3/5/10 How Green is a Bat Killing Machine? Tonight on "In Wisconsin"
TONIGHT ON WISCONSIN PUBLIC TELEVISION:
Bats and Wind Turbines
7:00 pm
Here's a mystery, why would bats known for stealth flying skills, that allows them to sense something as small as a human hair have a problem avoiding huge wind turbines? New research reveals what's happening. Reporter Jo Garrett talks with one of Wisconsin's leading bat experts who is helping to unravel the mystery.
3/3/10 TRIPLE FEATURE: Brown County Board takes wind turbine related health concerns seriously AND The wind industry says if you would only admit your turbine problems are all in your head you could do something about them. AND More turbines, more problems.
Home for sale, Fond du Lac County, WI February 2010
BROWN COUNTY TO STUDY WIND FARMS' IMPACT
SOURCE: Greenbay Press-Gazette
By Tony Walter
March 3, 2010
A Brown County Board committee voted Tuesday to form a special committee to gather information about the health, safety and economic impact of wind turbines on county residents.
A Chicago-based developer is seeking state approval to build the first major commercial wind farm in Brown County, a project that would put 100 wind turbines in the towns of Morrison, Holland, Wrightstown and Glenmore.
The issue came to a head Tuesday because wind turbine opponents said there is evidence that they could interfere with emergency radio communications. But several of the approximately 50 wind farm opponents who attended the meeting said they are as concerned for health reasons.
“This whole thing is being jammed down our throats,” said Marilyn Nies of Greenleaf, whose 5-year-old daughter has a heart disease. Some wind turbine opponents say the turbines can cause a variety of health issues that could affect people like her daughter. “Is it going to hurt us to wait a year or two so real studies can be accomplished?”
Carl Johnson of Greenleaf said the turbines add the turbines will bring low frequency noise, which he called “a new type of pollution.”
Steve Deslauriers of Greenleaf urged the committee to consider a wind diversion ordinance.
“The county’s voice needs to be heard,” he said.
Carl Kuehne of Ledgeview cited university studies in Spain, Germany and Denmark that he said showed wind turbines to be “total, complete and utter failures” in those countries. He said other studies have shown property values decreased 25-40 percent on property adjacent to wind farms.
He asked the committee to recommend a moratorium on wind turbines until a thorough investigation can be completed.
Oil splatters on a Fond du Lac County wind turbine, February 2010
SECOND FEATURE:
The following commentary comes to Better Plan from a resident living in a Fond du Lac County wind project who wishes to remain anonymous.
You have an attitude problem.
That’s the wind industry’s latest explanation for the growing number of complaints from people living in industrial wind projects. They say, “You people just don’t like these things.”
The implication is that if you just changed your attitude, the problems you're having with turbine noise, sleep disruption, shadow flicker, and homes that will not sell--- all of these problems will go away.
As a Wisconsin resident who has been living in a wind project for nearly two years, I have to ask what it is that the industry wants you to like? What is there to like about having your home surrounded by 400 foot wind turbines? I can’t think of a thing …
-Unless you like constant audible and low frequency noise, from whooshing and thumping to grinding mechanical noises and transformer hum.
-Unless you enjoy chronic sleep disruption and associated health problems for you and your family.
-Unless you enjoy signal interference on your radio, TV, and cell phone.
-Unless you want to live in an area where Flight for Life emergency transport helicopters can no longer land.
-Unless you enjoy the strobe flashing of turbine shadow flicker inside and outside of your home on sunny days and moonlit nights.
-Unless you are glad the birds and bats are gone along and other wildlife once so common before the turbines went up.
-Unless you think it’s beautiful to be surrounded by scores of red lights flashing in unison from the turbines at night, or regard leaking oil on the towers and land below as decorative.
-Unless you want to live in a place where wind developers pitted neighbor against neighbor and tore the community apart in a way that will never be repaired.
-Unless you appreciate your peace of mind and family relationships disintegrating because of the stress of no sleep and uncertainty about being able to sell your house, because you’ve seen how the houses in your project just sit with no buyers, because you know how few people want to buy a home so near turbines and you can’t blame them—because you wouldn’t want to live so close to wind turbines either.
