Better Plan, Wisconsin

SAVE THE DATE:

PUBLIC HEARING
Senate Committee on Commerce, Utilities, Energy, and Rail

The Senate Committee on Utilities, Energy and Rail will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 11:00 AM, 411 South at the State Capitol in Madison relating to Clearinghouse Rule 10-057 siting of wind energy systems.

Senator Jeffry Plale, Chair

CLICK HERE FOR SOURCE 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CLEARING HOUSE RULE 10-057

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PSC WIND SITING RULES

NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: The public is encouraged to attend and and speak at the hearing regarding the PSC's wind siting rules. Get there early to get a good seat!

ARCADIA COUPLE SUING OVER WIND ENERGY RULES

SOURCE: RENEWABLES BIZ 

McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Joe Knight The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.

October 9, 2010

An Eau Claire attorney is suing the Wisconsin Public Service Commission on behalf of a rural Arcadia family for failing to conduct an environmental review of proposed wind energy siting rules.

Attorney Glen Stoddard said the rules favor the wind energy industry at the expense of property owners living near wind turbines. He is representing David and Delores Vind, who own a farm near Arcadia. It's an area, they say, that has been considered for wind energy development.

"My wife and I decided to file the lawsuit after the PSC adopted the rules in their current form without doing an environmental assessment on the rules or evaluating the adverse environmental impacts of wind energy projects," David Vind said in a news release.

Stoddard said the commission violated the Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act and the state's smart growth law by not conducting an environmental analysis.

Earlier this year the Legislature passed a law to establish uniform statewide rules for wind turbine siting. It was an attempt to simplify the current patchwork of local wind turbine rules.

The regulations, adopted by the PSC in late August, set specific requirements for wind turbine siting, including restrictions on noise, setbacks and "shadow flicker" -- a strobe light-like effect caused by rotating turbines. The rules also would allow local governments to require "good neighbor payments" to residents who live within a half-mile of wind turbines.

The state Senate Committee on Commerce, Utilities, Energy and Rail has scheduled a public hearing for next week about the issue.

PSC spokeswoman Lori Sakk said the organization stands by the existing rule.

"The commission has approved this rule consistent with it's statutory obligations," she said. "It will vigorously defend it against this lawsuit."

The rule was based largely on recommendations from the state Wind Siting Advisory Committee. The committee, as required by the Legislature, was comprised of two wind energy developers, one town representative, one county representative, two representatives from utilities, two environmentalists, two real estate agents, two landowners living near wind turbines who have not received compensation for the turbines, two public members and one UW System faculty member with expertise regarding the health impacts of wind energy systems.

Ryan Schryver of the environmental group Clean Wisconsin, an advisory committee member, said the panel presented the PSC a good set of recommendations that were reached through compromise and public input. However, the commissioners made the siting rules more restrictive, getting away from the Legislature's intent, he said.

"We're hoping that after the hearings the PSC gets the message that they're not following the intent of the law," Schryver said. "The intent of the law, it was pretty clear, was to open up the door for renewable energy, not shut it."

An Assembly committee is likely to hold a hearing on the siting rules after the elections, he said.

Stoddard said he hopes the combined result of the lawsuit and the upcoming Senate hearing would result in changes to the rules establishing longer setbacks, stronger noise restrictions and better protection of property rights.

CLICK ON THE VIDEOS BELOW TO SEE HOW THE RULES WERE CREATED



BELOW:

Dr. Michael Nissenbaum reports on

Wind Turbines, Health, Ridgelines, and Valleys
Montpelier, VT, May 7 2010

It is a medical fact that sleep disturbance and perceived stress result in ill effects, including and especially cardiovascular disease, but also chronic feelings of depression, anger, helplessness, and, in the aggregate, the banishment of happiness and reduced quality of life.

Cardiovascular disease, as we all now, leads to reduced life expectancy. Try and get reasonably priced life insurance if you are hypertensive or have suffered a heart attack.

If industrial wind turbines installed in close proximity to human habitation result in sleep disturbance and stress, then it follows as surely as day follows night that wind turbines will, over the long term, result in these serious health effects and reduced quality of life.

The question is, then, do they?

