Families have walked away 

Mr. Keller, I have listened to far too many people from a number of industrial wind turbine installations in this province, including the Melancthon/Amaranth installation, who have told me they have done everything they were told to do by John Wilkinson’s ministry, some for as long as 3 or 4 years, with absolutely no resolution to sleepless nights and ill health since turbines started up nearby.

They have tolerated an endless intrusion of making phone calls and writing letters to complain, attempts by industry and ministry to measure noise and meetings with wind companies and ministry people at all levels. They go along with everything even as their health continues to deteriorate, as they deal with other tragedies in their life and as they try to continue to function in jobs and everyday life while sick and sleep deprived. 6 homes in Melancthon/Amaranth have been bought by Canadian Hydro Developers. 5 more have been bought by Suncor in Ripley. The process was long and expensive and homeowners finally had to involve lawyers to get help. Not all can afford that. A number of families have simply walked away from toxic homes because they can’t tolerate the noise and ill health anymore. They don’t do this because they don’t like their electricity bill or their view or are protesting the loss of equity in their home. They do so because they have no choice if they are to regain health.

Thanks to your seemingly selective interviewing techniques Mr. Keller, they get to read a pro-wind slant on the issue over and over again. Mr. Wilkinson won’t give these people the time of day but he’s just fine to talk to you about how transparent he is. He knows you won’t question him. Wilkinson won’t respond to Dale Goldhawk anymore because he knows Goldhawk “who fights back!” will question him instead of taking his comments at face value.

A transparent ministry would not require people to go through the expense and time-consuming process of Freedom of Information to acquire answers to simple questions such as, “We can’t sleep in our own home since turbines started up. Why won’t the Ministry of the Environment do something to help us? You continue to issue approvals for more wind turbines. Why do you do that when you can’t you ensure the wind company is operating in compliance? Why does John Wilkinson continue to say turbines never go over 40 decibels when his own ministry allows 51 decibels? Did Mr. Wilkinson or any of his staff attend a Canadian Wind Energy Association (lobby group for the wind industry) conference?”

And so, an unproductive process continues for many who have become sick with exposure to turbines.

It isn’t an imaginary transparent process Wilkinson talks about; the one where the wind industry does product promotion under the guise of a public meeting or where public and professionals present evidence to the MOE about how families are being hurt by turbines in this province, only to be thanked, sent a form letter promoting renewable so-called healthy energy. All of these people sending a red flag to this provincial govt. find their comments and evidence completely and utterly ignored.

TransAlta’s so called ‘mitigation measures’ are not helping the situation at all. How ludicrous is it to expect that turning off a few turbines here and there will help when there are a hundred and thirty more grinding away right behind them? Just asking…

Lorrie Gillis

Flesherton