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—Peter Skeel Hjorth, Danish Journalist

The noise and the shadows from a 100-meter high wind turbine have turned the lives of its neighbours in rural surroundings into a psychedelic nightmare since the blades began to rotate in the beginning of July 2010 in Lynge in Northern Sealand, about 30 km north of Copenhagen.

Here, the Danish company, Widex, has built new headquarters that houses more than 600 employees.

Widex is one of Denmark’s richest family-owned companies and international producer of hearing aids with subsidiary companies in 30 countries and a share of the world market of 10 percent, according to information from the company.

The architecture of the new domicile is attractive and it is equipped with advanced green technology, giving it a high advertising value.

On its web page Widex writes: “We also believe in clever solutions and that things can always be done better. Our entirely CO2-neutral headquarters in Denmark is testament to this commitment.

The building, which houses more than 600 employees, stands out as a prime example of a cutting-edge and environmentally friendly building, which combines the use of renewable energy with the maximum recovery of energy.

A variety of energy-conserving and environment friendly measures based on new as well as more well-known methods makes the building unique.

The geothermal system, where groundwater is used like a heat reservoir, is the first of its kind in Denmark. The system is very effective, reducing CO2 emissions by seventy percent compared to traditional heating systems.

Widex has also mounted a windmill at the premises which delivers more power annually than Widex uses in total. Not only does this make the headquarters completely CO2-neutral – it also allows Widex to deliver excess power to the electricity grid, providing a CO2-free contribution to the local area.

Widex presents itself as a role model for others, and makes use of the PR value of its green technology in order to stand out as exceptionally environmentally-friendly. However, because of the wind turbine—a Vestas V80 of 2 MW—it is to the detriment of the lives of its neighbours.

The wind turbine is situated 120 meters from the new headquarters and in a way so that the building at no time is affected by the impact of the shadows. But the neighbours are, and they are also strongly affected by the special wind turbine noise.

The wind turbine is placed extremely close to the 70 hectare Birkholm Nursery. It is owned and managed by Ole Schjellerup, 52, who lives in his house 423 meters from the turbine. “The wind turbine has ruined our lives. We built a house that we now have to sell because we simply cannot live here anymore. It has also become a hell for my employees.”

Each of the turbine’s three blades is 40 meters long. The 60-meter high turbine tower is placed 50 meters from the boundary of the nursery. When the blades are horizontal and point towards the nursery, there are only ten meters between the tip of the blade and the boundary. It is not surprising that the workers may experience a sense of danger when they carry out their gardening work near the boundary.

On Oct 1, 2010, the sun was positioned in a way so that the wind turbine for the first time darkened Ole Schjellerup’s house because of the impact by the shadows from the turbine. He describes to a local newspaper the experience. “It is horrendous. The living-room is like a psychedelic disco. Everything blinks. It makes your head spin.”

This peaceful garden has become like a haunted place because of the noise, the newspaper reported.

”We cannot use our front garden or our verandah anymore. The verandah door to our bedroom is normally open during the summer. But we cannot leave it open, now. There is simply too much noise. It is both the engine noise from the turbine as well as the whistling noise from the blades. (more…)

—Calvin Luther Martin, PhD

John Wilkinson emphasized repeatedly the Ministry of the Environment’s mandate is “to protect human health and the natural environment” and pointed out the ministry has the power to ensure compliance with regulations and shut down renewable energy operators that don’t comply.

“We are responding to complaints and enforcing regulations,” he said.

That statement was made earlier this month by this man.  John Wilkinson.  Minister of the Environment, Province of (“Yours to Discover”) Ontario, Canada.

Picture his statement as a fresh, steaming, still-warm cow-flop.
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John Wilkinson
Minister of the “Clean, Green, Renewable” Environment

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Cow-flop?  Turns out Wilkinson’s assurances are, for all intents and purposes, meaningless.  Bureaucratic cow-pies.  (I know; you’re not surprised.)

The guy ought to be tarred and feathered—except, as you all know, Canadians are too polite for that sort of thing.  A pity.  Wilkinson gets to lie to Ontarians and, by proxy, hammer them with wind turbines—and in return they must be scrupulously polite and decorous and deferential and follow Roberts Rules of Order at public meetings with this knave.

(What was once “We, the People” has morphed into “We, the Government.”  Same in the USA.  Same around the world—except, electrifyingly, in Egypt.  Hallelujah for the resurrection from the dead of “We, the People“—in Egypt & Tunisia, of all places!)