In my investigation of Mars Hill, Maine, 22 out of about 30 adults (‘exposed’) who live within 3500 feet of a ridgeline arrangement of 28 1.5 MW wind turbines were evaluated to date, and compared with 27 people of otherwise similar age and occupation living about 3 miles away (Not Exposed).

Here is what was found:

82% (18/22) of exposed subjects reported new or worsened chronic sleep deprivation, versus 4% (1 person) in the non-exposed group.

41% of exposed people reported new chronic headaches vs 4% in the control group.

59% (13/22) of the exposed reported ‘stress’ versus none in the control group, and 77% (17/22) persistent anger versus none in the people living 3 miles away.

More than a third of the study subjects had new or worsened depression, with none in the control group.

95% (21/22) of the exposed subjects perceived reduced quality of life, versus 0% in the control group.

Underlining these findings, there were 26 new prescription medications offered to the exposed subjects, of which 15 were accepted, compared to 4 new or increased prescriptions in the control group.

The prescriptions ranged from anti-hypertensives and antidepressants to anti migraine medications among the exposed.

The new medications for the non exposed group were anti-hypertensives and anti-arthritics.

The Mars Hill study will soon be completed and is being prepared for publication. Preliminary findings have been presented to the Chief Medical Officer for Ontario, and have been presented to Health Canada, by invitation.

Earlier partial results were presented to the Maine Medical Association, which passed a Resolution calling for caution, further study, and appropriate modification of siting regulations, at its annual meeting in 2009.

There is absolutely no doubt that people living within 3500 feet of a ridgeline arrangement of turbines 1.5 MW or larger turbines in a rural environment will suffer negative effects.

The study was undertaken as a pilot project to evaluate for a cluster of symptoms after numerous media reports, in order to present data to the Maine Medical Association, after the Maine CDC failed to more fully investigate.

While the study is not perfect, it does suggest a real problem that warrants not only further more detailed investigation, but the tenderest caution, in the meantime, when decisions on how to site industrial wind turbines are made.

What is it about northeast USA ridgelines that contribute to these ill effects, and how can they be avoided?

Consider, the Northeast is prone to icing conditions. Icing will increase the sound coming off of turbines by up to 6 dbA. As the icing occurs symmetrically on all blades, imbalance detectors do not kick on, and the blades keep turning, contrary to wind industry claims.

Sound is amplified coming off of ridgelines into valleys. This is because the background noise in rural valleys is low to begin with, increasing the sensitivity to changes, particularly the beating, pulsatile nature of wind turbine noise, and sound sources at elevation do not undergo the same attenuation that occurs from groundcover when noise sources are at ground level.

The noise travels farther and hits homes and people at greater amplitude that it would from a lower elevation. Even though this is not rocket science, it was conclusively proven in a NASA funded study in 1990.

Snow pack and ice contribute to increased noise transmission. Vermont valleys have both, I believe.

Preconstruction sound modeling fails to take the tendency of the homes that people live in to respond and vibrate perceptibly to sound at frequencies that the occupants of the dwellings cannot necessarily hear. They hear, and feel, the walls and windows rattle, and the floors vibrate, in a pulsing manner at a frequency or the turbine rpm.

When pre construction modeling fails to take the pulsatile nature, propensity for icing, and ridgeline elevation into account, as well as a linear as opposed to point source of noise, problems can be expected.

What distance is safe? It depends on the terrain, the climate, the size of the project and the turbines themselves. Accurate preconstruction modeling with safe targets in mind is critical.

The WHO says that 30dbA is ideal, and noise levels of above 40dbA have definite health consequences.

At Mars Hill, where affected homes are present at 3500 feet, sound levels have been measured at over 52.5dbA. The fiasco there has been acknowledged by the local wind energy company, and by a former Maine governor.

Vermont would do well to learn from the affected people in Mars Hill.

I have seen the preliminary plans for the planned Deerfield Wind Facility, and have particular concerns regarding the dwellings to the north and northeast of the northernmost extension of the turbine layout.

These homes are well within a mile, generally downwind, and downhill from what I am told may well be 2 MW turbines (or larger?), in a snowy and icy part of the Northeast.

The parallels to Mars Hill are striking.

