November 6, 2013
Massachusetts

Falmouth Board of Health won’t seek change in turbine operations

By Erin Ferraro | THE BULLETIN | Posted Nov 06, 2013 | www.wickedlocal.com

The Falmouth Board of Health will not order selectmen to once again modify the hours of operation for the town’s Wind 1 and Wind 2 turbines. But the board did vote unanimously to ask selectmen to reconsider the hours the turbines operate.

The turbines at the Falmouth Wastewater Facility operate from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Selectmen set those hours in an effort to make the turbines economically viable.

Board of health members said they had not received sufficient factual evidence to order the selectmen to change the current shut-off times. The board then decided to suggest in writing, that the selectmen consider other shut-off times that may be more conducive to neighbors’ sleep.

“If we’re going to issue an order it has to be embedded in fact,” said board of health chairman Jared Goldstone.

Monday night’s action was a followup to a board of health meeting last month when neighbors of the turbines testified both for and against the turbines’ operation. Some neighbors complain of health-related issues they say are caused by the turbines.

During Monday night’s meeting the board did not take additional comments from the public. Opponents of the wind turbines were not satisfied with the board’s decision

“They did something, but not enough,” said Kelley Souza, who lives in the closest proximity to Wind 1. Souza is concerned about sleep deprivation for her four children, three of which are still in elementary school.

Opponents of the wind turbines would like to see the previous 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shut-off times put back into place.

Board of health member Gail Harkness made a motion for the shut-off times to return to 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., but she failed to get the majority of the board to agree.

John Tudor, who is pro wind, would like to see the wind turbines running 24/7. “These symptoms are caused by the power of suggestion,” Tudor said. Tudor advises that the nearby residents who believe they are affected by the wind turbines should “make adjustments” or move to another location.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/06/falmouth-board-of-health-wont-seek-change-in-turbine-operations/