Click here to learn what really and truly, honest-to-god happens when turbine noise drives you screaming mad in rural Ontario, Canada.  (Though, luckily for Wilkinson, Canadians don’t scream.  They scrupulously follow procedures laid out by the likes of . . . Wilkinson.  That’s like Alice following procedures laid out by the Mad Hatter.)

From “Alice in Wonderland,” quoted by fenbeagleblog

What part of “It’s our money!” don’t the politicians get?

Editor’s note:  Mary Kay Barton is a resident of Silver Lake, NY.  She has been heavily involved in wind energy issues for years, and is a frequent commentator on the subject.  The following is reprinted with appreciation.
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Fat Cat Wind, LLC

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—Mary Kay Barton, The Daily News (2/7/11)

After reading Invenergy’s self-serving pontifications in their recent article, “Invenergy and NYSERDA enter renewable energy credit purchase agreement,” it seems we need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture here:

• I (and most citizens) agree we have environmental and energy issues; and
• I (and most citizens) agree that these technical matters should be solved using real science — not propaganda being put forth by corporate salesmen.

Real science is not a collection of theorems, but is a process — the core process being the scientific method. The scientific method consists of a hypothesis (e.g., that wind energy is equivalent to our conventional power sources) being subjected to a: (1) comprehensive, (2) objective, (3) independent, (4) transparent, and (5) empirical-based assessment.

The fact is: This has not been done for wind energy — anyplace!

Said in an another easy-to-understand way:

Since we are in agreement that we have energy and environmental issues, let’s say that some entrepreneurs step forward and present us with a black box they claim holds a partial solution to these issues. Due to “confidentiality” reasons, they can’t tell us what’s in the box, but they assure us that it will work. Would we just say, “Great — who do we make the $100 billion check out to?”

I think not.

(more…)

Editor’s note:  There’s a new website which is both brilliant and hilarious.  Even the name tickles:  fenbeagleblog by Beagle Blog Cartoons.  (The beagle cartoon, here, is from their site, with a little editorializing by us.)

The guy’s a master satirist—whoever he (she) is.  Anyone who quotes Lewis Carroll and Dr Seuss liberally, and writes verse in the spirit of both, is worth a roar of approval!

The following was pinched (“borrowed”) from the site.  (I would have sought permission from the creator—and heaped praise!—but in the final satire of all, there’s no contact information.)

We’ve bookmarked the site.  Many of the “slings and arrows” are aimed at British politicians.  Nevertheless, even if you’re unfamiliar with the individuals being lampooned, you will appreciate the gentle (and not so gentle) mockery of an industry whose claim to legitimacy is swiftly approaching 0.0% credibility. (more…)

Visit the Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition.

Visit the Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition
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Our Life with DeKalb Wind Turbines

Thank you for visiting our blog. Our home in rural DeKalb County, IL is where we wanted to stay for good. We have put so much into our home to make it a place where we would love to live and raise our children, and unfortunately we are being forced to live differently.

We have been bullied by a large industrial wind company (NextEra Energy, a subsidiary of Florida Power and Light (FPL) and sold-out by the DeKalb County Board. FPL told residents that these wind turbines only “sound like a refrigerator.” Well, we have found that this is not the case. Oftentimes our yard sounds like an airport. We hear and feel the low frequency sound on our property as well as in our home. We are bothered by the noise, whistling, contant swirling movement, and shadow flicker.

Complaining is not something that our family is known for doing and we teach our children to look for the positive aspects of life, but this has gone too far with the turbines. Someone needs to speak up. These industrial wind turbines should not be built close to homes. They should be at least a mile away to avoid these issues.

We have 13 within a mile. The closest 2 are 1,400 feet away.

Editor’s note:  Earlier this month WTS.com reprinted a moving letter from a man named Barry Funfar to the town officers of Falmouth, MA, imploring them to shut down the wind turbine which is afflicting him and his neighbors.

We urged readers to email the Falmouth Health Officer, David Carignan, and the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Brent Putnam, recounting their own experience with WTS, so to corroborate Mr. Funfar’s horrible experience living next a turbine.

Dr. Sarah Laurie, Medical Director of the Waubra Foundation (Australia) did write and we reprint it, here.

WTS in a nutshell: Turbine infrasound disturbs inner ear organs, thus dysregulating various parts of the brain.

2/5/11

Dear Mr Carignan & Mr Putnam,

I am writing to you in my capacity as Medical Director of the Waubra Foundation, a national Australian Organisation which has been formed specifically to further independent acoustic, scientific and medical research into the adverse health effects of industrial wind turbines. I am a trained Rural Family Physician (known as General Practiioners in Australia), and became interested in this topic when turbines were proposed for the hills near my home. I am personally concerned about global warming/climate change, and strongly support renewable energy efforts, but not at the expense of one group’s health, wealth and well being (rural residents).