We know that preconstruction sound modeling failed at Mars Hill. No matter what the preconstruction modeling at Deerfield shows, the real world experiment at Mars Hill suggests that there will be problems for homes at the setbacks that seem to be planned for Deerfield on the attached image.

The people who live within 3500 feet at Mars Hill are truly suffering. Learn from Mars Hill. It is not a matter of not having wind turbines. It is a matter of putting them where they will not affect people’s health.

Newer technology to accurately measure sound at a quantum level improvement in temporal, frequency and amplitude resolution over commonly used acoustician’s equipment now exists, though it is costly and not readily available.

But it will be widespread, soon, well within the tenure of the individuals responsible for making siting decisions today.

Avail yourselves of these findings and familiarize yourselves with the new technologies. You will not only be future proofing your current decisions, you will also be helping people who would otherwise end up too close to industrial wind turbines escape the fate of the exposed residents of Mars Hill, and many other sites in North America (Mars Hill, Maine, merely represents the first small ‘controlled’ study).

I have seen the results of this cutting edge equipment, and how it has revealed drastic short duration excesses over allowed sound levels, levels that set homes vibrating and rendering them unlivable, but also levels of lower frequency transient noise at the audible level, that demonstrates not only failure of preconstruction sound modeling as currently practiced, but also the inadequacy of the measuring tools in the toolkit of the everyday practicing acoustician-consultant who generates reports for industry and local government.

Michael A. Nissenbaum, MD
University of Toronto (MD), McGill University (Specialty Diagnostic Imaging),
University of California (Fellowship)
Harvard University Medical School (junior faculty, Associate Director of MRI, BIH)
Currently, Radiologist, NMMC, Ft. Kent, Maine

Gerry Meyer in his garden, turbine #4 in background

Wind Turbine Sounds Spur Health Complaints, Force Residents to Move

SOURCE: Acoustic Ecology Institute

The spread of wind turbines into quiet rural areas is leading to increasing complaints that they make more noise than residents were led to believe.

While simple annoyance and sleep disturbance are the most common effects, in some cases, nearby residents are reporting health problems that they associate with the presence of the turbines, leading some to move from their homes.

Not long after wind turbines began to spin in March near Gerry Meyer’s home in Wisconsin, his son Robert, 13, and wife, Cheryl, complained of headaches.

Cheryl also sometimes feels a fluttering in her chest, while Gerry is sometimes nauseated and hears crackling.

The nearest turbine is 1,560 feet from Meyer’s house. His dismay over an energy source he once thought was benign has made the retired mailman, 59, an activist. He travels the state warning communities considering wind farms to be wary.

“I don’t think anyone should have to put up with this,” says Meyer, who compares the sound to a helicopter or a jet taking off.

 In Canada, Helen and Bill Fraser initially supported the nearby wind farm in Melancthon, Ont. One turbine sat close to the Fraser’s kitchen window. “We thought, more green energy, this is great,” Helen told CTV News. However, Helen says she developed headaches, body aches and she had trouble sleeping. The dog began wetting the floor at night.

“There were nights I was lying in bed and my heart would beat to the pulse of the turbine. It was an uneasy feeling,” Helen said.

Ernie Marshall at first supported the wind farm that was placed near his home near Goderich, Ont. However, he also says that once the turbines got rolling, his health began to suffer.

“I had problems with my heart, with my eyes, my digestive system,” Marshall told CTV News. “It traumatizes your whole body.”

Some affected residents can only sell their homes and move away. The Frasers left their home of 32 years and moved to nearby Shelburne, Ont. They say their symptoms have, for the most part, vanished.

Ernie Marshall moved to the town of Seaforth, Ont., which is several kilometers away from the turbines near his former home. “I had to get out or I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you,” Marshall said.

Dr. Nina Pierpont, a pediatrician in upstate New York, has interviewed dozens of people who live near windmills in Canada, the United States and Europe. Her [recently] released book, Wind Turbine Syndrome, documents the litany of health problems experienced by some people who have wind farms near their homes.

Some early findings suggest that wind turbines create a high intensity, low frequency sound that may have an effect on the body. Not only can the sound potentially cause debilitating illness.

Some researchers believe that the vibrations the sound causes in the inner ear may lead to vibro-acoustic disease, which can cause dizziness, nausea and sleep disturbances. However, officials with the Canadian Wind Energy Association point to a handful of studies they say prove that windmills lead to few, if any, adverse health effects.

