NOTE FROM THE BPWI RESEARCH NERD: Better Plan has been following the Wirtz family story since our first interview with them in June of 2009 on the day they decided to abandon their home because of noise and vibration from the turbine in the photo below.

You can read our first interview with the family by CLICKING HERE

The Wirtz family had been living in and renovating the 100 year old home pictured below for 12 years before Invenergy began erecting 86 industrial scale wind turbines. The 400 foot structures are sited as close as 1000 feet from non-participating homes.The turbine in this photo is located 1250 feet from the Wirtz home.

They were unable to find anyone willing to purchase the property and say they were unable to stay because of the deterioration of the family's health due to loss of sustained sleep because of tubine noise and vibration.

We spoke with Ann Wirtz, who attended the May 4th Wind Siting Council meeting at the home of council member Larry Wunsh. Wunsch, a fire fighter, lives in the same Invenergy project and spoke to the council about the turbine noise which keeps he and his wife awake at night.

At the same time Wunsch was speaking, Ann told us her home was being auctioned at a sheriff's sale. Though the home had appraised for $320,000 in 2007, the opening bid on the house was $107,000.

Even at that price it found no local buyers. The Bank of New York Mellon took ownership at a price of $106,740.

Better Plan was glad to hear from Ann that the Wirtz family's health has greatly improved since they moved to the village of Oakfield.

Both Ann and Jason Wirtz grew up in rural Wisconsin and intended to raise their children in their 100 year old farmhouse.

Both decided it was not worth the cost of their family's health to remain in the Invenergy Forward Energy wind project, even if it meant losing all they had.

They do have their health, but what a price they have had to pay.

Most members of Wisconsin's wind siting council continue to claim there is no effect on property value when wind turbines are built so near a home.

They continue to claim there are no negative health effects from living too close to wind turbines.

The Wirtz family begs to differ.

Council member Larry Wunsch's home is now for sale.

The closest turbine to his door is 1100 feet away.

The Wind Siting Council will be creating siting guidelines for wind turbines for the entire state of Wisconsin.

More than two thirds of the council members have direct or indirect financial interest in the outcome of these rules.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO IS ON THE WIND SITING COUNCIL

WIND FARM PROPERTY SOLD AT SHERIFF'S SALE

 SOURCE: The Daily Reporter, dailyreporter.com

May 6, 2010

By Paul Snyder

The attorney representing two Oakfield residents in a case against Chicago-based Invenergy LLC wants the results of a sheriff’s sale this week to convince the state to review the case.

Madison-based attorney Ed Marion on Thursday sent a letter to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, requesting it consider new facts in Ann and Jason Wirtz’s case against Invenergy.

The Wirtzes abandoned their home in Brownsville last year after Invenergy’s Forward Energy Wind Center became operational in 2008. The property, appraised at $320,000 in 2007, sold to the Bank of New York Mellon at a sheriff’s sale Tuesday for $106,740.

“I hope it will influence the commission to look favorably, at least, at giving us our day in court,” Marion said.

The Wirtzes want the PSC to force Invenergy to compensate the family for their losses, although no specific amount is named.

Marion said the PSC has not yet made a decision as to whether it will review the case.



"It can sound like a freight train going through the other end of town. The problem is that freight train don't have a caboose. It don't stop. It just keeps rolling and rumbling on and on and on, for hours and hours," 

-Al Haas, farmer hosting turbines on his land

Wind blowing up storm of strong opinions

100 wind turbines proposed for Brown County

CLICK HERE FOR SOURCE: WLUK-TV Fox 11

Wednesday, May 5 2010, 7:20 PM CDT

Reporter: Lou Hillman

MALONE - If you walked out of your home every morning and saw wind turbines in every which direction, is it a site you would get used to?

"You don't even notice them anymore. They've been here two years and it's just a part of life now, I guess," said Ken Krause, a farmer in the Fond du Lac County town of Marshfield.

Or, is it a site you would grow to hate?

"Not these big, industrial turbines. They just don't belong here," said Al Haas, a farmer in the Fond du Lac County town of Malone.

It's something many neighbors in Fond du Lac County will never agree on. Opinions are even more polarized among those who live on the Blue Sky Green Field wind farm . With 88 wind turbines, it is currently the largest wind farm in the state.

Haas has three turbines spinning on his farmland. He makes about $15,000 a year just for having them there. That's a nice side income with no extra work involved.

"We were told we would basically be able to farm right up to it. We were told there would be basically no land loss to speak of, it just sounded like a good deal," said Haas.

That extra money? Haas now says it isn't worth it. He blames the wind turbines for damaging his crops and interfering with his TV reception.

But his main complaint is the noise. He says it keeps him up at night and has led to stress.

"It can sound like a freight train going through the other end of town. The problem is that freight train don't have a caboose. It don't stop. It just keeps rolling and rumbling on and on and on, for hours and hours," said Haas.

"There are probably 3 or 4 days out of the month where they are loud but I think it's a small prices to pay," said Ken Krause.

Krause stands on the other side of the wind debate. He even likes the look of the two turbines on his farmland.

"If each community in the country was doing what we are doing, we wouldn't need foreign oil ... Not as much anyway," said Krause.

Krause points to the pain at the pump two summers ago.

"Some people are already forgetting the $4 (a gallon) gas we had a couple years back. This is helping," said Krause.

So, are all the wind turbines worth it? That's what people in Brown County want to know. Some have even contacted people on both sides of the issue in Fond du Lac County to hear first hand with it's really like living inside a wind farm.

"Is there a place for wind? Maybe. But I don't think it's in Wisconsin," said Jon Morehouse, the spokesman for Brown County Citizens for Responsible for Wind Energy .

The group represents more than 200 people who are opposed to large-scale wind development in Brown County. Many of those people say wind turbines blemish the landscape and pose health hazards.

"We need to slow down, we need to slow down until things get put into place to regulate these industrial monsters to a safe and healthy level," said Morehouse. "People are going to have to put up with them for 30 years."

100 turbines are proposed in southern Brown County, with 54 turbines going in the town of Morrison, 22 in Holland, 20 in Wrightstown and 4 in Glenmore. It would be the largest wind farm in the state.

The project is being developed by Invenergy, a private firm from Chicago . The company says the location is one of the best places to harness wind in Wisconsin.

"Wisconsin has very good places for good wind and good transmission capabilities near where the power is going to be used," said Kevin Parzyck, the wind development manager for Invenergy.

Invenergy is still modifying its application for the project. It will ultimately go to the state Public Service Commission for a decision.

That process will likely take several more months which gives people in Brown County more time to research the issue.

"We want people to go. Go to a turbine, stand under a turbine, see what it's like, the proof is in the pudding," said Parzyck.

Though, there are many farmers in Fond du Lac County who say a few days in their shoes would turn most people against wind development.