Better Plan, Wisconsin

Calling all cars! Calling all cars! Big public hearing tonight in the town of Union! 7pm! Eager Free Public Library, 39 W. Main Street, Evansville. Lower Level Meeting Room. The plan commission agenda includes a public hearing for the town's wind ordinance which recommends 40 story wind turbines be built at least 2640 from homes. We agree with this safe setback. Please come and show your support for safe renewable energy in our community.

Click here to visit the town of Union's Website 

Why are safe setbacks so important? Scroll down to read the latest update of the noise log kept by a family in Brownsville, WI who live in the middle of a wind farm with a turbine that is less than 1500 feet from their house. Noise is the main problem with living too close to industrial turbines. We thank the Meyer family for sharing this noise log with our community.

Read the entire Brownsville Diary from March 3 to May 27  by clicking here

Here's the update of the Brownsville noise log from May 14 through  May 27 with pictures of turbine #4 and a note from Mr. Meyer:

                                                      "The photos are a few I took tonight. It was an aggravating afternoon working in the garden.

The first photo is in my garden about 1390' from turbine #4.

The second photo is from the back foundation of our house or 1560'.

The third photo is from our sidewalk 30' from our kitchen door. You can see the neighbors wood on the left and our pine trees in the center of the photo. One would think the trees would deaden some of the sound. Maybe they do so what would the sound be like if there were not trees?

On September 16th we will have lived here 27 years. We stabilized the barn to make it solid, completely remodeled the whole house and built a 36' X 58' garage/shop. We planted over 3000 Norway pine trees, blue spruce trees and oak trees plus we have close to an acre of wild flowers along with at one time 40 apple trees, 10 cherry trees and 10 pear trees. We currently have only 1 pear and maybe 16 apple trees plus many other improvements to our 6+ acres.

Now we have the 5 turbines we hear on a daily basis plus being able to see all 86 turbines from this wind factory from somewhere on our property. 

THE DIARY CONTINUES:

May 14 –
6 AM. Loud. Turbines # 4 and 6 are pounding.
3:30 PM Turning but not loud.
About 4:10 PM #4 to a different direction and is quiet. I could hear #6.
10PM. Moderate sound. My stomach has the feeling of being full and slightly sick.

May 15 –
7:00 AM #4 turning slow and quietly. Today was a fairly quiet day.

May 16 –
7:00 AM Very slight wind with low noise.
2:00PM slight wind form south west. Grinding or humming sound.
3:35 PM The wind is picking up and so is the turbine sound. I can hear #’s 4, 6 and 73.
I just came in the house and can hear #4 or 6 from inside our family room
4:00 to7:30 PM I worked in my garden planting vegetable seeds. Turbine #4 is about 1390’ north of the garden. It was extremely annoying. I am on edge or angry from hearing it for such a long time.
I still have the full, sick feeling in my stomach. I still hear turbines # 4, 73 & 6.
My wife came out to the garden after checking out our flower gardens and said. “I don’t say much but tonight I have a headache from hearing the turbine sound and have to go in the house”.
11:50 PM Still loud and can hear the turbine sound in the family room.
I opened the kitchen door and was “hit” with the jet sound.

May 17 –
7:00 AM Wind is from the NW. Turbine #4 quite as loud as last night.
12 PM to 5:30PM I have been working in our garden most of the afternoon. This used to be fun and especially relaxing. It no longer is because turbine #4 is 1390’ from the garden and spewing out it’s sounds. As the day went on I got very tense and agitated over the constant, annoying sound emitted from the turbine.
7:00 PM. Got home from Fond du Lac. Moderate sound.
11:50 PM I walked out the kitchen door and was hit with turbine sound.

May 18 –
7:00 AM Wind is from the NW, very calm on the ground. Moderate turbine sound.
8:20 AM My wife just told me she can her a turbine from the dining room. This is over the sound of the refrigerator running which is 15’ away.
12:00 PM. We can hear with visiting guests turbines 4, 6 & 73.from our driveway.
 7:00 PM. Fairly quiet. My stomach feel good enough to eat more than the past four days. 10:30 PM Calm wind low groaning sound from #4.

May 19 –
5:15 AM Fairly quiet.
 4:10 PM Low sound.
10:00 PM I can hear low humming sound of #4. Today is the quietest day in a while.

May 20 –
6 AM Fairly quiet.
3:45 PM Modereate sound.
5:30 PM I am leaving for a  meeting. Our son said, “Dad I have a bad headache”. I said, “Is it from a bad day at school”? His reply, “No it is from the wind turbine”. When I got home at 10:30 the turbine was humming. My wife said our son had a headache and was down at 9:30 and wanted more Tylenol. My wife had given him Tylenol at 5:30 and told him she could not give him more as she had to wait until 6 to 8 hours had elapsed from the first dose. He immediately said, “I’ll be down in two hours”. Keep in mind he has learning difficulties in school. That simple math problem for us would normally not get such a quick response from him. He also said he can hear the turbine from his room.

May 21
6:00 AM Jet sound.
3 to 5  PM I planted peppers in our garden. I can hear #’s 4 and 6. It is a very annoying and irritating sound.

May 22 –
It is a few days before Memorial Day and all through the land, not a turbine was stirring making wildlife grand. That was written to the sound of “T’was The Night Before Christmas”. It is quite peaceful and is amazing the cardinals, orioles and other birds are excited and singing. I have noticed that when the turbines are not turning or are very quiet I hear song birds. I think it has an effect on them as well.
4:00 PM Turning slow and quiet.
10:15 PM Not turning:☺

May 23 –
6:15 AM Turning slow and quiet. Almost no wind.
4:40 PM Slow and quiet.
10:00 PM Slow and quiet.
12:00 AM Jet sound.

May 24
- Sometime in the night my wife said, “I can’t sleep”. She got up and read a book for 45 minutes until she got tired. She came back to bed and couldn’t sleep.
6:15 AM I can hear #6 from the bed.
2:15 PM Loud and annoying. We are leaving for our cabin.

May 25
– 12:30 PM. I am angry. We just got home from our cabin in Waupaca county. The first thing we heard when we opened the car door was turbine #4 ripping the sky apart. It is loud and violent. I am at the almost constant sound of the turbines it being the first sound we heard when we got home. The other “anger” is being tense or on edge while we are outside, or even inside from hearing this aggravating sound on almost a 24 hour basis.
          At our cabin I get up early and go out with my camera looking for deer and their signs of movement in our woods as well as other wildlife. It is so peaceful and quiet there. When I got back to the cabin my wife had just gotten up. The first thing she said was, “This is the first night in weeks that I slept all night”. This is on an old wore out bed that we brought from home after years of use.
   6:00 PM Turbines 4 and 73 sound like they are fighting to see which is the loudest and strongest and ripping the sky apart.
   9:00 PM The loud aggravating sound continues.
   11:00 PM When we turned the TV off to go to bed we could hear #4 from our family room.

May 26
– 6:30 AM The loud sound continues.
12:00 PM Still loud jet sound.
5 to 8:30 PM I worked in the garden with #4 very loud. As I planted pepper plants I found I got more  tense, annoyed and angry as time went on with the loud turbine sound all around me. Yes, from #73 across the road too. I have a slight headache. I rarely get headaches. 10:30 PM Wind direction has changed and sound not quite as loud.

May 27 – 5:15 AM Jet sound from #4.
4:45 PM I can hear the turbines while we are in the yard loading
 

NOTE FROM THE BPRC RESEARCH NERD: Although the wind developers refuse to admit there are serious problems for people living too close to industrial wind turbines, the same story is being told all over the country. Here is an article that ran today in Missouri.