As part of my work, I am collecting field observations from affected residents living in Australia. Preliminary data and information I have been collecting suggests that the health problems associated with operation of these turbines are much more widespread and severe than previously thought, both in terms of the numbers of people affected, and the distances over which they are experiencing symptoms (up to 10km in some parts of Australia, especially where the turbines are 80 metres or taller and are placed on ridges). The existence of these health problems has now been well described by clinicians working in the UK (Dr Amanda Harry), the US (Dr Nina Pierpont, Dr Michael Nissenbaum) and Canada (Dr Robert McMurtry).

In my experience, the range of problems described by all these clinicians, and the descriptions which affected residents have given to often new symptoms of a new illness particularly as described by Dr Nina Pierpont in her meticulous, methodical landmark peer reviewed study, are exactly the same as those described by affected residents in Australia. (more…)

Editor’s note:  Art and Cheryl Lindgren have been much in the News.  They have become the anguished face of a well-intentioned community project gone terribly wrong.

On a crisp autumn day filled with speeches, hot dogs, and much applause, Fox Islands Wind cut the ribbon and powered up its 3 GE 1.5 MW turbines on the island of Vinalhaven. Within seconds, the home of Art & Cheryl Lindgren—mere yards away—turned into a living hell.

A year and a half later—a massive heart attack later—much acrimony and expense later—nothing is resolved.

Hell, like the preacher says, is forever.

The Lindgrens and their neighbors desperately hope the preacher’s wrong.  The turbines, agrees the State of Maine, are at least occasionally “out of compliance” with State noise standards. Fox Islands Wind disputes this, and says it’s a question of whose measurements one believes.  And there the matter rests—deadlocked.   Lawyer eyeball-to-eyeball lawyer.

Meanwhile, the Lindgrens and the Wylies and Faragoes and others live in torment, and, as if that were not enough, endure the malice and taunts of neighbors.^†

Behold the torn asunder community of Vinalhaven, ME.

Monitoring the noise levels of the wind turbines outside their window has turned into both a heroic campaign and a nightmare.  Hell, with whistles & bells.  For the past year, Art has set about to prove unequivocally that the noise/vibration from the machine, seen below, exceeds even the wholly out-of-date State standards.

Here is his report.

View from the Lindgren home, Vinalhaven, ME

—Art Lindgren, Vinalhaven, ME

In an effort to restore peace and health in our lives, our neighbors and we formed Fox Islands Wind Neighbors (FIWN).  One of its objectives has been to document noise compliance violations by taking certified sound level and MET tower measurements and submitting them as formal “complaints” to the Maine Dept of Environmental Protectoin (MDEP).

We have met with limited success.

The problems with this method and our current set-up are the following.  I offer these observations to communities who find themselves, sooner or later, in the same predicament as ours:

• it is very expensive and labor intensive for us to collect all this data, perform the analysis and submit it through our lawyer to the MDEP.
• FIW’s measurement site is across the street and down the road and behind some trees, so all measurements must be extrapolated to get the sound levels at the resident boundary.
• FIW is the only entity with access to the data, so all data we or the MDEP get to see from them is suspect.
• the State compliance protocol currently only requires FIW to submit twelve (a dozen!) 10-minute periods (for the year!) which meet all the protocol specs and demonstrate “compliance.”  Their data is easily cherry-picked and therefore compliance easily met.

So, here’s what we’re working on:

• clarifying the measurement protocol and perfecting our (FIWN’s) measurement technique.
• working with MDEP to require FIW to place a sound meter and MET tower on our most critical (nearest) residential boundary.
• requiring FIW to make the noise meter and MET data freely and directly available to us and the MDEP via wireless Internet connection.
• asking MDEP to require a monthly report from FIW which details all instances of non-compliance over the reporting period.
• working with MDEP’s sound consultants EnRAD on the model being used. We can show the model is incorrect and that wind shear is being improperly accounted for. FIW’s argument that they are in compliance is based on this model, which we know is horribly wrong, and which claims that what we’re hearing and measuring is simply “ambient” noise and not the turbines.

George Baker, CEO Fox Islands Wind

If you live where a wind company is trying to ruin your life, but which has not yet succeeded, it’s time to plan for what you’re going to do if they do manage to force their way in.

