aeinews.org =C2=BB Blog Archive = =C2=BB Wind Turbine Sounds Spur Health Complaints, Force Residents to = Move

Nov 04

Wind Turbine = Sounds Spur=20 Health Complaints, Force Residents to Move

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The spread of wind turbines into quiet rural areas is leading to = increasing=20 complaints that they make more noise than residents were led to believe. = While=20 simple annoyance and sleep disturbance are the most common effects, in = some=20 cases, nearby residents are reporting health problems that they = associate with=20 the presence of the turbines, leading some to move from their homes. Not = long=20 after wind turbines began to spin in March near Gerry Meyer=E2=80=99s = home in Wisconsin,=20 his son Robert, 13, and wife, Cheryl, complained of headaches. Cheryl = also=20 sometimes feels a fluttering in her chest, while Gerry is sometimes = nauseated=20 and hears crackling. The nearest turbine is 1,560 feet from = Meyer=E2=80=99s house. His=20 dismay over an energy source he once thought was benign has made the = retired=20 mailman, 59, an activist. He travels the state warning communities = considering=20 wind farms to be wary. =E2=80=9CI don=E2=80=99t think anyone should have = to put up with this,=E2=80=9D=20 says Meyer, who compares the sound to a helicopter or a jet taking = off. In Canada, Helen and Bill Fraser initially = supported the=20 nearby wind farm in Melancthon, Ont. One turbine sat close to the = Fraser=E2=80=99s=20 kitchen window. =E2=80=9CWe thought, more green energy, this is = great,=E2=80=9D Helen told CTV=20 News. However, Helen says she developed headaches, body aches and she = had=20 trouble sleeping. The dog began wetting the floor at night. = =E2=80=9CThere were nights I=20 was lying in bed and my heart would beat to the pulse of the turbine. It = was an=20 uneasy feeling,=E2=80=9D Helen said. Ernie Marshall at first supported = the wind farm=20 that was placed near his home near Goderich, Ont. However, he also says = that=20 once the turbines got rolling, his health began to suffer. =E2=80=9CI = had problems with=20 my heart, with my eyes, my digestive system,=E2=80=9D Marshall told CTV = News. =E2=80=9CIt=20 traumatizes your whole body.=E2=80=9D Some affected residents can only = sell their homes=20 and move away. The Frasers left their home of 32 years and moved to = nearby=20 Shelburne, Ont. They say their symptoms have, for the most part, = vanished. Ernie=20 Marshall moved to the town of Seaforth, Ont., which is several = kilometers away=20 from the turbines near his former home. =E2=80=9CI had to get out or I = wouldn=E2=80=99t be=20 standing here talking to you,=E2=80=9D Marshall said.

3D"wisconsin
Wisconsin wind farm

Dr. Nina Pierpont, a pediatrician in upstate New York, has = interviewed dozens=20 of people who live near windmills in Canada, the United States and = Europe. Her=20 soon-to-be released book, Wind Turbine Syndrome, documents the litany of = health=20 problems experienced by some people who have wind farms near their = homes. Some=20 early findings suggest that wind turbines create a high intensity, low = frequency=20 sound that may have an effect on the body. Not only can the sound = potentially=20 cause debilitating illness. Some researchers believe that the vibrations = the=20 sound causes in the inner ear may lead to vibro-acoustic disease, which = can=20 cause dizziness, nausea and sleep disturbances. However, officials with = the=20 Canadian Wind Energy Association point to a handful of studies they say = prove=20 that windmills lead to few, if any, adverse health effects. =E2=80=9CWe = know there have=20 been complaints about health impacts of wind turbines,=E2=80=9D Sean = Whittaker of the=20 Canadian Wind Energy Association told CTV News. =E2=80=9COn the other = hand, we know=20 there are some 10,000 turbines installed across North America and = complaints=20 have been relatively few.=E2=80=9D The issue has not just put experts at = odds.=20 Communities across North America are divided between residents who say = local=20 windmills have made them sick and their neighbors who don=E2=80=99t = believe them.=20 =E2=80=9CEveryone was calling me a liar,=E2=80=9D Ernie Marshall said. = =E2=80=9CIt don=E2=80=99t matter who you=20 talk to. You bring =E2=80=98em out here and they=E2=80=99ll say that = noise don=E2=80=99t bother us. Sit=20 there for a week under that and listen to it and see what it does to = your body.=E2=80=9D=20 The inconsistencies in the early research, coupled with the fact that = some=20 residents who live near wind turbines complain of such a wide array of = symptoms,=20 are evidence that further study is needed to determine if Wind Turbine = Syndrome=20 is a problem, how big of one and what should be done, experts say. = =E2=80=9CDepending on=20 your distance you=E2=80=99ll have 30, 40, 50 per cent of people who are = troubled, but=20 not 100 per cent,=E2=80=9D Dr. Robert McMurtry of the University of = Western Ontario told=20 CTV News. =E2=80=9CThat=E2=80=99s why it=E2=80=99s important to do these = studies to see just how many=20 are troubled and how real it is.=E2=80=9D Sources:=20 Sympatico/MSN Canada, 10/6/08 [READ=20 ARTICLE] USA=20 Today, 11/4/08 [READ=20 ARTICLE] Daily Tech, 8/13/08 [READ=20 ARTICLE] See also Wind Turbine Syndrome=20 website [WEBSITE]

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