed offshore wind turbine project in western Lake Erie, members of the groups decided Thursday night.

The Essex Region Conservation Authority wants an environmental review of a proposal by Leamington-based Southpoint Wind Power to build three wind farms off the shores of Leamington, Union and Kingsville "to ensure that ERCA as a body is informed early on in the process" about similar projects in the future, according to ERCA board chairman Dave Brister.

"We want to ensure that we're not finding out about the project when it's too late to really address it on behalf of residents," he said.

Each farm would contain five industrial-sized wind turbines about 120 metres tall.

ERCA members worry that the wind farms could have negative impacts on bird migration and water quality.

The town councils of Leamington and Kingsville have also requested an environmental assessment of the project by Ontario's Ministry of the Environment.