• take measurements for pre-construction noise now.
• start fund-raising now.
• contact your State Dept of Environmental Protection (DEP) to find out what measurements you may have to take to protect your property from the wind company breaking the law.
• ensure the burden of proof will be on the wind company (and not you) to show they are “not out of compliance”—ever!  This is vastly different than showing they are “in compliance.”
• I warn you, your State DEP doesn’t have the money to afford to monitor the installation to protect you and all other sites.
• if the burden is not on the wind company to prove they are never out of compliance, you won’t be able to protect yourself from extreme noise levels, the high cost of measurement, sound consulting and legal fees, meetings with the DEP, etc.

Good luck!  You will need it!
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^†The raw nastiness and downright brutality of the Comments which WTS.com received from Vinalhaven residents in response to this posting was astonishing.  Not surprisingly, we did not post them.

Editor’s note:  The following was sent by a Falmouth, MA, resident to the Australia Senate Community Affairs Committee, which is currently studying the “Social & Economic Impact of Rural Wind Farms” throughout Australia.  The Committee invited international commentary.

This man, a seasoned air traffic controller whose wife is a professional real estate broker, responded.
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To: Australia Senate Community Affairs Committee
From: Mark J. Cool, West Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA
Date:  2/8/11

Honorable Members,

My name is Mark Cool. I reside at 250 Firetower Road, Falmouth MA, USA. I am 52 years old. I live 1629 ft (496 meters) from the Falmouth wind turbine #1, named Wind1 in our community. Wind1 is a Vestas V82, standing 398 ft (121m) tall (tip height) with a rotor diameter 269 feet (82m).

Vestas V82

What follows is a kind of diary of my experience since the Falmouth Waste Water Treatment Facility Wind1 turbine became operational in April of 2010:

Health Effects

Frequent and long duration headaches never before experienced, not associated with the flu, cold symptoms or excessive alcohol consumption. Disturbed sleep in terms of changed sleep in the number of awakenings during the night and quality of that sleep.  The after-effects during the day following disturbed sleep have caused lack of energy, moodiness and have impacted memory abilities.

Excessive Noise and Vibration

I am an air traffic controller (31 years). I now second-guess life-critical decisions when I work.  Before the turbine, I didn’t allow second-guessing to distract me from the job at hand; I was confident and a good controller.

Since the turbine, I’m indecisive and struggling.

The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) mandates pilots and controllers an allowance of a minimum of 8 hours “stress-free” non-operational time between flight/control operations. The turbine is forcing me from compliance because of sleep deprivation and the added stress of wondering if I’ll sleep tonight. If my sleep is disturbed, I become anxious about the toll it will take on the subsequent day’s performance.

I have been forced into my basement where I’ve made a make-shift bedroom. It is here I am less impacted, less stressed. It is only in my basement I get a good night’s sleep and thereby am able to be adequately prepared to perform as an air traffic controller. My concern is, as a property owner and taxpayer, should I be forced to redesign sleeping accommodations in my own home?

My solace from air traffic control stress has been my 2 acres of gardens that are surrounded by town-owned conservation lands. Since Wind1, I suffer pressure headaches when in the yard and while wind directions are from the north-northeast. Wind velocities do have an effect (stronger winds, produce the onset of headache more rapidly).

The best description is akin to the pressure experienced just before your ears pop while an aircraft climbs or descends through pressure altitude. The “pop,” in the case of being a passenger, offers relief.  In my case, relief is gained not by a “pop” of my ears but by being chased from my gardens to the relief offered by my basement. It’s awfully difficult to garden from my basement.

I have found that chewing gum does mitigate the severity of the pressure. I never had been a gum chewer until April 2010.

Vibrations seemingly have started causing a structural effect on my house (built in 1988). The topography of the land is that of a glacial moraine. Vibrations have caused the crown molding and molding adorning the dining room chandelier to fall or become detached.

Also, in that room, the drywall nail heads have started to become exposed.  The latex paint pliability, so far, prevents the nail heads puncturing the paint coats. It is unique in that this is the only room presenting these symptoms. The dining room is at the center of the house, neither closest to, or furthest away from, the turbine. (more…)

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During this last year our life has gone from the realization of a long-time dream to the reality of a living nightmare. Our right to defend our property and the quality of our lives has been ignored, we have been marginalized and harassed, and Art and I and our neighbors shoulder the financial and physical responsibility of Fox Islands Wind maintaining compliance.

The stress resulted in Art having a major heart attack at the most recent electric Co-op board meeting while trying to, once again, get them to acknowledge the half truths and lies that Fox Islands Wind continues to pander to our community.