Except, now, of course, you do.
This new “blame the victim” PR move underscores the wind industry's own attitude problem, one of insensitivity and an inability to understand and be compassionate toward the people whose problems began only after the wind turbines went up.
NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD:
There have been a number of reasons why residents of wind projects in our state have asked for anonymity when contacting Better Plan. Some have family members who work for companies associated with construction of the turbines. Some have family members or neighbors who are hosting turbines. Some are hosting turbines themselves and regretting it, but are fearful of being sued by the wind company for violating the gag order in their contract.
Better Plan is glad to insure anonymity to any wind project resident who contacts us, but we always confirm the identity of anyone who submits material for us to post.
We'd like to thank the family who sent us this commentary.
THIRD FEATURE
Wind turbines stir up controversy in Brown County
SOURCE: WFRV-TV Channel 5 News
BROWN COUNTY (WFRV) – Some Brown County residents say they’re worried about plans to put a 100 turbine wind farm in southern Brown County.
Invenergy wants to build 400-foot wind turbines on 72-square miles of land.
Residents enumerated a host of issues they have with the build at a Brown County Committee meeting Tuesday evening.
Home owners say they're worried about well contamination, noise pollution and potential unseen health issues. A concerned parent speaking from the podium at Tuesday’s meeting said she’s worried the project could worsen her 5-year-old’s heart condition. She wants to delay the project a year or two for a comprehensive study. “I feel like this whole thing is being jammed down our throats.”
Steve Deslauriers, a Town of Morrison firefighter, says he’s worried 9-1-1 calls could be interrupted by the wind turbine’s blades. “If it impacts even one accident scene, it’s one too many” Deslauries tells Channel 5’s Jenna Sachs.
Deslauriers also says he’s worried history shows rescue choppers might not fly near the turbines. “We can look to Fond du Lac County as a guide for how flight rescue would be handled” Deslauriers says. “There they will not fly into a wind farm at night or into a cluster of wind turbines.”
Sachs spoke with representatives from Invenergy and Brown County Public Safety about the 9-1-1 issue. Both parties say they can work together to make sure 9-1-1 signals aren’t interrupted, since the new radio towers haven’t been built yet.
The BPRC Research Nerd
in Alliant wind farm, Fond du lac county wind farm, Invenergy wind farm, We Energies wind farm, Wisconsin wind farm, host wind turbine, shadow flicker, wind energy, wind power, wind turbine noise, wind turbine syndrome, wind turbine vibration
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3/2/10 TRIPLE FEATURE! What do Wisconsin wind turbines sound like? And what about complaints? AND what does the Wall Street Journal have to say about the problems being reported around the world? AND Special to Brown County: Will proposed wind project interfere with 911 signals?
Click on the images below to hear the sound of Wisconsin turbines in the Butler Ridge project near Iron Springs, Wisconsin, and a resident's hope that the new wind company that bought the project will be better than the last one
BREWING TEMPEST OVER WIND POWER
People living near turbines increasingly report sleep deprivation, headaches and vertigo. The wind lobby says there’s no proof.
SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal
Robert Bryce
March 1, 2010
Imagine this scenario: The oil and gas industry launches an aggressive global drilling program with a new type of well. Thousands of these new wells, once operational, emit a noxious odor so offensive that many of the people living within a mile of them are kept awake at night. Some are even forced to move out of their homes. It’s easy to predict the reaction: denunciations of the industry, countless lawsuits, and congressional investigations.
Now substitute wind for oil and gas and consider the noise complaints being lodged against wind projects around the world.
The Obama administration has made the increased use of wind power to generate electricity a top priority. In 2009 alone, U.S. wind generation capacity increased by 39%. But more wind power means more giant turbines closer to more people. And if current trends continue, that spells trouble.
In 2007, a phalanx of wind turbines were built around Charlie Porter’s property in rural northern Missouri. Soon, Mr. Porter began to have trouble sleeping. So did his wife and daughter. The noise, he told me, made sleeping almost impossible. “We tried everything — earplugs, leaving the TV station on all night.” Nothing worked. Late last year he moved his family off their 20-acre farm.
