State group to make recommendations on turbine noise regulations

Massachusetts panel to include turbine neighbour and acoustician Stephen Ambrose

State group to make recommendations on turbine noise regulations | SouthCoastToday.com:

Recognizing potential shortfalls of current noise regulations, the state Department of Environmental Protection has formed an advisory group to help steer the agency's policy.
The 16-member technical advisory group includes acousticians, public health professionals, representatives of the wind industry and a neighbor to the Falmouth Wind turbines. The group will consider changes to MassDEP noise regulations and policy as they relate to wind turbines.
"It is an acknowledgement that noise from wind turbines is different," DEP spokesman Edmund Coletta said.
In Massachusetts, any noise source is considered in violation of noise regulations if it is more than 10 decibels louder than ambient noise, or the background noise level of a particular area or neighborhood. Those regulations do not take into account the different nature of noise from wind turbines, which many say can be more irritating because of its "wooshing" quality, called amplitude modulation.
"When the blades are spinning, the sound is different; the amplitude modulation makes it different," Coletta said. "That's really what the group is looking at more than anything else."

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Harrison to the MOE on Noise

"Three compliance tests demonstrate the under-estimation by up to 15 dBA, up to 12 dBA and up to 8 dBA respectively.  Some of this under-estimation can be put down to bad engineering; some can be put down to the science of sound generation and propagation that has been published over the past two decades but not acknowledged by the Ministry of the Environment."

Harrison to the MOE on Noise - Amherst Island Wind Info:

John Harrison has been studying the noise produced by wind turbines for a number of years.  Recently he submitted a report to the Ontario MOE going over (yet again) the many reasons the actual measured noise levels are far above what the Ontario noise limits and even farther above what was predicted by the proponents.  He has every reason to believe that the actual noise levels that will be experienced by many of the residents of Amherst Island will likewise be above Ontario’s limits.
His evidence for this belief is substantial.  In this report he presents 3 case studies where the measured noise levels were above Ontario’s limits.  Two of those case studies (Lormand/Ashbee and Libby) have appeared on windfarmrealities previously.  Added is a case study at an unknown location in the Melancthon area.

Continue reading at Amherst Island Wind Info

Summary from John Harrison's Report
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Longer setback requirements in Germany

A new post on the German Energy Blog notes a number of German states with more stringent setback requirements than Ontario's.

The latest being 1 km.

New Wind Power Decree in Saxony Stipulates Minimum Distance to Residential Housing « German Energy Blog: 

On 12 July 2013 representatives of the Saxon State Ministries of Economics and of the Interior signed a joint “Decree on Minimum Distances between Residential Housing and Priority Areas and Other Areas Suitable for Wind Power”. The decree essentially stipulates a general minimum distance of 1,000 metres between residential housing and wind power plants, a press release issued by the State of Saxony says.

This would help to “reduce conflicts between immissions and adverse affects on the landscape on the on hand and the need for a moderate and sensitive expansion of wind power”, the statement says.

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Sue Hobart Testifies: bring real doctors to study affected homes

The Windwise editor's note attached to the article explains the Hobart Home:

Bruce McPherson bequeathed funds to study wind turbine health effects. The field study was performed at Sue Hobart’s home in April 2011. The data was subsequently analyzed and published in 2012 in the peer-reviewed journal article “Wind turbine acoustic investigation: infrasound and low frequency noise – A case study“ by Stephen Ambrose, Robert Rand, and Carmen Krogh in the Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 32(2) 128-141.

Sue Hobart Testifies: bring real doctors to study affected homes | Wind Wise ~ Massachusetts: 

We have been forced to abandoned our perfect home to protect our health—had no choice. Our home is empty and our savings are gone but we are alive and attempting to recover from this heart breaking and faith shattering experience. But we are not there by a long shot.
I cry every day I go back to my now toxic home…I wish with all my heart and soul I could still live there… but it’s impossible to rest there and one cannot live without sleep. I won’t even get into the other symptoms because by now you should have heard of them or you are not doing your homework.
Our home was the site of the MacPherson Report.* More homework? You should know what that is by now too. You should also know that these health problems are proliferating as fast at the turbines all over the world. This is not “something about Falmouth…or Fairhaven or Kingston or Situate….” this is something about industrial sized wind turbines. They affect people the same way all over the world. The WORLD…. it’s not about crazy people either…ITS ABOUT WIND TURBINES!"
So there is obviously a growing a health problem and, given that more and more people are suffering from these carelessly sighted turbines, by who’s right do we continue to be ignored and degraded?
Is it the right of the Governor, based on some unqualified random “green” goal to push this agenda up our backsides at the expense of human health and well being…?