Vinalhaven listened to the sales talk of George Baker and the Island Institute. We made a decision on the information they gave us . . . and now we reap the bitter harvest of our illusion. (more…)

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“If you sleep less than 6 hours per night and have disturbed sleep, you stand a 48% greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease, and 15% greater chance of developing or dying of stroke”—Francesco Cappuccio, MD

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Editor’s note:  Francesco Cappuccio, MD, is the Cephalon Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine & Epidemiology, University of Warwick School of Medicine (UK).  He is also the Head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Nutrition, and Director of the European Centre of Excellence in Hypertension and Cardio-Metabolic Research.  He can be reached at Patricia.McCabe@warwick.ac.uk (his secretary).

Michelle A. Miller, PhD, is a biochemist/molecular biologist at the University of Warwick School of Medicine, where she has established “a programme of national and international research in cardiovascular biochemistry and epidemiology.”  She can be reached at Michelle.Miller@warwick.ac.uk.

Click here for the News Release from the School of Medicine, University of Warwick, from which the following BBC article is taken.  Drs. Cappuccio and Miller published their paper in the European Heart Journal 2/8/11, a peer-reviewed clinical journal of distinction.

WTS.com suggests you download the article and give it to your town board and to the wind developers who dismiss WTS as moonshine.  Click here for the abstract of the article.

Francesco Cappuccio, MD

“People reporting consistently sleeping 5 hours or less per night should be regarded as a higher risk group for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality” from the authors’ “Conclusion,” p. 8.

—BBC News (2/8/11)

A long period of sleep shortage increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to scientists.

They found most people need between six and eight hours of sleep a night to protect their health.

Professor Cappuccio and co-author Dr Michelle Miller, from the University of Warwick, conducted the research.

They said they followed up evidence from periods of seven to 25 years from more than 470,000 participants from eight countries including Japan, the USA, Sweden and the UK.

Professor Cappuccio said: “If you sleep less than six hours per night and have disturbed sleep you stand a 48% greater chance of developing or dying from heart disease and a 15% greater chance of developing or dying of a stroke.

“The trend for late nights and early mornings is actually a ticking time bomb for our health so you need to act now to reduce your risk of developing these life-threatening conditions.

“There is an expectation in today’s society to fit more into our lives. The whole work/life balance struggle is causing too many of us to trade in precious sleeping time to ensure we complete all the jobs we believe are expected of us.”

Dr Miller added: “Chronic short sleep produces hormones and chemicals in the body which increase the risk of developing heart disease and strokes, and other conditions like high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.”

Professor Cappuccio also warned that getting too much sleep—of more than nine hours at a stretch—may be an indicator of illness, including cardiovascular disease.

Editor’s note: What you will see, below, is an interesting and clever “point/counterpoint” presentation of wind energy’s proposed future in the coastal town of Union Beach, NJ.
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The video was made by the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority.  The text superimposed on the video was provided, I gather, by Union Beach residents (and residents of surrounding towns?) who are vigorously opposed to the plan to erect a huge wind turbine in town.

Anyhow, it’s worth watching.  It brings into sharp relief the irreconcilable differences between Big Wind and NIMBY (Next Idiot Might Be You).
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Don’t be a …
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Next Idiot Might Be You!

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—Calvin Luther Martin, PhD

Here’s where the feds (Interior Dept and Dept of Energy) intend to install wind factories.

How does this square with “Fish and Wind Turbines Don’t Mix“? (Consider, as well, “Wind Turbines in Lake Michigan.”)

What will the acoustic waste products do to sealife—to the last wild place?

As a philosopher of history, I ask what it will do to whatever remains embedded within us of the ancient birthright of humanness.  That “thoughtworld” Aldous Huxley called Mind at Large. That cognitive commonwealth of “wildness” that made us what we are.

The implications are deeply troubling.

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It is a dilemma Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold likewise worried about.

Now, perhaps more than ever, it is upon us.

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Map, courtesy of the US Interior Dept

The case for terrestrial energy (aka nuclear power)

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—Ajax Eastman, The Baltimore Sun (2/7/11)

Ever wonder why sailing ships no longer ply the oceans with goods and passengers? It’s a question wind energy advocates might ask themselves. They ignore the fact that the wind doesn’t blow consistently and that its intermittent nature makes wind an undependable source of power and restricts wind generators from consistently reaching their potential.

The relative effectiveness of a generation facility to produce electricity is called its capacity factor (CF). It is the ratio of what a generating plant produces compared to what it could produce at full capacity. The annual average CF for wind turbines located offshore is about 40 percent, but that falls to about 25 percent during the summer, when the winds are weakest. For wind turbines located onshore, the annual average CF is about 30 percent and can drop to 13 percent in the summer.