“We know there have been complaints about health impacts of wind turbines,” Sean Whittaker of the Canadian Wind Energy Association told CTV News. “On the other hand, we know there are some 10,000 turbines installed across North America and complaints have been relatively few.”

The issue has not just put experts at odds. Communities across North America are divided between residents who say local windmills have made them sick and their neighbors who don’t believe them.

“Everyone was calling me a liar,” Ernie Marshall said. “It don’t matter who you talk to. You bring ‘em out here and they’ll say that noise don’t bother us. Sit there for a week under that and listen to it and see what it does to your body.”

The inconsistencies in the early research, coupled with the fact that some residents who live near wind turbines complain of such a wide array of symptoms, are evidence that further study is needed to determine if Wind Turbine Syndrome is a problem, how big of one and what should be done, experts say.

“Depending on your distance you’ll have 30, 40, 50 per cent of people who are troubled, but not 100 per cent,” Dr. Robert McMurtry of the University of Western Ontario told CTV News. “That’s why it’s important to do these studies to see just how many are troubled and how real it is.” 

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: WINDFALL

By Howard Feinstein

“Then I started to meet some people from Meredith. A lot of them—artists, writers—go up there to be alone. This topic pulled them out of their shells to work together.”

So began Israel’s foray into directing, Windfall, an excellent documentary–a real discovery in Toronto–which is as much a study of a small rural community torn asunder as it is of the pros and cons of the massive turbines which energy salesmen were pitching to the locals.

For a price, the residents could agree to let them build the massive structures on their land. In a town with no zoning, the reps from an energy outfit in Ireland anticipated huge profits.

Even though Delaware County is one of the five poorest in New York State, other towns were not as easily seduced as some of the homeowners in Meredith, who signed contracts for a relative pittance.

Most of those who agreed had been born there, former dairy farmers hard it by the economy and changes in agrarian commerce. Most of the opposition was comprised of former or current residents of New York City, whom the lifetimers, according to Israel, call “flatlanders.”

The feud became bitter, culminating in a new slate of candidates vying in a coming municipal election for the offices long held by lifers. The lines were drawn; the debate became more and more bitter.

“I don’t think it was like that before the subject came up,” says Israel. “There are no chi-chi boutiques there; it’s not that kind of town. It seemed like everyone got along. This subject pushed people into corners.” The lead-up to the election gives the film rhythmic, suspenseful momentum.

Israel interviews her subjects outdoors, capturing a natural, unforced bucolic backdrop enriched by a plucky, country-tinged score.

Most of them have interesting back stories that provide digressive texture. Stop-motion animator Dean Modino brings alive maps, photographs, and, building up over the course of the film’s running time, the wind turbines themselves, already cinematic by design.

As one relative newcomer to Meredith says, “These are not the 50’ windmills of Don Quixote. These are 400’ high.” Each blade is 130’ long, weighs seven tons, and moves at 150 miles per hour. The whishing noise is non-stop, and much worse when it rains.

The well-informed interviewees who stood against the turbines articulate their positions, as do several environmentalists and energy experts.

When erected too near peoples’ homes, the turbines wreak emotional and psychological havoc on the residents. Tug Hill, in Lowville, New York, is one place where 400 of them were built, and the townspeople have found them oppressive.

One subject says that to be built and maintained, they require fossil fuels, and it is questionable if the amount that they put back into the grid is worth the effort. Green and wind energy may be mutually exclusive terms.

Israel is the first to say she does not offer definitive answers. “I’m just asking people to look into it more. I know there’s a lot going on in Europe, even in Denmark. People there are asking if there really is that much power coming from the wind turbines.

“We want desperately to have easy answers. Then all you have to do is send in some money and someone else can take care of it.”



News articles about wind turbine noise and health

SOURCE: National Wind Watch

Milner, Catherine (January 25, 2004). Telegraph. “Wind farms ‘make people sick who live up to a mile away’”.

Keller, James (May 13, 2006). Hamilton Spectator. “Family says turbine vibrations made them ill enough to move”.

Kriz, Kathy (October 12, 2006). WHAM-TV. “Could Wind Turbines Be A Health Hazard?”.