Mr. Porter’s story is no isolated event. Rural residents in Texas, Maine, Pennsylvania, Oregon, New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France and England have been complaining about the noise from wind turbines, particularly about sleep deprivation. Dozens of news stories — most of them published in rural newspapers — have documented the problem.
I’ve spoken to nine other people in New York, Wisconsin, Ontario, New Zealand, Nova Scotia and England who live, or lived, near wind turbines. All complained of the noise, with sleep deprivation being the most common complaint. For example, Janet Warren, who raises sheep near Makara, New Zealand, told me via email that the turbines near her home emit “continuous noise and vibration,” which disturb her sleep and are causing “loss of concentration, irritability, and short-term memory effects.”
Complaints about sleep disruption — as well as the deleterious health effects caused by the pulsing, low-frequency noise emitted by the giant turbines — are a central element of an emerging citizen backlash against the booming global wind industry.
Lawsuits that focus on noise pollution are now pending in Maine, Pennsylvania and New Zealand. In New Zealand, more than 750 complaints have been lodged against a large wind project near Makara since it began operating last April. The European Platform Against Windfarms lists 388 groups in 20 European countries. Canada has more than two dozen antiwind groups. In the U.S. there are about 100 such groups, and state legislators in Vermont recently introduced a bill that will require wind turbines be located no closer than 1.25 miles from any residence.
In theory, big wind projects should only be built in desolate areas. But the reality is that many turbines are being installed close to homes. Wind developers put a turbine within 550 meters of Mr. Porter’s house. Hal Graham, a retired office manager in Cohocton, N.Y., complains about the noise pollution caused by a turbine 300 meters from his home. Tony Moyer, a plumbing superintendent in Eden, Wis., grumbles about the noise generated by three turbines built within 425 meters of his house.
Doctors and acoustics experts from the U.S. to Australia report a raft of symptoms that they blame on wind turbine noise, including sleep disturbance, headaches and vertigo. Dr. Nina Pierpont, a pediatrician in Malone, N.Y., has studied 36 people affected by wind turbine noise since 2004 at her own expense. The people she interviewed were widely dispersed; they lived in the U.S., Canada, England, Ireland and Italy. She found that the collection of symptoms she calls “wind turbine syndrome” disappeared as soon as people moved out of their noise-affected homes and into new locations at least five miles from any turbines.
Across the border, Ontario-based orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert McMurtry has been researching wind turbine noise for the past 18 months. Dr. McMurtry, a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, counts more than 100 people in Ontario he believes are experiencing adverse effects from turbine noise. “It has compromised their health,” he says.
The wind lobby has publicly rejected these claims. In December, the American Wind Energy Association in conjunction with the Canadian Wind Energy Association, issued a report titled “Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects: An Expert Review Panel.” It declared: “There is no evidence that the audible or sub-audible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effects.” It also suggested that some of the symptoms being attributed to wind turbine noise were likely psychosomatic and asserted that the vibrations from the turbines are “too weak to be detected by, or to affect, humans.”
Yet the report also noted that in “the area of wind turbine health effects, no case-control or cohort studies have been conducted as of this date.” True enough — but it means there are no studies to prove or disprove the case. It also says that “a small number of sensitive people” may be “stressed” by wind turbine noise and suffer sleep deprivation. But who gets to define “sensitive” and “small number”? And if turbine noise and sleep disturbance aren’t problems, then why are people in so many different locations complaining in almost identical ways? Such questions are only going to be pressed with more urgency in the future.
By 2030, environmental and lobby groups are pushing for the U.S. to produce 20% of its electricity from wind. According to the Department of Energy, meeting that goal will require the U.S. to have about 300,000 megawatts of wind capacity, an eightfold increase over current levels. Installing tens of thousands of new turbines inevitably means they’ll be located closer to populated areas.
The health effects of low-frequency noise on humans are not well understood. The noise in question often occurs at, or below, decibel levels that are commonly considered a public nuisance. And detecting low-frequency noise requires sophisticated acoustic gear. For all of these reasons, this issue should be investigated. If policy makers are serious about considering all of the impacts of “green” energy, then an impartial, international study of the effects of wind turbine noise should be undertaken without delay.
