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Unhealthy risk
Credit: The Recorder, www.recorder.com 17 November 2011 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
I believe the wind turbine project proposed in Shelburne should be rejected by the Zoning Board. It represents a health risk for the residents of Shelburne Falls and for anyone within a 2-plus-mile radius.
Health impacts of wind turbines are just beginning to be taken seriously. A recent court case in Ontario has acknowledged that there are health risks, if turbines are placed too close to homes. How close is too close? U.S. Dr. Nina Pierpont, physician and researcher on the subject, and studies worldwide, recommend set backs of at least 1.25 miles on flat terrain, and 2 to 3 miles in hilly terrain. That makes this project inadvisable on health risks alone.
Conventional methods of measuring turbine sound do not represent the full spectrum of the problem. Using instruments that can detect inaudible infrasound and low-frequency sound, wind turbines have been found to show readings of above 90 db Sound Pressure Level, with peaks 60 milliseconds apart. Low-frequency sound waves traveling through the ground are measurable 5 miles away, and can set up vibrations in walls of houses and even inside the human body. People become increasingly sensitized to low-frequency waves over time and cannot adapt to them, unlike other sounds.
This sound confuses the vestibular system of the body resulting in dizziness and vertigo, earaches and ringing, headaches, heart symptoms, sleep disturbances, panic, anxiety and problems with memory and concentration. Those humans over 50, or with hearing issues, or who get motion sickness, or young children are especially at risk. All over the world, people living near turbines are suffering from “Wind Turbine Syndrome,” some choosing to leave or abandon their homes to save their health.
Let’s adopt the Precautionary Principle and hold off wind development until more research emerges.
JAN VOORHIS
Shelburne Falls
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