Continue reading at Wind Wise ~ Massachusetts
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Commentary on"Wind Farm Noise - an ethical dilemna"

The original "technical note" by S. Cooper is now receiving commentary.

Wind farm noise – an ethical dilemma for the Australian Acoustical Society? | Industrial Wind Action group

Summary:Australian acoustician Steven Cooper examines the responsibility of Members of the Australian Acoustical Society to a community where people are forced to leave their homes because of wind farm "noise". His technical note can be accessed by clicking at the links at the bottom of this page. 

ABSTRACT
Not since the opening of the Third Runway at Sydney Airport has there been so much publicity in Australia concerning noise - in this case wind farms. Putting aside the issue of noise versus inaudible noise there is a question being raised as to Members of the Society breaching the Code of Ethics. This is not the old question of Professional versus Learned Society. Reliance upon criteria contained in Guidelines or Standards may be an excuse by consultants that in turn places the "fault" on the SA EPA and the New Zealand Standard. However, if people making complaints to no avail and leave their homes because of the wind farm "noise" what is the responsibility of Members of the AAS to the community?

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Big Wind turbines, health and disease - a Danish perspective

www.windaction.org | Big Wind turbines, health and disease - a Danish perspective: 

Documents based on the right of access in environmental and other Danish authorities have shown that already in the late 1980's there were complaints about the noise, but local as well as central authorities generally refused to investigate, and did not involve medical expertise. This happens also today.
Despite these complaints for over 20 years, unfortunately no medically based research has ever been conducted in Denmark, even not as a base for "safe" distances and noise limitations. The only research has been engineer-performed noise measurements and calculations. This ignores the human physiological impact of the wind turbine noise, previously shown in research into the impacts of other noise sources. Engineers are not physicians, and therefore cannot assess the impact on human health. Furthermore, those acoustic engineers closely connected with the wind industry have an obvious yet rarely acknowledged financial conflict of interest.

___ 

So please, do not continue to misinform the public outside of Denmark about the true situation for the increasing number of Danish citizens whose health and sleep is badly affected by low frequency noise from wind turbines. The language barrier between English and Danish will not hide the truth.

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Local Health Unit Calls for Greater Municipal Input into Siting of Wind Turbine Projects

NorthumberlandView.ca Local Health Unit Calls for Greater Municipal Input into Siting of Wind Turbine Projects:

(Brighton) When it comes to the siting of industrial wind turbine projects, the local health unit wants municipalities and community members to have a greater say in the process.
At yesterday’s meeting, Board of Health members for the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit called for greater municipal and community input into a recently announced review process of Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan.
---
...Board of Health member Gil Brocanier said. “In everything we have heard it appears that wind turbines are not the issue, but where they are sited. There are hundreds of municipalities that have passed motions about the health issues caused by wind turbines and they are not gaining any traction with the province. What is gaining traction is having the municipalities have some control over siting so that we don’t have some of the issues we face now.”

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‘We moved away from the city to protect our son’

"Joey is audio sensitive. Repetitive sounds, such as white noise, the dripping of a tap or, what his mom Shellie fears, the constant swoosh of a turbine, drive him crazy.

If the proposal submitted to the province by Niagara Region Wind. Crop. is approved, a turbine will be built at the minimum provincial setback distance of 550 metres from their Wellandport home."

‘We moved away from the city to protect our son’ | Niagara this Week:

...concerned for Joey’s health is Dr. Chrystella Calvert, a pediatrician from Dundas, Ont. Calvert has written a letter to Niagara Region Wind Corp. regarding her concerns over how the industrial wind turbines planned near the Correia’s home will impact Joey.
Wind turbines concern me, given my strong knowledge of neurobiology,” writers Dr. Calvert, who diagnosed Joey, 12, with Sensory Processing Disorder, in a letter dated Oct. 5, 2012. “Due to well-documented disruption to the “normal” environment (vibration, noxious repetitive sounds) this is potentially a danger to the health.
“In children, the developing brain is exquisitely sensitive and plastic — it relies on clean inputs to develop normally. Science has no evidence that this abnormal, incessant stimulus does not have long lasting effects on the developing fetal child and adolescent brain.”
The doctor goes on to say, “I, as a “normal brain” (or typical brain) individual, would not want this risk to my mental health (or my children’s) in my neighbourhood. The placement of these devices must be thoughtful and, of course, “first, do no harm”."

