Will selectmen’s risks be worth it in the end?
www.southcoasttoday.com 1 February 2012
What is happening in our beautiful town is a tragedy. Put aside the technical and legal debates, and put aside the dirty truth quickly emerging about wind turbines that are sited too close to people, and look at the risks the Fairhaven Board of Selectmen has taken.
There is the potential for health affects from sleep deprivation, audible and inaudible sounds, annoyance from shadow flicker, damage and safety risks from ice fling, and property value losses. These affects have been reported all over the world where turbines have been put too close to people.
The selectmen surely must have known that some of these risks could be real and chose to take the gamble anyway. They quietly took it upon themselves to stick the entire town’s neck out on a massive project that could fail, cause a mountain of anguish and cost the town a lot of money.
If any of the public health and safety issues prove true, the turbines should have to be taken down. Even the developer admits that the audible “swish swish” sound and some vibration sound will clearly be heard at times by those living closest to the turbines – possibly more at night when background noise is lower. This is insane!
Nobody should be allowed to strip away a person’s right to a peaceful night’s sleep. A barking dog can be silenced by a phone call to the police, but these people will have no recourse at all. This is by far the highest risk they have taken because it is practically guaranteed to happen, and would be the easiest of all the potential impacts to prove.
Scott Durant
Fairhaven
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/02/01/will-selectmens-risks-be-worth-it-in-the-end/