February 13, 2014
Australia, Health, Noise, Press releases

Statement re: families abandoning homes

Waubra Foundation

The Waubra Foundation CEO, Sarah Laurie, stands by the accuracy of confidential information submitted by the Foundation to the 2012 Federal Senate Inquiry. The information related to the numbers and locations of rural residents forced to permanently or temporarily abandon their homes in Australia because of the adverse health effects they experienced from exposure to operating wind turbines.

This information was provided in confidence to the CEO, on the condition that it not be made publicly available by her, and those wishes have always been respected. Some rural residents have publicly disclosed their circumstances in media interviews, Senate Inquiries, and video interviews, but many others have not. Reasons for not disclosing this information include nondisclosure agreements (gag clauses), fear of theft or arson, sensitive personal health information, and fear of public ridicule.

The circumstances of many of these families are known directly to Senators Madigan, Xenophon and Back.

The Foundation is aware of other rural residents forced from their homes because of illness, sleep deprivation and chronic physiological stress resulting from environmental low frequency noise pollution. Some of these residents have also been silenced by agreements with noise polluters at other industrial facilities such as Tara, QLD (CSG), Uranquinty, NSW (gas fired power station) and Wollar, NSW (coal mine).

We note that Professor Chapman, together with the Climate and Health Alliance, and two individuals with commercial interests in the wind industry (Miles George from Infigen, and Simon Holmes a Court, from Hepburn wind and EMBARK), joined with VESTAS to launch their global denial [1] of adverse health effects campaign, called ACT on FACTS, on 18th June, 2013.

We note that a VESTAS employee, Erik Sloth, admitted to an Australian Wind Energy Association conference in Australia in 2004 that wind turbine noise can cause annoyance symptoms, that the international standard used for wind turbine noise predictions was not accurate, that a safe buffer distance was required, and that research was required. The Waubra Foundation agrees with Mr Sloth’s assessment from 2004 [2].

VESTAS seem to have now “forgotten” what they knew in 2004.

Further references:

Interviews with Chapman and Holmes a Court at the time of the launch [3]

Chapman links with the wind industry; University of Sydney Senate links [4]

12th February, 2014


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/2014/02/13/statement-re-families-abandoning-homes/


URLs in this post:

[1] joined with VESTAS to launch their global denial: http://www.einpresswire.com/article/154797388/vestas-launches-act-on-facts-campaign-in-battle-against-anti-wind-movement-says-don-t-let-myths-dictate-our-future

[2] Mr Sloth’s assessment from 2004: https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/problems-related-to-the-use-of-the-existing-noise-measurement-standards-when-predicting-noise-from-wind-turbines-and-wind-farms/

[3] Interviews with Chapman and Holmes a Court at the time of the launch: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-09/blowing-hot-and-cold-on-wind-power/4877590

[4] Chapman links with the wind industry; University of Sydney Senate links: http://purslane.wordpress.com/2014/02/02/simon-chapman-sydney-school-of-public-health-university-of-sydney-australia/