Proponents of wind power argue it is a good choice because, among other things, it reduces greenhouse gases. They compare industrial wind energy with power plants fueled by oil, coal and natural gas that generate tons of carbon dioxide. However, they fail to recognize that because of the unpredictable nature of wind, carbon-fueled plants will continue to underpin the load. This is particularly true in the summer, when the winds are at their lowest and the demand for power is highest.

"Terrestrial energy! Nuclear! Obvious!"

Proponents of wind almost never compare industrial wind to nuclear power, probably because in every aspect of electricity generation, nuclear beats wind by a long shot. The following are informative comparisons.

(more…)

From:  Mauri Johansson, MD, MHH, National Association of Neighbors to Giant Land Wind Turbines in Denmark
To:  Australia Senate Community Affairs Committee
Date:  2/6/11

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Comments on adverse health effects for [Danish] people living in close proximity to wind turbines and wind farms

Denmark has for several decades produced and exported wind turbines. The size of these has been ever growing, measured in total height and/or electrical effect [output].

In 2007 the Danish government decided to start a huge project to establish 1,111 land-based wind turbines, several of them in parks/farms in open land.  About 15 projects have been completed, with turbines of total height of 130 – 150 meters and effects [power rating] from 2 MW up to 3-4 MW. Much bigger versions are under way.

A few days after the new giant windmills were started up, and based on experiences of the small, older windmills, symptoms and adverse reactions appeared for people living in close proximity (up to 1,900 meters away). As a consequence, in the autumn of 2009 ”The National Association of Neighbors to Giant Land Wind Turbines in Denmark” was established. It has been rapidly growing since, and now has 86 local groups, one to two new one appearing weekly these days, as several new projects are being started.

Unfortunately, only one small-scale research project was finished in 1994 in this country.  Its recommendations were rejected in favor of proposals from the wind turbine manufacturers and owners. The rules still in force require a setback from neighbors of 4 times the total height of the turbine. The noise limit requirements are modest, lower than those for industrial and traffic noise, especially at night and in silent areas, even if [though] we know that turbine noise is much more irritating and is present continuously. The control procedures are far from reliable.

For the time being, the National Association is planning meetings with Parliament committees, ministers, environment authorities, while  local groups are active in the communities that are responsible for the projects.

We very much hope the Australia Senate Committee takes the opportunity to create laws that require [safe] distances and noise limits for low frequency and infrasound—limits that are totally safe for human beings, not least children and old people, and animals—as an example for other countries worldwide.

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Mauri Johansson, MD, MHH
Sportsvej 17
7441 Bording
Denmark

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If the answer to either question is “yes,” email the Australia Senate!

There is a Senate Committee that would like to hear your story—yes, even if you’re not from Australia.  Yes, international submissions are welcome.  No, you don’t have to be a health expert or realtor or other “expert.”  Merely an ordinary person who has experienced WTS or property value decline.

• Send your submission to the following email address:  community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au.  (Note:  If you don’t have an Australia home address, do not use the online submission option.  Use, instead, the above email address.  Why?  Because, without an Australia home address, you can’t register for an online submission.  That’s why the Senate set up this email address:  for all of us who live outside Australia.)
• Direct your comments to the “Senate Community Affairs Committee” and point out that you’re making a submission regarding “The Social & Economic Impact of Rural Wind Farms.”  (Click here for more info on what the Senate is looking for.)
• Deadline for submissions is February 10th.  Don’t wait till the 10th, especially if you’re making your submission from “abroad” (outside Australia).  This to ensure your submission is processed in time by the Committee staff (which has admitted it’s overwhelmed).
• You can include attachments, either as Word docs or PDF.
• Click here to view the submissions received and processed to date.  (Note, it takes days, even a week or more, for the staff to post submissions.  Don’t be alarmed if there is a long delay between your submission and seeing it appear on this website.)

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“Researching the health effects of wind turbines close to human habitation”
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Objectives

I. Gather, investigate and review complaints of health problems that have been perceived by the complainants as being associated with living or working close to wind turbines or such other industrial sources that may be considered as relevant.

II. Continue to gather additional information from existing and new wind projects or other sources as it becomes available.

III. Build the existing and new data into a high quality data base suitable as a start point for properly constructed studies and review by qualified others.

IV. Use the data to engage in co-operative studies with independent researchers both in Australia and internationally.

V. On the basis of data gathered plus local, overseas and co-operative studies, provide relevant and independent advice to communities, the public at large and local, state and federal governments and to the wind turbine industry and other relevant organisations.

