February 14, 2013
Massachusetts

Scituate couple withdraw wind turbine lawsuit against health board

By Patrick Ronan | The Patriot Ledger | Posted Feb 14, 2013 | www.patriotledger.com

The Scituate couple who claim the wind turbine near their home is ruining their health have dropped a lawsuit against the town’s board of health.

Lauren and Mark McKeever last month pulled back the lawsuit they had filed in Brockton Superior Court asking a judge to order the board of health to shut down the wind turbine off the Driftway, 640 feet from their home. The McKeevers, who have two children, said the turbine’s noise and flicker is hurting their quality of life.

The couple said they withdrew the lawsuit in response to a judge’s order, but they reserve the right to re-file the claim pending a final decision on the turbine from the health board. Last month, the board ordered a limited noise study of the 390-foot-tall turbine.

The McKeevers are among dozens of residents in Scituate’s Third Cliff neighborhood who say the turbine, erected last year, has given them headaches and caused them to lose sleep.

“Once the Board of Health issues a decision on the complaints of the McKeevers and the other residents submitted by petition four months ago, we will make a determination as to whether or not to appeal that decision,” Tanya Trevisan, attorney for the McKeevers, said in a prepared statement.

At a court hearing last month, an attorney representing the health board said the McKeevers had signed an agreement with the turbine’s owner before it was erected in which the family received $20,000 in exchange for not contesting the turbine’s installation.

Trevisan said the agreement is not relevant to a lawsuit concerning the turbine’s health impact.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/02/14/scituate-couple-withdraw-wind-turbine-lawsuit-against-health-board/