Chronicle Herald (August 27, 2007). “Quietly sounding alarm; Forced from home after noise from wind farm turbines made family sick, d’Entremont telling others his story”.

St. James, Janet (July 29, 2008). WFAA-TV. “Neighbors claim wind turbine makes them ill”.

CTV (September 28, 2008). “Wind turbines cause health problems, residents say”.

Keen, Judy (November 3, 2008). USA Today. “Neighbors at odds over noise from wind turbines”.

Tilkin, Dan (November 14, 2008). KATU-TV. “Wind farms: Is there a hidden health hazard?”.

Sudekum Fisher, Maria (February 3, 2009). Associated Press. “NW Missouri man sues Deere, wind energy company”.

Takeda, Tsuyoshi (February 6, 2009). Asahi Shimbun. “Something in the Wind as Mystery Illnesses Rise”.

Blaney Flietner, Maureen. Bobvila.com. “Green Backlash: The Wind Turbine Controversy”.

Nelson, Bob (March 2, 2009). Morning Show, KFIX. “Wind farms: Interview of Malone and Johnsburg residents”.

Mills, Erin (March 8, 2009). East Oregonian. “Loud as the wind: Wind tower neighbors complain of noise fallout”.

Miller, Scott. A-News, CTV Globe Media. “Wind Turbines Driving People From Their Homes”.

Tremonti, Anna Maria (April 14, 2009). The Current, CBC Radio One. “Wind Turbines: Health”.

CBC News. April 14, 2009. “Wind turbines causing health problems, some Ont. residents say”.

Buurma, Christine (April 21, 2009). Wall Street Journal. “Noise, Shadows Raise Hurdles For Wind Farms”.

CTV Toronto (April 22, 2009). “Reports of wind farm health problems growing”.

Canadian Press (April 23, 2009). CBC News. “Formal study needed into health effects of wind turbines, doctor says”.

Miller, Scott. A-News, CTV Globe Media. “Daughter’s Earaches Blamed On Wind Farm”.

Epp, Peter (May 5, 2009). “Survey points to health woes arising from wind turbines”.

Mayne, Paul (May 7, 2009). Western News. “Is public’s health blowing in the wind?”.

Delaney, Joan (May 13, 2009). The Epoch Times. “Wind turbines blamed for adverse health effects”.

Alteri, Beth (May 15, 2009). WLBZ2. “Does wind turbine noise affect your sleep or health?”.

Hale, Caleb (May 23, 2009). Southern Illinoisan. “Health can be a key issue when living near wind farm”.

Hessling, Kate (June 4, 2009). Huron Daily Tribune. “Solutions sought for turbine noise”.

Boles, Stephen (June 7, 2009). Red, Green and Blue. “Wind Turbine Syndrome: Are wind farms hazardous to human health?”.

Kart, Jeff (June 11, 2009). Bay City Times. “Wind turbine noise is rattling some residents in Michigan’s Thumb”.

Walsh, Bill (June 19, 2009). WNEM. “Wind Farms Ruining Quality of Life?”.

Hundertmark, Susan (June 24, 2009). Lucknow Sentinel. “St. Columban residents get informed on wind turbine health concerns”.

Yoshida, Noriyuki; and Yasuda, Koichi (July 1, 2009). Daily Yomiuri. “Wind power has its own environmental problems”.

ABC News (July 15, 2009). “Wind turbine noise ‘forces’ couple out”.

Pagano, Margareta (August 2, 2009). The Independent. “Are wind farms a health risk? US scientist identifies ‘wind turbine syndrome’”.

Martin, Daniel (August 2, 2009). Daily Mail. “Living near a wind farm can cause heart disease, panic attacks and migraines”.

Stewart, Linda (August 3, 2009). Belfast Telegraph. “Is it dangerous to live close to wind turbines?”.

Woodrow, Shane (August 6, 2009). WIN TV. “Windfarm Research”.

Anne Ravana (August 7, 2009). Maine Public Broadcasting Network. “Discontent of Mars Hill Residents Leads to Lawsuit Against First Wind”.

Baca, Nathan (August 11, 2009). KESQ. “Migraine, Wind Turbine Connection Still Being Examined”.

