Better Plan, Wisconsin

The Town of Union Large Wind Turbine Citizen's Committee has submitted its draft wind ordinance and 318 pages of back up documentation. You can download the entire pdf by clicking here

Those of us who were lucky enough to attend the February 21st meeting at the Magnolia Township hall had a chance to hear them speak and to ask them questions. I think everyone in attendance would agree it was the most informational meeting so far. Wisconsin communities will benefit greatly from the exhaustive work they have put into this report, and Better Plan, Rock County is looking forward to focussing on different aspects of it in the coming weeks.

One thing that was stressed at the meeting was that careful planning must be done in the beginning because after the turbines go up, there may be very little one can do if something goes wrong. How do you enforce the noise ordinance after the things are up and running? What do you do if a turbine is built closer to your house than the ordinance allows (click here to read about how this just happened in Wisconsin!) (Click here for what happened next!)

In McLean, Illinois Rene Taylor and her family have been living with that unanswered question since the turbines near her home became operational nine months ago.

In this 2/21/08 email to Better Plan, Rock County she describes the effects of living 1500 feet from wind turbines. Though the wind developers refuse to admit there are serious health and safety problems associated with living too close to wind turbines, scientific and medical studies tell us otherwise.

The BPRC wishes to thank the Taylor family for kind permission to post this email for our community.

"Our family is currently living in the shadows of 3 industrial turbines about 1500 feet from our home and a dozen or more within 1/2 mile.
 
I believe we are part of Dr. Pierpont's study and I have scheduled a follow up call with her this weekend.
 
We have had unofficial noise readings at the North wall of our home near 90dBA at times and have experienced headaches, sleeplessness, nausea, heart palpitations, increased blood pressure, a general feeling of being unwell, mild depression, and extreme pressure in our ears.
 
To make matters worse, my youngest son, (10), suffers from mild autism.  He seems to fixate on the noise, (sometimes noise the rest of us can't hear), and becomes fitful and difficult to deal with.  For lack of anything else to call it, he has uncontrollable tantrums and nothing we do, short of removing him from the home when it's bad, is helping.
 
I strongly urge Union Township to accept Dr. Pierpont's recommendations for set backs.  If you had even told me last fall, (the turbines near us have been operational since May, 2007), that we would be having the type of problems we are having, I wouldn't have believed it.  We knew last summer their were times it was uncomfortable, but the winter weather conditions have given me a whole new perspective of what it's like to live with turbines.
 
While Dr. Pierpont's articles and studies have not yet been published in national journals like JAMA for review, her work has been reviewed with interest by many in the medical and scientific community.  I have no doubt that when her current study is published, WTS will soon be found in all medical literature and become a recognized disease, or symptom of the disease VAD.
 
Rene Taylor 
 

SO WHAT'S IN THE 318 PAGE REPORT?

For today we'll just present the table of contents. Read it over. If there is something you'd like to look into, download the pdf of the full report and go to that page.

Summery of Key Points – page 3
Draft 04-23-07 WI Model Wind Ordinance Reference Guide Highlights –page 5
Wind Turbines Create Harmful Noise—page 8
Professional Opinions of Wind Turbines Noise Effects on People—page 22
Samples of Letters Contributing to our report---Page 32
Lincoln Township Letters of Concern and Noise Study After the Wind Turbines Were Installed—Page 47
Wind Turbine Sites Visited---85
Wind Speed Data---87
Wind Turbine Construction May Affect Ground Water Quality—88
Wind Turbines Can Create Harmful Shadow Flicker---88
Wind Turbines Capable of Throwing Ice/Parts at Dangerous Speeds & Distances –91
Wind Turbine Health and Safety Lawsuit Settlement------94
Other Legal Issues/Cases Related to Wind Turbines Ruled a “Nuisance”—94
Financial Compensation Paid to Residents Living Near Turbines: Neighbor Easement Agreements –95
Precedence for Larger Setbacks—97
Professional Recommendations Substantiating Larger Setbacks—101
Noise Effects Testimonials From Those Living Near Wind Turbines—105
Precedence For Larger Setbacks from Property Line---113
County & Township Examples for Larger Setbacks---115
Peer-Reviewed G.P. Van Den Berg “The Sound of High Winds” Summary--116
Wind Rights---120
Significant Permitting Change in Minnesota---122
Property Values and Miscellaneous—122
Public Service Commission Records Request Part 1—125
Public Service Commission Records Request Part 2--142
EcoEnergy Questionnaire –199
WPPI Questionnaire---234
Evansville Water & Light Questionnaire---244
Public Service Commission Questionnaire---255
National Academy of Sciences, NRC Report May 2007 pp 157-177,180-218----260
Final Recommendation---307
Credentials of Professionals Who Advised our Committee----308
References and Footnotes---316

Thanks to the Evansville Observer you can also watch committee chairman Judge Tom Alisankus presenting a summary of the report by clicking Part one, Part two, Part three

To watch a video of the kinds of problems with turbines we need to be protected against, CLICK HERE

THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO CAME TO SPEAK TO US On THURSDAY NIGHT!