Expert: It's difficult to write noise ordinance
Tuesday, July 7, 2009, the Prattsburgh Town Board met to work on a ‘wind law’ which, among other issues, would define how a landowner picturing themselves placed at risk by a wind turbine could seek redress.
To his credit, Supervisor Harold McConnell brought in an expert from a Rochester noise control firm, AVL Designs, www.avldesign.com, to offer suggestions for the issues the Prattsburgh Town Board should consider for inclusion in a noise ordinance. Seth Waltz, the noise expert, described himself as having a comprehensive understanding of the science of noise but little or no specific expertise in the noise issues relative to wind farms.
In Mr. Waltz’s opinion, the task of writing a meaningful noise ordinance that would, in fact, adequately protect Prattsburgh residents is difficult.
Mr. Waltz made a number of extremely provocative comments.
One, unlike the immediately identifiable sound of a crying infant, wind turbines produce no constant tonality, no universal signature, making the creation of a noise standard challenging.
Two, the most critical issue isn’t audible noise; it’s the low frequency sound waves that create vibration. Low frequency noise in the 2-3Hz range can not only be annoying but cause vomiting and other serious health issues. 12Hz can cause hallucinations. Low frequency noise is what you hear sometimes minutes before you see the car with its stereo pumping out mega base and how the US Navy communicates globally with its submarines from a single low frequency generation point in northern Wisconsin.
Three, because the DEC Noise Guidelines measure DBA without any consideration of low frequency noise, those guidelines are not an appropriate standard for a Prattsburgh Noise Ordinance.
Four, because Prattsburgh is comprised of hills and valleys which cause a megaphone effect that can directionalize, combine and intensify the sounds of multiple turbines, our experience with wind turbines will be quite different than that of Tug Hill or Fenner where the turbines are on a high plateau well above the surrounding countryside; i.e. — Cohocton.
Five, because of the deep foundations necessary to stabilize 400′ turbines, low frequency noise is transmitted down and throughout the contours of the land and often follows bedrock and even accelerates to immerge in a random manner miles away from its generation point.
Six, the 500′ set backs from residences being considered in Prattsburgh are woefully inadequate; Mr. Waltz suggested that set backs of anything less than a half mile are a recipe for disaster.
Seven, Mr. Waltz said that a noise ordinance should consider three (3) sound components — the audible noises and low frequency sound vibrations that the wind turbines expect to make — plus the concept of noises like a failing bearing that, while unplanned, will occur. Waltz suggested the only way a resident’s ‘after’ (postturbine installation) complaint can be quantified is for the Town of Prattsburgh to take extensive ‘before’ (preturbine installation) readings within a considerable radius of every structure within some prescribed distance of the site of each planned turbine. The cost to establish and maintain this ‘before and after’ data base would be considerable; what entity should fund the collection of such a data base is unclear.
The Board asked Mr. Waltz for a proposal so they could understand the costs and methodology to proceed.
Supervisor McConnell closed the meeting with a reminder to the Board that the Town is not currently budgeted to study the noise ordinance question let alone fund the collection of a meaningful data base.
Those in attendance were clearly encouraged that the sanctity of their homes and health is being considered.
Arnold C. Palmer
Prattsburgh
Dated July 19, 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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