Tuesday, September 27, 2011 Joint release by: TORONTO WIND ACTION, THE NORTH AMERICAN PLATFORM AGAINST WINDPOWER (NA-PAW), THE EUROPEAN PLATFORM AGAINST WINDFARMS (EPAW)
“WHEN WE GO AWAY, WE FEEL BETTER” —Sue Hobart, wind farm victim, Falmouth USA
Today the attached letter was dispatched in the name of four Canadians with disabilities to the Prime Minister, Member of the Cabinet and Senate, the Attorney General of Canada, Provincial officials, the Ethics Commissioner and Ombudsman, and the Queen of England. Similar complaints are concurrently under development or already dispatched in Scotland and Australia. The letter charges that the government of Canada is not in compliance with its signatory responsibilities under the United Nations Convention on Persons with Disabilities (“the UN Convention”).
Sherri Lange, Founding Director of Toronto Wind Action and CEO of NA-PAW (North American Platform Against Wind Power), and Mark Duchamp, CEO of EPAW (European Platform Against Windfarms), today issued a joint statement that gross and negligent approaches to the placement of industrial wind turbines (IWT) worldwide are causing ill-effects on health, worse in the case of people with pre-existing disabilities. Victims must also deal with financial losses, and some of them have no choice but to abandon their homes. The combined effect of all this can be devastating on their health and their lives.
World standards in “setbacks” (minimum distance from wind turbines) are not uniform and do not reflect a scientific approach. It is clear that current siting policy of wind farms does NOT protect people from harm. We are now seeing “a plethora of anecdotes, which really constitute “data” due to their consistency and volume. The dialogue with national or federal governments regarding their non-compliance with the UN Convention is urgent,” Lange and Duchamp emphasized.
Governments’ obligation to protect and improve the health of people with disabilities is being seriously compromised. Children and the elderly are also ignored in the rush to deploy IWTs. In their joint statement, Duchamp and Lange stated, “It is time to call a moratorium on windfarm development: the protections offered by the UN Convention are being ignored by national governments, and this can’t be allowed to continue.”
In Scotland, George Watson has been invited to speak with UK representatives after his strongly worded letter to planning departments, legislators, and political leaders. Watson has provided leadership with his understanding of the need to address these particular concerns for the Disabled at the highest court: the UN.
Disabled persons that signed the first cluster of complaints to the Canadian Government have a history of epilepsy, migraines and panic disorder, high blood pressure and mobility issues, to name a few. Proximity to IWTs either has or will compromise these conditions even further. This is “totally unacceptable” according to Duchamp and Lange. Both organizations encourage other victims or potential victims to register their names with EPAW and NA-PAW in order to protect not only themselves, but also future generations. Says Duchamp: “The rapid accumulation of health effects worldwide should be enough to induce extreme caution. We hope this UN complaint will register with policy makers and leaders and contribute to the calling of a moratorium.”
Description of adverse health effects:
Common signs and symptoms – sleep disturbance, stress or psychological distress, inner-ear trauma, headaches, excessive tiredness.
Less-common symptoms – palpitation, high blood pressure, migraines, cognitive difficulties and gastrointestinal problems.
Adverse health effects were noted to worsen over time, and the physicians advised that no direct treatment was available, other than to leave the environs of an industrial wind facility. Severity of health issues was aggravated by proximity to turbine installations and was terrain-dependant. That is, flat land, hilly or mountainous landscape, or siting turbines offshore were important in gauging how close it was safe to live near industrial wind complexes.
http://thedailynewsonline.com/opinion/editorials/article_54c5a7de-e52e-11e0-a008-001cc4c03286.html
Contacts:
Sherri Lange, CEO, NA-PAW www.na-paw.org
Founding Director, Toronto Wind Action, www.torontowindaction.com
Executive Director, Canada, Great Lakes Wind Truth www.greatlakeswindtruth.org
kodaisl @rogers.com
tel. 1-416-567-5115
Mark Duchamp, CEO, EPAW www.epaw.org
President, Save the Eagles International, www.savetheeaglesinternational.org
save.the.eagles @gmail.com
tel. +34 693 643 736
References:
Turbine noise destroying lives: http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Turbine-noise-destroying-lives/story-13380064-detail/story.html
Dr. Nina Pierpont interview with victim from Falmouth, U.S.: http://blip.tv/windturbinesyndrome/dr-nina-pierpont-interviews-falmouth-ma-resident-neil-anderson-about-wind-turbine-syndrome-5585035
Dave Seglins: CBC interview with Barbara Ashbee, gagged and forced out of her home from WTS (wind turbine syndrome): http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Radio/Local_Shows/Ontario/Ontario_Morning/1752562426/ID=2139901019
Click here for the letter sent to the Right Honorable Prime Minister of Canada, Members of Parliament, Governor General, Attorney General, Province of Ontario, and Her Majesty the Queen of England.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/09/27/disabled-persons-challenge-the-canadian-federal-government/