Real Talk!

On May 21, 2009 and article in the UK Guardian entitled “'Turbines wind up my goats'” said that, “After three years of intrigue and confusion, not to mention a death toll of 400, the great Penghu archipelago goat mystery may finally have been solved.”

Eight turbines were installed on the archipelago of the windy island chain in the Taiwan strait. Officials investigating the unexplained deaths of numerous animals believe that the introduction of noisy wind turbines could have induced terminal insomnia, exhausting them- to death.

A spokesman for Taipower said the firm doubted the goats had died from the noise but suggested, if the turbines were proven accountable for the deaths, the company might help the farmer with moving costs.

Council of Agriculture inspection official Lu Ming-tseng said, “If noise at night can keep people awake, then it could also keep the goats awake, and when the wind kicks up it makes a louder noise.”

Jack Steinberger, one of the world's leading scientists, a 1968 Nobel Prize winner in physics and director of CERN's particle-physics laboratory recently addressed the Royal Society in London saying, “Wind is not the future.” Further, Steinberger stated that Europe should cancel its big wind plans and that solar energy is the future.

1976 Nobel Prize winner in physics, professor Burton Richter of Stanford University, agreed that solar energy is a promising new technology.

Also, last week, TREC Windpower Co-operative and Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc. who jointly own the turbine at Exhibition Place, in Toronto- received approval from the board of governors at Exhibition Place to lease land for two more turbines. They are to be located on the north side of Lake Shore Blvd. W. – one opposite Ontario Place, the other at the site's western tip. Apparently the decision is awaiting Toronto Hydro’s final approval.

Lambton, Ontario resident, Ann Towell is a member of Wind Concerns Ontario, a coalition of 29 community organizations protesting industrial wind farms. Towell points to reports from residents located near wind farms who suffer from headaches, sleep disturbances and depression and others, who report constant vibrations in their homes and a loss of cognitive abilities due to lack of sleep.

Scientists have only begun studying the phenomenon. Some early findings suggest that wind turbines create a high intensity, low frequency sound that may affect the body. The sound can cause vibrations in the inner ear that may lead to vibro-acoustic disease- the symptoms: dizziness, nausea and sleep disturbances.

The American Wind Energy Association published a report last week, stating that sales of small wind turbines (big enough to serve a single home or office building), under 100 kilowatts, were up 78 percent last year, although there was a sharp drop-off toward the end of last year and beginning of this. Sales are expected to climb, due to a stimulus act passed earlier this year, in the U.S., gives people who buy a small wind turbine a tax credit on the installation, addressing the challenge of the upfront costs of installation, which can be several thousand dollars.

Meanwhile, the United States has become the largest harvester of wind energy in the world and engineers at Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratories are involved in an effort to develop a more cost effective, reliable, efficient turbine system. Douglas Adams, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of Purdue's Center for Systems Integrity says, “The aim is to operate the generator and the turbine in the most efficient way, but this is difficult because wind speeds fluctuate," adding “…wind turbine towers can be 200 feet tall or more, so it is very expensive to service and repair damaged components."

Purdue and Sandia have applied for a provisional patent on a technique that uses a trio of sensors installed into turbine blades, the sensors will collect data that will provide key information in developing better blades. A Sandia spokesman said, “There is still a lot of work to be done, but we believe the payoff will be great. Our goal is to provide the electric utility industry with a reliable and efficient product. We are laying the groundwork for the wind turbine of the future.”

Northeast of Calgary, FPLE Canadian Wind plans to construct 54 wind turbines. Diane Moran, who represents one of three families appealing the wind farm proposal, cites studies that indicate the turbines cause sleep disorders. Josie Hernandez, a spokeswoman from FLPE Company, described most of the research on wind farms and its connection to adverse health effects as not credible.

Hernandez said the company hasn't heard of any concerns regarding health from people living in areas around its 8,200 turbines across the continent.

Ottawa lawyer, Joshua Moon, spoke at a meeting of the Ontario Municipal Board, last week. Moon represents a renewable energy entrepeneur who wants to install a small turbine in his Ottawa yard but is facing resistance from neighbouring property owners. Moon said the turbine would be comparable to a flagpole in terms of its noise and appearance. Turbines will eventually be as common a sight as utility poles in Ontario but there has to be a first one in a residential neighbourhood, Moon explained.