Continue reading at Niagara this Week

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Zoning by-law amendment in Orford

Follow this along to "they would prefer not to locate a new dwelling on the Talbot Trail property due to the presence of three wind turbines," and try to make it to "carried." 

Zoning by-law amendment in Orford | The Ridgetown Independent News - June 12, 2013

At a recent Chatham-Kent Council meeting a zoning by-law amendment was considered for the property of Lars and Asta Natvik, Bury Road and Talbot Trail in Orford Township.
It was recommended to rezone Agricultural (A1) lands located on the south side of Talbot Trail to Agricultural (Al -1) to prohibit the construction of a dwelling accessory to an agricultural use and to approve the rezoning of lands located on the west side of Bury Road from Agricultural (Al-l) to Agricultural (Al) to permit a single detached dwelling accessory to an agricultural use.
The land consists of two parcels. One is a 64 acre vacant farm lot on Bury Road and the other is a 230 acre farm which contains three Wind turbines on Talbot Trail. The Bury Road property was the subject of a surplus dwelling severance in 2001 which required that the zoning be amended to prohibit future dwellings on what was the retained parcel at that time. The applicants are requesting that this zoning be amended to permit a new dwelling in exchange for the rezoning of the larger Talbot Trail property to prohibit future dwellings.
The applicants are seeking the rezoning in order to permit a new dwelling on the Bury Road property in part because it is located near other family in the immediate area and they would prefer not to locate a new dwelling on the Talbot Trail property due to the presence of three wind turbines.
Councillor Jim Brown moved the recommendation as it was presented to council and it was seconded by Councillor Steve Pinsonneault. The motion was carried

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Fairhaven halts overnight use of turbines

Fairhaven halts overnight use of turbines | SouthCoastToday.com:

The Fairhaven Board of Health voted unanimously to shut down the town's two wind turbines between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. beginning tonight.
The vote was made at a joint meeting of the boards of health and selectmen in a packed banquet room. After the three board members approved the motion to shut down the turbines at night, which was made by Chairman Peter DeTerra, the a roughly 30-person audience erupted in applause.
“It's time to let this town heal,” DeTerra said.
At the meeting, the board of selectmen also voted to put the turbines' developers on 30 days notice because state testing of the turbines revealed that the turbines not only violated state noise regulation but also violated the contract between developers and the Board of Selectmen.

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Fairhaven Select Board chairman will move to shut turbines down at night

A second Massachusetts town is moving to curtail the nighttime operation of turbines not compliant with noise standards

Select Board chairman will move to shut turbines down at night | SouthCoastToday.com:

FAIRHAVEN — Select Board Chairman Charles Murphy Sr. said last week he will move to shut the turbines down at night at a meeting Monday, June 10, with the Board of Health.
"The goal of that meeting is to do what my goal was previously," he said of the intentions he announced soon after taking over as chairman in April: To shut the turbines down at night.
Mr. Murphy said now that the turbines have been found to exceed the noise limit set by state law, "I now have legal concerns about not being in compliance."
He said, "People wanted me to wait for the testing and now we have it." 

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State finds Fairhaven turbines in violation of noise regulations/ Falmouth won't pay to shut down turbines

News from Massachusetts 

State finds Fairhaven turbines in violation of noise regulations | SouthCoastToday.com: 

FAIRHAVEN — Fairhaven's two industrial-sized wind turbines are in violation of Massachusetts noise regulations, according to preliminary results of a sound study conducted by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The announcement at a meeting Tuesday night prompted opponents to demand the turbines be shut down.
DEP Deputy Commissioner Martin Suuberg told the Board of Health that noise from the turbines exceeded state regulations in five of the 24 periods during which the DEP conducted testing.
DEP started its sound study in August to determine whether the turbines were more than 10 decibels louder than ambient noise at homes of residents who had complained about the turbine noise.

