September 12, 2013
Massachusetts

Scituate: Board of Health changes wind turbine noise study protocol

By John Penny | Posted on September 12, 2013 | 95.9 FM WATD | 959watd.com

The Scituate Board of Health met Wednesday night to order changes to the protocol for Scituate Wind LLC’S consultants for audio testing of town’s municipal wind turbine, which neighbors say is making them ill.

The new protocol changes testing to a southwest wind, where more neighbors are affected, rather than northwest, increases turbine power output from 30% to 60% to generate more noise and calls for both slow and fast metering, which covers a broader array of frequencies, including infrasound.

Community group liaison Tom Thompson says he’s guardedly encouraged by the move, but remains concerned that the state department of environmental protection still has a policy to not accept the results of fast metering.

“Fast metering is what captures all of that. Mass. DEP’s insistence that they’re not going to consider fast metering as part of this protocol is very, very disconcerting. So, we’ve charged, or requested I guess is a better way to put it, Director Sullivan, (Scituate Director of Health) to go back to the Mass. DEP, to see if they would reconsider that. One of the people that participated in the meeting tonight actually used Kingston example of an instance where the Mass. DEP ultimately acquiesced on this point. So, if we can get to that point, then the level of point starts to improve, but we’re not there yet,” Thompson explained.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/09/12/scituate-board-of-health-changes-wind-turbine-noise-study-protocol/