In October 2008, CTV reported on the environmentally friendly alternative energy source and the debilitating health problems associated with turbines. Residents who live near wind farms complain the turbines cause crippling headaches, nose bleeds, constant ringing in the ears and other complaints. Helen and Bill Fraser, who initially supported a wind farm in Melancthon, Ont that was located next to their property, said Helen developed headaches, body aches and trouble sleeping. Their dog began wetting the floor at night.

Ernie Marshall at first supported the wind farm that was placed near his home near Goderich, Ont. However, he also says that once the turbines got rolling, his health began to suffer, too. "I had problems with my heart, with my eyes, my digestive system," Marshall told CTV News. "It traumatizes your whole body."

"We know there have been complaints about health impacts of wind turbines," says Sean Whittaker of the Canadian Wind Energy Association. "On the other hand, we know there are some 10,000 turbines installed across North America and complaints have been relatively few. There's been research done on this and to date, that research has come to a fairly solid conclusion that wind turbines do not have an adverse impact on human health."

Dr. Nina Pierpont, a pediatrician in upstate New York, has interviewed dozens of people who live near windmills in Canada, the United States and Europe. Her new book, "Wind Turbine Syndrome," documents the litany of health problems experienced by some people who have wind farms near their homes.

Dr. Pierpont believes that with the growth of wind farms near residential areas, Wind Turbine Syndrome "likely will become an industrial plague."

Dr. Robert McMurtry of the University of Western Ontario says "Depending on your distance you'll have 30, 40, 50 per cent of people who are troubled, but not 100 per cent."

Supporters of Wind technology suggest that those opposed to wind technology are relatively small in number, compared to those who (perhaps more quietly) support Wind power in Ontario.

Last Tuesday, Ontario Energy and Infrastructure Minister, George Smitherman (also Ontario’s deputy premier), was promoting Ontario’s new Green Energy and Green Economy Act, saying it will make the province more prosperous. “We think the Green Energy Act can create some 50,000 jobs”, he said and added, ““We passed a law, and the law does not create an opportunity for municipalities to resist these projects just because they may have a concern. The Green Energy Act creates strong motivation to enhance renewable energy projects in the province of Ontario.”

Smitherman’s message: evidently, resistance is not an option.

Still, opposition groups are becoming increasingly vocal. High-profile environmentalists have fought vigorously against wind farms, including Robert F. Kennedy Junior. Kennedy has been criticized by Greenpeace, for opposing the development of a farm off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass.- mostly for aesthetic reasons.

Carmen Krogh, a retired Alberta pharmacist currently living in Cormac, Ontario is conducting a survey of people living near wind turbines. Krogh fell ill while vacationing near a wind turbine complex in 2005. She suffered intense headache, queasiness, dizziness and "It was like my heart was trying to beat to the time of the blades, “ she said.

Dr. Michael A. Nissenbaum, a radiologist at the Northern Maine Medical Center, recently presented a report to the Maine Medical Association. In the report, results of 15 interviews of people who lived near a wind farm in Mars Hill, Maine described many experiencing sleep disturbances, headaches, dizziness, weight changes, possible increases in blood pressure, and increased prescription medication use after the turbines were turned on.

Barbara Ashbee and Denis Lormand, a retired couple who live near a wind farm outside Shelburne, Ont., about 75 kilometres northwest of Toronto, said the turbines caused a loud whooshing sound throughout their home. "You can't sleep properly, you can't do your work properly … you even lose desire to do the normal, everyday things," stated Ashbee.

Geoff Leventhall, an Ontario consultant who provides analysis and advice concerning noise, vibrations and acoustics, said low-frequency wind turbine noise is below the limit of human hearing.

I have only the experience of the local flakeboard company (now closed) and some residents did complain of hearing an annoying noise associated with its operation… oddly enough, some of their neighbours couldn’t understand what they were talking about.

Personally, some flourescent lighting gives off a noise that drives me around the bend… it’s actually kept me out of some retail establishments.

I don’t know anything about goat’s hearing… or the other creatures, like bats and birds, that are often cited as being victimized by the sound of wind turbines… but I’m sure, like humans, there is likely some degree of variation!