Click on the image above to see wind turbine shadow flicker in a Wisconsin home.
SPECIAL TO BROWN COUNTY:
Does Proposed Wind Farm Pose Threat to 911?
March 1, 2010
A Chicago-based energy company wants to erect 100 wind turbines in southern Brown County: 54 in Morrison, 22 in Holland, 20 in Wrightstown, and four in Glenmore.
There's concern the 400-foot turbine towers could interfere with the county's plan to erect a series of 911 radio towers.
While emotions run high between landowners and families in southern Brown County about the pros and cons of a massive wind farm, the county's Director of Public Safety Communications is also weighing in.
"I'm sure there will be a compromise there somewhere," Jim Nickel said.
Tuesday night, Nickel will tell the county's Public Safety Committee how the wind farm plans could impact the county's plans to upgrade its 911 system, which includes a dozen radio towers.
"Potential issue to worry about, and we have to worry about, is connecting our sights together to allow that back to the 911 center."
Nickel says if a 400-foot wind turbine were built in the path of two smaller radio towers, the microwave signal would be lost, meaning the 911 caller wouldn't reach emergency dispatchers.
He says the county is just starting to plan where the towers will go.
"By the end of this year we should know where our sites are going to be and where those corridors are going to be, and then we can work with them to make sure they're maybe moved a bit to allow these corridors to exist."
Nickel expects a small number of the proposed 100 turbines would need to be relocated.
The company proposing the wind farm, Invenergy, says it will work with the county to make sure the turbines don't impact emergency communications.
"Several things could happen," Invenergy project developer Kevin Parzyck said. "Number one, the tower could be moved, but there are limitations based on setback, wetlands, etc. The second is, we have included alternate locations in our application, so if some of the turbines don't work we can go to alternates. And the third possibility is, it could be a reduced size."
Invenergy says it will submit its wind farm application to the state's Public Service Commission in the next few weeks.
Supporters of the project say it would promote alternative energy and economic development, while opponents contend the turbines would jeopardize public health and safety.
2/27/10 Heads up Dane County, big turbines are heading to Verona.
EPIC studies wind turbines
Company already has erected 197-foot tower
Jim Ferolie
Verona Press editor
February 27th, 2010
In case you were wondering, that tall, skinny tower on the west side of the city is not a flagpole or an antenna.
Tucked away amid the farmland, it's a 197-foot (60 meter) meteorological tower on the Epic campus designed to study the feasibility of using wind power.
Epic officials, who have been busy planning a third campus - even while the second one was just getting started last year - informed city staff last month they were considering alternative sources of energy for their massive, growing facility on Verona's west side. Among the possibilities were wind, solar, biomass and solarthermal (using sunlight to produce steam). Both Campus 1 and Campus 2 already use a geothermal system for heat, and the Learning Center campus has the infrastructure in place to switch to it.
"We are in the feasibility stage of looking at alternate energy that's right for the environment," Epic director of facilities and engineering Bruce Richards said Tuesday. "We are not looking at alternate energy that uses natural resources. ... And what we're doing we're going to consume on site."
The Morse Company has applied to the Federal Aviation Administration to place four wind turbines at Epic, each up to 466 feet tall, atop the rolling hills north and west of the current buildings. The filings on the FAA site list specific locations and heights for the turbines, but the contractor in charge of the project said Monday those are not necessarily where they will go.
"The FAA determination (of hazard) is just to see because there's an airport nearby; we want to determine what the limitations are of height," said Ed Englert of Morse's Beloit office. "It doesn't mean that's what's going to be put up or the quantity. There's a lot of logistics that are going to have to be overcome."
Richards said he was almost certain the towers wouldn't be anywhere near 400 feet - that was just a worst-case scenario to see what the limitations are.
"We're going to be very sensitive to the neighbors for sure," he said, noting that Epic is studying everything from migratory birds and bats to noise and shadow flicker. "We're going to do the full cross-spectrum analysis."