Lynds, Jen (August 12, 2009). Bangor Daily News. “Mars Hill windmills prompt civil lawsuit”.

A Current Affair (August 14, 2009). Nine-MSN. “Electricity nightmares”.

Wind Concerns Ontario (August 16, 2009). “Wind Victims Gagged and Silenced in Ontario”.

ABC News (August 18, 2009). “Pyrenees Shire questions wind farm noise”.

Wilson, Lauren (August 22, 2009). The Australian. “Farmers flee as turbines trigger despair”.

Wilson, Lauren (August 24, 2009). The Australian. “No relief for land owners affected by wind farms”.

ABC News (August 28, 2009). “Govt urged to probe wind farm illness claims”.

ABC News (September 4, 2009). “Qld noise experts to test Waubra wind farm”.

Hall, Cheryl (September 4, 2009). Stateline Victoria, ABC. “Wind Farms causing head spins”.

Reading, Lyndal (September 7, 2009). Weekly Times. “Anger over wind turbine noise”.

Chatham Daily News (September 22, 2009). “Wind turbines still a problem for some”

Brown, Judy (September 30, 2009). Farm Country. “Wind turbines generate health, farming concerns”.

Stevens, Kim (October 15, 2009). The Courier. “Health check at Waubra wind farm”.

Whittle, Julian (October 22, 2009). News & Star. “Living near turbines is ‘mental torture’, Carlisle inquiry told”.

Vivian, Richard (November 12, 2009). Orangeville Banner. “Answers definitely not blowing in the wind”.

Vivian, Richard (November 16, 2009). Orangeville Banner. “No proven link exists between wind turbines, health problems”.

Vivian, Richard (November 19, 2009). Orangeville Banner. “MOE pledges ongoing research on turbines, health”.

CBC News (November 18, 2009). “Wind power health effects queried by municipal group”.

Annis, Robert (November 19, 2009). Indianapolis Star. “Boone County looking into wind farm health fears”.

Crosby, Don (November 20, 2009). Owen Sound Sun Times “Bruce seeks wind turbine health study”.

Lam, Tina (November 24, 2009). Detroit Free Press “Living by wind farms no breeze, some say”.

Yomiuri Shimbun (November 29, 2009). “Govt to study effects of wind farms on health”.

Leake, Jonathan, and Byford, Harry (December 13, 2009). Sunday Times. “Officials cover up wind farm noise report”.

White, Leslie (December 24, 2009). Weekly Times. “Report critical of wind farms”.

Braithwaite, Chris (December 30, 2009). Chronicle. “Wind tower neighbor bought out for health reasons”.

Schliesmann, Paul (January 16, 2010). Whig-Standard. “Wind turbines: Expert says people are suffering health problems from being too close to structures”.

Ito, Aya; and Takeda, Tsuyoshi (January 19, 2010). Asahi Shimbun. “Sickness claims prompt study of wind turbines”.

Squair, Sylvia (February 4, 2010). “Throwing Caution to the Wind”.

Hall, Cheryl (February 19, 2010). Stateline Victoria, ABC News. “Claims of wind farm illness”.

Bryce, Robert (March 1, 2010). Wall Street Journal. “The Brewing Tempest Over Wind Power”.

ABC News (March 4, 2010). “Govt to investigate wind farm complaints”.

Fox Business (March 4, 2010). “Wind Farms Causing Health Problems?”.

Gray, Louise (March 6, 2010). Telegraph. “Noise complaints about one in six wind farms”.

Martin, Steve (March 16, 2010). Ballarat Mornings, ABC Victoria. “Wind Turbine Syndrome with Dr Nina Pierpont”.

Snyder, Paul (April 1, 2010). Daily Reporter. “Landowners sue Invenergy over Forward Wind Energy Center”.

Spolar, Matthew (April 12, 2010). Concord Monitor. “Effects of turbines in question”.

Kottke, Colleen (April 18, 2010). Fond du Lac Reporter. “Oakfield couple files PSC complaint over wind farm”.

Roper, Matt (April 19, 2010). Daily Mirror. “Couple driven out by noisy wind turbines sue for £380,000″.

BBC News (April 27, 2010). “Lincolnshire windfarm rejected to help autistic boys”.

Oike, Yuki Tsuruta (April 30, 2010). “Japanese conference against big wind”.

