4/6/10 Adverse Health Effects? The wind industry says there are none.
NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: For those who had trouble accessing the video of the April 1st Wind Siting Council Meeting, the settings have been changed so they are all now viewable to the public. CLICK HERE for the links.
CLICK HERE for location, time and dates of WSC meetings. These meetings are open to the public. Better Plan, Wisconsin encourages you to attend.
THIRD Wind Siting Council Meeting Notice
Wednesday, April 7, 2010, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Docket 1-AC-231
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Amnicon Falls Conference Room (1st Floor) Public Service Commission Building 610 North Whitney Way, Madison, Wisconsin
This meeting is open to the public
To address the growing number of complaints and health concerns about adverse health effects from wind farm noise and shadow flicker, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)and the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), hired medical doctors, audiologists, and acoustical professionals to review recent literature on the issue. The resulting report, "Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects" was released in December 2009. Their conclusion?
Other equally qualified medical doctors, audiologists, and acoustical professionals have reviewed the same literature and have come to the opposite conclusion.
CLICK HERE to visit the Adverse Health Effects page at The Society for Wind Vigilence Website
CLICK HERE to read their review of the AWEA/CanWEA report.
Their advisory panel includes:
Robert Y. McMurtry, M.D., F.R.C.S.(C), F.A.C.S.
Michael A. Nissenbaum, M.D.
Roy D. Jeffery M.D.,FCFP (Can)
Christopher Hanning, BSc, MB, BS, MRCS, LRCP, FRCA, MD
Carmen Krogh, BScPharm, Secretariat
Richard R. James, INCE
John Harrison, PhD
David L. White, EET, CMBB
ANOTHER NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: If you are a Wisconsin resident currently having problems with wind turbine noise or shadow flicker, CLICK HERE to Contact Healthy Wind, Wisconsin
"HWW - Healthy Wind, Wisconsin’s mission is to keep active track of wind-related health issues affecting Wisconsin families. We are committed to assisting residents of Wisconsin who have been impacted by poorly sited wind turbines by processing resident’s complaints and monitoring the progress toward complaint resolution."
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Invenergy, WPPI, We Energy, Wisconsin wind farm, Wisconsin wind power, Wisconsin wind siting council, health effects wind farm, health effects wind turbine, wind farm noise, wind shadow flicker, wind turbine noise, wisconsin wind ordinance
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4/5/10 FYI! Wednesday! April 7th! 9:00 AM! Open to the public! Come and watch your future being held in the hands of the Wind Siting Council!
THIRD Wind Siting Council Meeting Notice
Docket 1-AC-231
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Amnicon Falls Conference Room (1st Floor)
Public Service Commission Building
610 North Whitney Way, Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, April 7, 2010, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Agenda
1) Review of today’s agenda
2) Review and adoption of meeting minutes of April 1, 2010
3) Review, modification and adoption of Council’s general Guiding Principles and Guiding
Principles associated with Developer/Owner Responsibilities
4) Development of the Council’s Guiding Principles for drafting rules associated with Siting
and Local and Commission processes
5) Next steps/Discussion of next meeting’s time, place and agenda
6) Adjourn
This meeting is open to the public.
If you have any questions or need special accommodations, please contact Deborah Erwin at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin by telephone at (608) 266-3905 or via e-mail at deborah.erwin@wisconsin.gov. PSC REF#:129544 Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
4/3/10 Watch the 4/1/10 wind siting council meeting at the PSC: For some it's like watching paint dry, for others it's like watching their future in someone elses hands.
Sad because you can't make it to Public Service Commssion in Madison to attend the Wind Siting Council meetings as they put together guidelines to site industrial-scale wind turbines in our state?
Be Happy! Better Plan, Wisconsin is filming the proceedings and posting them in ten minute segments them on YouTube. We hope to have the entire meeting posted in the next few days
CLICK on these links to watch
4/2/10 DOUBLE FEATURE: Wisconsin family driven from home by wind turbine noise takes it to court AND Couldn't make it to the April 1, 2010 Wind Siting Council Meeting? Watch it here!
A family's noise complaint against Invenergy LLC and its Forward Energy Wind Center in Brownsville is spooking wind farm developers trying to do business in the state.
"I think it would have a devastating effect in Wisconsin," said Jim Naleid, managing director of Holmen-based AgWind Energy Partners LLC. "People are already avoiding the state because of the political trouble you can face getting a wind farm approved, and now this could just deter them further."