Wind power has become a hot-button issue in Wisconsin over the past year, with several communities attempting to limit the promulgation of wind farms because of concerns about noise, electromagnetic interference, stray voltage and shadow flicker. However, in September the state Legislature overruled most local control over placement of large wind turbines by passing Senate Bill 185, which Gov. Jim Doyle signed as Act 40.
The law, which enables the Public Service Commission to create uniform wind power siting rules, fit in with the governor's broader goal of increasing clean energy use in the state.
Several city officials were aware of Epic's plans to study wind power and other alternative energy sources, such as biomass, if not all the details about the filings, and the city passed that word on to the Verona Area School District in the January IDAC meeting. Each of the officials said they were informed that the tower would be temporary, and no site plan was required, only a $50 building permit.
"When I talked to the people at Epic about this, they were looking at how they would go about getting permission," city Public Works director Ron Rieder said. "That is the way it was explained to me, that this 197-foot tower was just a temporary structure."
Morse erected that temporary structure in February, and it is expected to be up for about a year, collecting wind speed and direction information, as well as solar information for the possibility of using more photovoltaic cells.
RELATED LINKS:
Wind Project Photo of the Day:
2/26/10 DOUBLE FEATURE: Columbia County Residents to We Energies Reps: SERIOUSLY! NO SOLICITORS! And Turbine Leaking Oil: Our Wind Project Picture of the Day
Red dots are turbines, Yellow circles show 1000 feet around non-participating homesLandowners resist Glacier Hills Wind Park waivers
by Paul Snyder
February 26th, 2010
Resistance from Columbia County landowners threatens We Energies’ attempt to build 90 turbines for the Glacier Hills Wind Park.
Randolph resident Pete DeBoer, for instance, said the utility offered him $2,000 per year and a $5,000 bonus to a sign a contract waiving his right to sue if the sound from two nearby turbines exceeds 45 decibels after they are built. The utility will install equipment on his house to measure decibels.
“As far as I can tell, if you sign anything with them, they can come and go as they please on your property,” DeBoer said. “It’s about what they want, when they want it and where they want it.
“I told them no, and so far they’ve left me alone but I’ve heard they’re harassing other people.”
We Energies spokesman Barry McNulty said the utility is trying repeatedly to contact property owners, but only because representatives either are calling or arriving at homes to no answer.
“It’s a process,” he said. “Sometimes it can take several months to try to get communication going, but I wouldn’t call it harassment.”
When the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved the estimated $434 million Glacier Hills project in January, commissioners required the company build turbines 1,250 feet from properties unless the owners signed waivers allowing smaller setbacks. Commissioners also set a 45-decibel night noise limit.
Brian Manthey, We Energies spokesman, said the utility originally requested 1,000-foot setbacks, so plans for turbine placement are changing. He said company representatives are talking to landowners about waiving the setback and sound requirements.
“We’d like to wrap up this plan by spring and start foundation work in May or June,” Manthey said. “If we have to use 1,250-foot setbacks everywhere, it could knock 15 or 16 turbines out of the project, but we’re still thinking it will be in the 80 to 90 range.”
For each turbine lost, Manthey said, the wind farm loses 563 megawatt hours per year.
But local landowners are not sympathetic. Randolph resident Deb Koopmans said beyond setback and sound waivers, We Energies also wants property easements to connect transmission lines to the turbines.
Koopmans said the utility first contacted her Tuesday about using roughly 3 acres of her property to build a transmission line and told her representatives would set up a meeting to discuss the project and present a contract. She said she called We Energies back Wednesday and left a message that she was not interested and the utility should not send representatives.
“And then Thursday someone showed up with a contract,” Koopmans said. “I wasn’t home, so they gave the contract to my daughter. I’m not going to sign it. I’ll probably just throw it out.”
If landowners do not sign off on waivers or easements, Manthey said, We Energies still will find a way to finish the project. But, he said, there is no justification to local concerns the utility will use eminent domain to take the land.
“We’re not anywhere near that,” he said. “We feel pretty confident about getting the turbines up and getting the contracts we need.”
Complete URL: http://dailyreporter.com/blog/2010/02/26/landowners-resist-wind-farm-waivers/
Turbine Leak, Cedar Ridge Wind Project, Feb 2010