Mulholland, Jessica (March 1, 2010). Governing. “Are Wind Farms a Health Risk?”.

Snyder, Paul (May 6, 2010). Daily Reporter. “Wind farm property sells at sheriff’s sale”.

O’Gorman, Josh (May 7, 2010). Rutland Herald. “Hospital hosts wind debate”.

Craddock, Chelsea (May 16, 2010). Watertown Daily Times. “Hospital shows off balance center”.

De Long, L. Sam (May 26, 2010). Watertown Daily Times “Another health problem caused by turbines”.

AAP (May 27, 2010). Herald Sun. “Sick residents claim wind farm ‘torture’”

WNEM (May 28, 2010). “Homeowners File Lawsuit Over Wind Turbines”.

Weaver, Alex (May 29, 2010). The Standard. “An ill wind blows in”.

McConville, Christine (June 2, 2010). Boston Herald. “Falmouth wind-turbine noise has local residents whirling”.

Simpson, Barbara (June 2, 2010). Delhi News-Record. “A quiet room of their own: Residents impacted by wind turbines sleep in Delhi”.

Sellars, Paul (June 3, 2010). Weekly Times. “Wind turbine illness claims”.

Lazzaro, Kellie (July 5, 2010). ABC News. “Residents reject wind farm health findings”.

Australia.to News (July 27, 2010). “Family First Senator seeks enquiry into health effects of wind farms”.

Hugus, Elise R. (July 27, 2010). “Bylaw in the Works to Regulate Turbine Noise”.

This interview was conducted by Tim Harmann who is with the Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy (Link: BCCRWE.com)

Elizabeth Eberts is a resident of the We Energies Blue Sky/Green Field wind project. Click on the image below to hear what she has to say about living with wind turbines. For those whose internet connection isn't fast enough to watch video, a transcript is provided below.

Transcript of Interview with  Elizabeth Eberts

I'm a non participant of the wind turbines but I have them to the north, west and south of me. We live down in this hollow part and they just come straight above by our house and we hear all the noise.

And sleeping at night, if they don't turn at night, I sleep great. Like last night I had a terrific nights sleep but this week, Wednesday they were really going and just like that in the middle of the night I'll just jump up and there's nothing I can do.

It just does something. I don't know what the noise is that wakes me up or what it is but I can sleep through thunderstorms, anything. But I cannot sleep through this. I've tried different things but I just can't.

And I complained to them about the noise and they said they can do nothing about the noise. It's the way it is, etc. etc.

Well I had my son over here because he had to have major surgery. And you know, because we could leave from here I thought it was real nice.

Well then he told me, he said he couldn't sleep all night because it sounded like an airplane hovering over his bedroom all night long. So he couldn't sleep.

And I thought it was just me, you know? I never gave it a thought.

In our township, noise means nothing. That's exactly what they told me. They say it at every meeting you go to. "We're not going to discuss the noise."

Well, it's a big problem here. Especially for me with [turbine noise ] coming down at me.

And they just don't acknowledge it at all.

So in addition to your noise and your sleep, you had some problems with your TV?

Well we have problems with the TV, the scanner and the FM radio.

The TV was the worst of them all. It took a good year, and I just told them after all that they did I said that this is it. Take it out. I don't care what you give me. I can't stand it any more.

It would go out. You'd be listening to a program, you'd see half of it, and all of a sudden it's gone. Then it would come back again. Well. It was just totally out of control. I was just plain frustrated. You just turned the TV off and just let it off for awhile.

And you said you visit your daughter who is in the wind farm too and she has other issues?

Yes. She has bad shadow flicker. Over the complete house. Because the wind turbine to the east of her is on a very high hill, so it covers their whole house.

She can't go anyplace in her house where she does not see shadow flicker.

Well, [the wind developer] offered the blinds and that. Well, [the flicker will] go through the top part of your window. You can put them up as good as you want, it still goes through.

I was putting up-- we made curtains for her--- and I was putting them up and I seen this flickering going in there, and I said, "Oh my gosh," I had to get down from the ladder and turn away from it.

And she says, "Oh, this isn't bad, mom."

Well, to me it was. That was very bad.

But they will put blinds up for you or whatever
 But what do you put windows in your house for?

