January 18, 2012
Australia
Australia
Lobby group sees wind farm as safety worry
ABC South East NSW, www.abc.net.au 18 January 2012
ABC South East NSW, www.abc.net.au 18 January 2012
A community lobby group says a wind farm south of Eden on the New South Wales far south coast could threaten the safety of workers at the region’s woodchip mill.
The Sydney developer Epuron has lodged an application with Bega Valley Shire Council to build seven turbines on the mill site.
The Save Twofold Bay group says the industrial site is low key, but the wind farm will impact on tourism by dwarfing historic attractions.
The group’s chairman, Peter Barber, says staff at the mill should also be worried.
“It is a risk,” he said.
“There’s also dust stirred up by them, and electromagnetic radiation; the jury is out on that.
“There are quite a number of factors that we think are of concern to the workers, and we do think it is highly unusual to place them in an open, active workplace.”
The Executive Director of Epuron, Andrew Durran, says the company is working with the mill to ensure there are no safety risks.
He says it is common for wind farms to be built on industrial sites.
“There are lots of projects around the world where people work under turbines,” Mr Durran said.
“There are wind turbines around the world where people live within 100-150m of turbines quite comfortably, so that’s not the case at all.
“We have assessed the sound impact on workers as part of the project, and obviously we’re working with the mill owners and operators.”
The Eden Chamber of Commerce is hosting a forum to discuss the issue at the town’s Fisherman’s Club tomorrow night (Thursday) at 6pm.
For more, go to South East News Blog.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/01/18/lobby-group-sees-wind-farm-as-safety-worry/