Continue reading at SouthCoastToday.com

Meanwhile, in Falmouth a vote demonstrated most citizens were unwilling to pay the cost of removing turbines  - regardless of whether the noise is in compliance.

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Unhealthy setback

Picture from source article

Unhealthy setback | The Times:

Stephana Johnston retired to a small rural community on the north shore of Lake Erie after a career in teaching. Her newfound home was quiet, peaceful and friendly. She imagined she would live out her days in Clear Creek. But five years ago, trucks arrived to erect 18 industrial wind turbines around her home. Her dream retirement came to an abrupt and rude end
When the turbines turn Stephana becomes disoriented, dizzy and has great difficulty sleeping. Relief comes only when the wind doesn’t blow or she is away from her home. Wind energy proponents and developers don’t believe the massive machines are making her sick. Her government doesn’t believe her either. Its officials have weeded through the existing medical literature and can’t find anything linking Ms. Johnston’s complaints to the busload of magnets and current spinning above her home.
This week the octogenarian will testify how industrial wind turbines have altered her life—making her home unlivable and next to impossible to sell. Stephana Johnston is one of more than a dozen witnesses testifying to the direct effects of wind turbines before an appeal of a nine-turbine wind project approved for Ostrander Point in Prince Edward County.

Please continue reading at The [Wellington] Times:
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aeinews.org » Blog Archive » Vermont DPS investigating wind farm noise complaints

Vermont DPS investigating wind farm noise complaints | The Acoustic Ecology Institute: 

The three large wind farms currently operating in Vermont have spurred enough noise complaints to trigger an investigation by the state Department of Public Service. DPS Commissioner Chris Recchia said “I want to get to the bottom of this….It’s not what was expected.” Recchia suggested that he’s considering asking the Public Service Board to reconsider their existing noise standards.
Since last fall, 105 formal complaints have been filed, by 23 different individuals living near the Sheffield, Lowell, or Georgia Mountain wind projects...
The DPS is hiring a noise expert to analyze the complaints, and comparing them to quarterly noise measurements made near each wind project. After this analysis, the DPS has three options, and could recommend one or more: enforce standards if they find violations, create a more effective system for operators to respond to complaints, or ask the PSB to change the noise standards if necessary.

The full article can be read at The Acoustic Ecology Institute: 
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Independence turbine owners refusing to cooperate with sound study

In Kingston Massachusetts, the turbine owner is reported as suddenly refusing to participate in acoustic studies, and instead is making noise about "legal action for cause of libel and defamanation."

Independence turbine owners refusing to cooperate with sound study - Kingston, MA - Wicked Local Kingston:

In an about face, the Independence turbine owners at Kingston Wind Independence are refusing to participate a long-awaited acoustic monitoring study.
This information was not available at press time.
This week the turbine owners released a statement accusing local residents of making “false, baseless and inflammatory statements” in the media. They did not say they won’t be participating in the study.
They left that to Alicia Barton, chief executive officer and executive director of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center that was overseeing the study.

Instead of cooperating with the study ...
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Wind Power: Cutting the Spin

Another local television report; this one from Madison, Wisconsin

WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports:

MADISON (WKOW) -- Julie Cupery's dairy farm in rural Columbia County is home to six of the 90 industrial wind turbines that make up Glacier Hills, the largest wind energy project in Wisconsin.
"Renewable energy was really high on everybody's list and...have to be honest...the money was good," said Cupery when talking about her family's decision to allow windmills on their property.
WE Energies pays Julie $5,000 per year for each windmill on her land.

Completed in 2011, Glacier Hills was one of nine wind farms to go up in the five years after the state legislature mandated 10 percent of Wisconsin energy must come from renewable resources by 2015.  But that rapid growth may soon come to a screeching halt.
"Its definitely stalling.  I would definitely describe it that way," said Tyson Cook, a staff scientist at Clean Wisconsin, an environmental group which advocates for the continued growth of wind energy as a safe, clean alternative to coal and natural gas.  But the organization's optimism is fading.