VI. Promote research into the effects and causes of illnesses that may be associated with living or working close to wind turbines and other relevant sources.

VII. Make the results of such research widely available, to members of the public, health professionals, and other interested parties.

VIII. Facilitate the establishment of individual networks of relevant specialities of medical practitioners and other health practitioners to enable the rapid sharing of information and expertise in the diagnosis, management and treatment of patients with symptoms of wind turbine syndrome

IX. Provide such advice and assistance as can be given to individuals and communities who believe that their health is or may be impacted by adjacent wind turbines or other sources.

X. Assemble the necessary resources to carry out the objectives.

XI. Raise such funds as may be possible to assist in the work of the Foundation.

XII. At all times to establish and maintain complete independence from government, industry and advocacy groups for or against wind turbines. (more…)

Editor’s note:  WTS.com dedicates this article to Heather B. Harper, Acting Town Manager of Falmouth, Mass.

Ms. Harper seems impervious to the pleas of this man (Barry Funfar) and his neighbors who, for many months, have been trying to convey to Harper et al. that the damn wind turbine outside their window is making them ill.

Hopefully, sooner or later Heather will take her job seriously and insist the turbine be turned off.  However, given the town’s zealous embrace of so-called Green Energy (click here), this hope seems dim.  Though, as the saying goes, hope springs eternal.

WTS.com urges you to write an email to the Health Officer for Falmouth, David Carignan, at health@falmouthmass.us, and to Heather Harper’s boss, Brent Putnam, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, at selectmen@falmouthmass.us.  It does not matter if you don’t live in Falmouth, nor does it matter if you live outside the USA.  Write to these people, anyway; let them know the realities of Wind Turbine Syndrome in your life.  Let them know that Barry Funfar and his neighbors are not making this stuff up!

Heather Harper, Town Manager

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To:  Heather Harper, Town of Falmouth, MA
From:  Barry Funfar, Falmouth resident
Date:  2/3/11

It seems absurd that even in these cold and frigid winter months, I must be on guard against the noise from Wind Turbine #1, as it’s called. It now takes only a few “whoops” to put me in a state of mental confusion and anxiety.  (Click here for photos.)

My fear of Wind Turbine #2 going online is nearly crippling.

Seeing the two huge towers upon retuning home sickens my stomach.

This absolutely cannot go on!

Heather Harper et al. at the dedication of Turbine #1

It is now a simple known fact that if wind turbines are placed closer than 1.25 miles to people’s homes, there may be abutter problems. If placed under 3000 feet, as is the case here in Falmouth, there most certainly will be problems.

Yet you and the Town of Falmouth continue your murky dialog of, “but the sound study shows this!”

What is wrong is that the Massachusetts noise ordinance (310.XX Sept 1, 1971) with its “10 dB over ambient” is archaic and does not address the special quality and characteristics of wind turbine noise.

Another mistake is the use of the A-weighted noise measurement scale which attenuates the low frequencies which are the biggest source of bother to humans. The C-weighted scale would more accurately measure what actually distresses us.

It is as if the State of Massachusetts has weighted the ball game in favor of industrial wind turbines. It is a totally unfair playing field we distressed citizens have been forced to navigate, totally on our own. Supposedly there is a Board of Health, but they have been totally absent through this entire ordeal. If there is a “next” lawsuit I would suppose that will be it.

Anyway, this letter is to express my displeasure. First with the Town of Falmouth for building these machines without going through a proper permitting process, secondly for being extremely remote in responding to concerns and correspondence, and thirdly in doing nothing to alleviate the continual distress we abutters are suffering by the operation of this machine.

Until a solution is found to the excessive noise, this machine needs to be shut down.

How hard is that? The Energy Committee cannot even come up with numbers for me as to what this machine is producing for the town in NET income. With a total budget of $110 million, this windmill is a spit of a difference in the total operating budget of the Town, but the noise it generates is putting some of we residents closer to the grave.

On the surface the problem looks pretty easy to solve. SHUT IT DOWN until you have some technology to quiet it down!

Barry Funfar, Sergeant, USMC

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“To require the Connecticut Siting Council to adopt regulations concerning the siting of certain wind projects that consider the public’s health and safety.”

Editor’s note:  Eric Bibler, sometime guest editor for WTS.com and President of Save our Seashore, gave the following in testimony today before the Connecticut House Energy Committee on House Bill No. 5210.

