February 26, 2012
Germany

Blown away

Austrian Times, www.austriantimes.at 24 February 2012

A German fashion designer who moved to the countryside for the peace and quiet claims he has been forced out of his house and is now sleeping on a friend’s floor after a wind turbine was built in a field nearby.

Robert Niebach, 60, is one of a growing number of Germans taking legal action over so-called wind turbine syndrome reported to cause heart disease, tinnitus, vertigo, panic attacks, migraines and sleep deprivation.

American doctor Dr Nina Pierpont who has been studying the symptoms displayed by people living near wind turbines in the US, the UK, Italy, Ireland and Canada was the first to identify the new health risk, wind turbine syndrome (WTS).

She said it caused a disruption of the inner ear’s vestibular system by turbine infrasound and low-frequency noise – that cause problems ranging from internal pulsation, quivering, nervousness, fear, a compulsion to flee, chest tightness and tachycardia – increased heart rate. Turbine noise can also trigger nightmares and other disorders in children as well as harm cognitive development in the young, she claims.

Niebajh said: “I moved here for the peace and quiet. I didn’t immediately connect the wind turbine that was built a year ago with my illness but after contacting experts at the Ludwig Koch Institute I was identified as suffering from wind turbine syndrome.

“My Friends thought I was just being a bit nutty at first – after all you don’t really hear anything with a wind turbine but as soon as I read about wind turbine syndrome it all made sense. I want to move but nobody will buy my house – and there are another 17 wind turbines planned for here.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/02/26/blown-away-3/