Ample evidence linking turbines to health issues
October 27, 2012 | www.boston.com
One of the owners of Scituate’s new wind turbine, Gordon L. Deanne of Palmer Financial, said recently there is no evidence linking wind turbines to human health problems. He speculated that the people who are getting sick near turbines may be falling victim to mind tricks. He added that people can be annoyed, but that “annoyance is not a health effect.”
A number of sources counter his opinion. “Annoyance, in medical usage, exists as a precise technical term and defines annoyance as a mental state capable of degrading health”; “. . . physiological reactions to sound annoyance include increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, hypertension, hearing impairment, tinnitus. . . ”
There is a complete disregard by developers for, and lack of research by decision-makers about, proper industrial wind turbine placement close to humans before permits are granted. Err on the side of caution until the proper scientific research is completed. Until and unless the developers, manufacturers, our city, state, and national leaders can guarantee that industrial wind turbines are not hazardous to one’s health, a moratorium is necessary.
Vestas, a manufacturer of industrial wind turbines, states in its safety manual: “DO NOT stay within a radius of 1,300 feet from the turbine” and “Make sure that children do not stay by or play nearby the turbine. If necessary, fence the foundation.” Those warnings by the manufacturer are not the “green” we embraced or envisioned for our future.
Most European countries require a 6,510-foot setback from buildings; in France, people are not allowed within 1,625 feet of a turbine. Here, Scituate’s is 300 feet from the nearest home, Fairhaven’s 950 feet from occupied space.
Unforgivable and indefensible oversight on too many fronts.
Marie Stamos
Quincy
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/10/28/ample-evidence-linking-turbines-to-health-issues/