In a complaint filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Ann and Jason Wirtz argue the 86-turbine Forward Energy Wind Center cost them their home and their alpaca-breeding business and created health problems for the family. The project went online in 2008.
The Wirtzes want the PSC to require Invenergy compensate them for their losses, although the complaint does not specify how much the family wants.
"They couldn't stand to live there anymore," said Edward Marion, the Madison attorney representing the Wirtzes, who moved from Brownsville to nearby Oakfield in 2009.
"And the PSC has a lot more evidence now about noise standards and county ordinances than it did when it approved this project."
The Wirtzes, in their complaint, claim their daughter Megan developed serious stomach and intestinal problems as well as chronic fatigue and headaches as a result of the noise. According to the complaint, two baby alpacas were aborted and one was stillborn after the wind farm went online.
John Shenot, PSC policy adviser, said Friday the commission's attorneys are reviewing the complaint and determining the next step.
Chicago-based Invenergy will not comment specifically on the complaint, said Joe Condo, the company's vice president and general counsel. But he said forcing companies to pay damages years late could threaten future projects.
"If it's decided in the face of studies showing no link between the sounds produced by a wind farm and a person's health that developers nonetheless have to compensate owners, then, yeah, of course it would be a problem for developers," Condo said. "It also flies in the face of what the state and nation are trying to do in developing the renewable industry."
Condo referred to a 2009 study commissioned by the American and Canadian Wind Energy Associations that concluded sounds from wind turbines cannot produce adverse physical or health effects.
Marion said he does not know of any other cases in which property owners filed complaints against a wind farm developer after the project began operating. But with more wind farm projects going up in Wisconsin, he said, landowners are more aggressive in protecting their property.
"This is the first of what may be more," Marion said of the Wirtzes' complaint.
That is exactly what scares Naleid and other developers, Naleid said. He said developers cannot be expected to pitch new projects if they must live in fear of penalties years after project approval.
Yet Naleid agreed the Wirtzes' complaint could be the first of many.
"Then what kind of thoughts do you have about developing any kind of power, whether it's coal-fired, nuclear, solar?" he said. "If the plan is approved but you can still be sued later, why would anyone want to?"
NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: Better Plan will be uploading video the entire April 1, 2010 WSC meeting to YouTube in ten minute segments over the next few days.
The BPRC Research Nerd
in AgWind Energy Partners, Edward Marion, Forward Wind Energy Center, Invenergy LLC, Joe Condo, Naleid, PSC, Public Service Commission, Shenot, lawsuit, turbines, wind
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4/1/10 TRIPLE FEATURE: Brown County Health department says wind turbine health effects need looking into AND Kewanee County Town of Carlton passes large wind moritorium No Foolin'! PSC will webcast AUDIO of today's 1:30 PM WSC Meeting!
PANEL ASKS FOR WIND TURBINE HEALTH STUDY
Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette, www.greenbaypressgazette.com
April 1, 2010
By Tony Walter,
The Brown County Health Department will look into the impact of wind turbines on human health.
Supervisor Patrick Evans, chairman of the Human Services committee, said he thinks the turbines proposed for southern Brown County pose a potential health danger and wants a study conducted.
“I feel there’s a health risk right now,” said Evans, who said he has done wind turbine consulting in Brazil and has health data compiled in European countries where the turbines have been built. “The only way that wind farms in southern Brown County can be stopped is through the health department.”
Chicago-based Invenergy LLC has proposed building 100 wind turbines in the area, with 54 of them in the town of Morrison. Opponents argue that the turbines would deflate land values and create health problems through noise and interference with the groundwater.
The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has authority to approve the turbines but hasn’t yet acted on the company’s request.
Evans said the health department study would be presented to the Board of Health, the Human Services committee and the County Board.
Health Department Director Judy Friederichs said she was planning to investigate the health danger anyway.
“We decided to be proactive after reading many of the comments,” Friederichs said. “But we really haven’t had a speaker on this at any of the state meetings. So we’re just starting to look into it.”
Carlton Wind moratorium approved: Residents seek to protect property rights
SOURCE Kewaunee County News, www.greenbaypressgazette.com
By Kurt Rentmeester,
March 31 2010
The Carlton Town Board approved a one-year moratorium on commercial wind turbines Monday, after more than 50 residents came to a public hearing to oppose the idea.