The entire transcript of the report can be read at WKOW 27

 WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports
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Taking a look at green energy

This week has seen a series of articles on industrial wind turbine issues, written by Valerie MacDonald, at Northumberland Today

Taking a look at green energy | Local | News | Northumberland Today:

For the past year, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit has been wrestling with a push from within its board of directors to urge the Ontario Government to place a moratorium on wind power.
Board member Heather Stauble of the City of Kawartha Lakes has been the driving force. Late last year she brought forward at least three motions to that end, and had enough support that the board has invited a series of guest speakers to update it on the current state of the technology and related health issues before making its decision whether to lobby the provincial government.
Last week, Gideon Forman, the executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, provided a visual presentation entitled "Why doctors support wind power."

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Fight was worth it: Jeffs

NiagaraThisWeek Article: Fight was worth it: Jeffs: 

Though it was officially a defeat, Wainfleet Mayor April Jeffs isn’t taking the court decision regarding its 2-km wind turbine setback bylaw as a total loss.
“We grabbed the attention of the public,” she said.
The decision on the case was rendered last Friday. Wainfleet enacted a bylaw last year that required a 2-km setback for turbines, which goes against the province’s Green Energy Act. It stipulates the setback should be set at 550 metres.
...
Ald. Betty Konc said the decision is really a win for the township.
“We were well within our jurisdiction. If we had a better definition of property we may have won,” she said.
Konc said the ruling paves the way for other municipalities currently facing similar issues. She said those municipalities may be able to draft bylaws with stronger language.
In his decision Reid also considered whether the bylaw was outside the municipality’s authority. Because the Municipal Act grants broad authority to municipalities to regulate things like nuisance, noise, health and safety, the justice ruled the bylaw was within Wainfleet’s authority under the Municipal Act.
“The judge has said, ‘you do have jurisdiction,” Konc said.

The entire article may be read at NiagaraThisWeek:

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PARENTS DEMAND PROTECTION FOR THEIR CHILDREN FROM WIND TURBINE EMISSIONS

This news release was sent to WCO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Queen’s Park

PARENTS DEMAND PROTECTION FOR THEIR CHILDREN FROM WIND TURBINE EMISSIONS

“Premier Wynne, 550 meters is too close!”

A group of determined parents will arrive at Queen’s Park on Thursday morning April 18 at 11:30 to
demand a meeting with Premier Kathleen Wynne to discuss the risks to their children from industrial
wind turbines. The group is led by Shellie Correia of West Lincoln whose son Joey has Sensory Processing
Disorder.

Thanks Beth!  Today - at Queen's Park

“I met with Kathleen Wynne in my hometown just before Christmas when she was campaigning for the
leadership of her party,” says Correia. “I gave her many reports and a letter from Joey’s doctor and I
haven’t heard from her since.” Correia’s concerns and those of parents all across Ontario are for their
children, some with special needs such as autism and other issues who are at risk.

Dr. Chrystella Calvert is a behavioral Pediatrician and treats Joey. She agrees. “Noxious stimuli
(or unexpected, or unnatural stimuli) are a source of environmental stress that affect the human
brain…Wind turbines concern me, given my strong knowledge of neurobiology,” says Dr Calvert. “I
as a “normal brain” (or typical brain) individual would not want this risk to my mental health (or my
children’s’) in my neighbourhood.”
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Turbine placement violates Kincardine airport agreement

Turbine placement violates airport agreement | Local | News | Lucknow Sentinel:

A NAV Canada letter addressed to Samsung-Pattern Armow Wind Ontario has revealed that 43 of 99 turbines in the proposed Armow wind development violate current procedures at Kincardine Municipal Airport.
Kincardine's chief administrative officer Murray Clarke presented the information at an April 10 meeting of council, highlighting "concerns with Samsung-Pattern turbines outside of airport perimeter mapping."
In a letter addressed to Jody Law of SP Armow Wind dated March 17, 2013, Aleksandar Trandafilovski of NAV Canada wrote, "in our letter dated April 12, 2012, we included the area we found to be of 'no-impact' to aid in planning turbine locations which avoid impact to airport operations; however all 43 infringing turbines are located outside of this area."
Clarke said it was not immediately clear what the implications of NAV Canada's concerns might be, and suggested the turbines could possibly affect GPS readings in the area or present safety issues.
"This is a significant concern," Clarke said. "We need to know what the implications are."

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