The safety of the citizens of Chatham-Kent is being compromised by improper siting of industrial wind turbines.
The General Electric wind turbine “Ice shedding and ice throw – risk and mitigation” manual states that “1.5 x (hub height + rotor diameter) is the formula for calculating a safe distance for turbine siting from roads and public areas.” That is approximately 240 meters; not the 50 metres from roads and property lines that is being used in Chatham-Kent.
The Safety Regulations for Operators and Technicians for two different models of industrial wind turbines manufactured by Vestas state, “Do not stay within a radius of 400 meters from the turbine unless it is necessary . . . Make sure that children do not stay or play nearby the turbine.”
Also of note is the book, “Wind Turbine Syndrome: A Report on a Natural Experiment” by Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD (in press). The excerpt for this book states, “Based on the evidence presented, it calls for a minimum of two-kilometre setbacks of industrial turbines from people’s homes.”
The setbacks C-K has in place for industrial wind turbines (50 m from roadways and property boundaries, and 300 metres from homes) are a threat to the public.
Monica Elmes
For the Chatham-Kent Wind Action Group Ridgetown
8 July 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/07/09/turbines-have-safety-concerns/