The board unanimously approved the measure on a 3-0 vote after Town Chairman Dave Hardtke said he received six or seven phone calls from residents who were contacted by the Ohio-based Element Energy to lease their property for wind generation.
Element Energy seeks to lease more than 18,000 acres for 111 commercial turbines as part of a wind farm between Kewaunee and Two Rivers. Wind turbines would be built on properties in the towns of West Kewaunee, Two Creeks, Mishicot and Two Rivers.
Property owners elsewhere have lost rights after signing lease agreements to site wind turbines on their land, according to Jeff Roberts, a town of Mishicot resident. Turbines have had an impact on cell phone and TV reception.
Carlton residents could have concerns if people in neighboring towns agree to the Element Energy proposal, Carlton Town Supervisor Steve Tadisch said. A state wind energy ordinance proposal may supersede state and county setback ordinances, he said.
Residents who sign leases may not realize they could lose their rights as property owners, said Jeff Roberts, a town of Mishicot resident. They also could lose their cell phone and TV reception, as well as have to live with the noise of turbines.
Gary Holly, a town of Carlton resident, learned Fond du Lac County residents lost some of their rights after talking to them last week.
He described one property owner who signed a waiver agreement to permit a wind turbine near his home as someone who “looked down. He was a beaten man.”
Lynn Holly, a business operator from the Tisch Mills area, said she learned about the issue two weeks ago. Property owners who sign contracts cannot discuss the issue with anyone, she said.
Until now, the state has had to go through local town zoning ordinances to site wind turbines. But the Wisconsin Legislature could give power companies the right to set those standards, according to Jerome Hlinak, a town of Mishicot resident. He is a member of Wisconsin Independent Citizens Opposed to Wind Turbine Sites (WIND COWS).
Town of Carlton residents need time to understand all the concerns associated with wind turbines, said Rick Phillips, a town resident.
While the Wisconsin Legislature has mandated exploration of renewable energy, he referred to the state’s efforts as a “knee-jerk reaction” that needs to be thought out.
Green energy grants that power companies are eligible for can be pulled, Hardtke said. Property owners then can lose money, too.
When people sign lease agreements for wind power, Becky Paplham said they should consider the long-term impact on residents with young families.
A state initiative on wind energy could be established to override any town or county ordinances. While Manitowoc County has a 1,000-foot zoning setback, the state could eliminate that.
Hlinak wants people to be concerned about changes in state law that could eliminate county, town and individual property rights.
“I feel we’re losing local control in our township with the state Public Service Commission and the Legislature stepping in,” Hardtke said. “They don’t care how it affects us here.”
SECOND FEATURE:
Sad because you can't make it to Public Service Commssion in Madison to attend the Wind Siting Council meetings as they to put together guidelines to site industrial scale wind turbines in our state?
Be Happy! The PSC is webcasting the AUDIO proceedings live from the Flambeau River Room. The meeting begins at 1:30 PM and is open to the public. We'd much prefer video but we'll take the audio.
Topic of the day:-Developing guiding principles- Developer/owner responsibility
Public Service Commission Building
610 North Whitney Way, Madison, Wisconsin
Flambeau River Room
CLICK HERE to download a copy of the agenda
DO YOUR HOMEWORK! CLICK HERE to find out who is on the siting council
Wind Siting Council Meeting Live Broadcast
April 1, 2010 Beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Click Here to receive the LIVE AUDIO broadcast of the Wind Siting Council Meeting
The meeting begins at 1:30 but you may want to set up your connection earlier to make sure it's ready.
If the link doesn't work, go directly to the PSC homepage by CLICKING HERE and then clicking on the "PSC Live Broadcasts button" on the left.
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FROM THE PSC WEBSITE about live broadcasts : PSC Live offers real-time broadcasts of the Commission's open meetings and public hearings. Commission meetings and public hearings held in the Amnicon Falls room include audio and video whereas events held in the third floor Flambeau River conference room will be audio only. |
| Note: There will be no broadcast if the event is not in session. We suggest that you tune in a few minutes before the session begins and close your media player when the session ends. |
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Wind farm health effects, Wisconsin wind power, Wisconsin wind siting council, psc wind siting council, wind farm noise, wind farm shadow flicker, wisconsin wind energy
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