[This wind farm] they just put it up and that was it. They didn't work with us at all.

And what they say to you, don't believe them.

I had this guy from We Energies coming into my house and telling me he'd give me back everything he took away.

And then he shook my hand.

And you know what? To this day yet I haven't gotten everything back they took away, They can't give me  it back. There is no way. Unless they stop these turbines.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Sound is bad all day

this is one of the turbines that is around 1400 feet from the foundation of our home. this is just proof that these turbines were poorly [s]ited. they are absolutely too close to our home. some people may say the turbines look nice when visiting them, but living with them is a different story. we are not visiting them. we experience their different sounds everyday and the intense shadow flicker is disturbing. hopefully there will be some justice done in the near future.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Distressing Noise

SOURCE: KHQA NEWS  CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

ADAMS COUNTY, ILL. -- "I'm against irresponsible wind energy, and that's what this is," says Dave Hulthen.

That is Dave and Stephanie Hulthen from DeKalb County Illinois.

They are in Quincy for a couple of days sharing their thoughts on wind farms.

The Hultens live on a wind farm in DeKalb county, and they don't like it.

There are no wind turbines on their property, so they are not compensated by the wind energy company.

However, they tell KHQA their quality of life has been blown apart since the turbines came online this past December.

This is video of the Hulthen's house. You can see the shadows of the big turbines as they rotate from the wind. They tell me this happens just about every morning during a large part of the year. This is a look from the inside of their home.

"We are exposed to shadow flicker as well. That's where the turbine comes between the sun and our residence. We have a flickering in the morning where it could go for 45 minutes," says Dave Hulthen.

Dave Hulthen says there are two turbines within 1400 feet of his home. There are 13 within a mile. And the problems are more than just shadow flicker.

"It's like a jet plane just sitting on the property. Not flying overhead and leaving, but always sitting out there spinning. It's a hum, hum, hum. a low frequency drum noise," says Stephanie Hulthen.

Take a listen to this video shot around midnight one night.

The Hulthens didn't really know what it would be like to live on a wind farm. They visited one before the one near their house was built. They heard some noises and thought they could live with it. It wasn't until they lived with it 24 hours a day before they realized they didn't like it.

"Now we're affected in one way. In two years, could something else happen. We don't know," says Dave Hulthen.

So the Hulthens are in Adams County to share their concerns with the residents here. They say they have nothing to gain, they were not paid a salary to come here, they just believe people need to do their research first to make sure everyone associated with a wind farm is happy in the end.

The Hulthens do have a daily blog about living on the wind farm.

They say not all days are bad, but a majority of them are.

They also blog about the good days too.

If you'd like to read their blog posts, you can click here. 

There is also a question and answer session with the Hulthen Tuesday at the Quincy Senior and Family Resource Center from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon.

The Adams County Board is voting on its newly revised draft ordinance Tueaday night.

You'll remember an original ordinance was past earlier this year.

This new draft addresses some of the concerns of residents and a wind energy company.

KHQA spoke to County Board Chairman Mike McLaughlin, he says this new draft addresses the issue of shadow flicker.

"My board's biggest concern is to take care of the health and safety of the residence of Adams County. We don't want to bring in something that's going to harm anybody. That's obviously not our intent," says McLaughlin.

McLaughlin says Adams County is working with a different company than the one that operates the wind farm in DeKalb County.

He adds there could also be other issues, such as elevation, that affect properties differently.

As far as some benefits to a wind farm in Adams County, it could be a big boost on the economic front.

McLaughlin says a lot of the county's taxing districts, like schools and libraries, would benefit a lot from the development.

In the news:

ANOTHER CHAPTER FROM "WIND DEVELOPERS BEHAVING BADLY", CANADA,

"We will build resources, including capital and marketing materials, to challenge this bylaw and any similar bylaws passed in other municipalities including funds to support any legal challenge as a result of delayed issuance of building permits," [Wind developer] Edey said.

"That is not to be looked at as a threat, because it is not," Edey told council and about a dozen wind energy opponents at the meeting. "We don't believe going to court is a good use of resources, but if that's what it takes to move the project forward, well . . ."

From Wind turbines in the news: 10/10/10  "Gloves off in wind farm showdown"