The bill proposes a 1-year moratorium on all commercial wind energy projects until new regulations are formulated by the state government to protect the public’s health and safety.  In the words of the bill’s co-sponsors, “To require the Connecticut Siting Council to adopt regulations concerning the siting of certain wind projects that consider the public’s health and safety.”

Currently, the only requirement is for a developer to satisfy air and water regulations, and gain the approval of the State Siting Council.  (Click here for the Siting Council membership.)

Surrounding New England states are closely watching the Connecticut bill.

WTS.com urges you to contact the CT House Energy Committee members (click here for email addresses) and educate them to the realities of Wind Turbine Syndrome.  It does not matter if you live outside Connecticut, including outside the USA; your input is significant and welcome.

In particular, contact the bill’s sponsors, Representative Vicki Orsini Nardello, Vickie.Nardello@cga.ct.gov (right) and Senator Joan Hartley, Hartley@senatedems.ct.gov (left).  Send them an email with documents attached.

2/4/11 Click here for Bibler’s report on the hearing which took place 2/3/11, and for his analysis of the CT situation as it applies to Massachusetts.

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—Eric Bibler, President, Save Our Seashore

Madame Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Energy Committee,

Thank you for this opportunity to address you today on this important topic.

My name is Eric Bibler and I am a full-time resident of Weston, CT.

I am the President of an organization based in Wellfleet, Massachusetts called Save our Seashore, and I have spent much of the last 15 months, along with a very selfless and dedicated group of individuals, fending off ill-advised, and irresponsible, industrial wind energy developments along the length of Cape Cod.

I am testifying before you today in the hope that you may benefit from our experience on Cape Cod, which, like the State of CT, suffers from an absence of regulations and an abundance of lavish state and federal subsidies that have provided numerous, and very powerful, incentives for both private, and municipal, entities to enter the wind energy business, in a pell mell fashion, in an effort to cash in on these artificial economic returns.

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Editor’s note:  As many of our readers know, a week ago Art Lindgren suffered a major heart attack while presenting at a board meeting of the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative (Vinalhaven, Maine).  Bystanders revived him and he was airlifted to a mainland hospital.

Art is home now and his heart is recovering.  So writes Cheryl, his wife.

Nevertheless, the stress and heartache ominously remain.  Though discharged from the hospital, Art is not recovering from the cause of his misery:  the Wind Turbine Syndrome that has, in Cheryl’s words, destroyed their lives.

That remains, 24/7. “‘You can feel the pressure on your chest,’ said Lindgren’s wife, Cheryl, as she thumped a hand against her body.” Which means, of course, Art’s heart remains a ticking time bomb.

Art & Cheryl undoubtedly know it’s just a matter of time.

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We dedicate this posting to George Baker, CEO of Fox Islands Wind—the developer behind the turbines tormenting the Lindgrens.  We dedicate it with the hope Mr. Baker and his colleagues will weigh carefully the pleas of neighbors like the Lindgrens and Wylies and others.

George Baker, CEO Fox Islands Wind

Dear WTS.com,

Thanks so much for your concern. We are home. Art’s chest is very sore from the compressions that saved his life, bruised from the angioplasty that cleared out yet another clogged vein/artery but incredibly grateful to feel anything.

I am, today, finally breaking down, searching for the next step. While we were in the hospital we heard that another neighbor, a woman in her late seventies (who has been battling heart problems and, although she supports us and was part of the Nissenbaum study, has not been active in the group to avoid stress) was flown off the island with spiking blood pressure issues.

There are others living under the turbines that have heart problems.

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—Interview with Professor Charles Meneveau, Dept of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), 1/20/11

·

Charles Meneveau, a Johns Hopkins University (JHU) fluid mechanics and turbulence expert, working with a colleague in Belgium, has devised the new precept through which the optimal spacing for a large array of turbines can be obtained.

‘I believe our results are quite robust,’ said Meneveau, who is the Louis Sardella Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the university’s Whiting School of Engineering. ‘They indicate that large wind farm operators are going to have to space their turbines farther apart.’

According to JHU, the newest wind farms typically use turbines with rotor diameters of about 300 feet.

Currently, turbines on large wind farms are spaced about seven rotor diameters apart. The new spacing model developed by Meneveau and Johan Meyers, an assistant professor at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, suggests that placing the wind turbines 15 rotor diameters apart—more than twice as far apart as in the current layouts—results in more cost-efficient power generation.

Large wind farms—consisting of hundreds or even thousands of turbines—are planned or already operating in the western United States, Europe and China.

‘The early experience is that they are producing less power than expected,’ Meneveau said.

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