December 12, 2015
Massachusetts

My noisy neighbor, Hoosac Wind

Letter to the editor: My noisy neighbor, Hoosac Wind | Bennington Banner | 12/11/2015 | www.benningtonbanner.com

Last night (12/7/15) I went upstairs around midnight and could hear Hoosac Wind from our bedroom. I tried to ignore the noise for over 2 hours but sleep eluded me. Finally around 2:25 am I called the complaint line for Hoosac Wind and voiced my objection to the noise. The woman who answered asked if I wanted the technician to come here and monitor conditions and I said yes. She informed me she would notify the technician. No one called or came here, then or since. As you can imagine I’m tired with no sleep!

Another incident on (9/20/15) Hoosac Wind was loud enough to hear inside our bedroom despite the windows being closed. I was tired and tried to ignore the noise, but it was invasive and couldn’t sleep. I got up and went outside and took some sound measurements around the house. Near our front door the dBa sound levels were in the low 40 dBa’s which faces the turbines. On the opposite side of the house the levels were around 30 dBa with the house blocking the sound. I realize the measurements are not scientific or can be used as evidence but are relative to different areas in our yard with the same conditions. The measurements imply loud levels 10 dBa above ambient sound and the project may have been out of compliance.

There have been other times when Hoosac Wind has been audible in our home and for various reasons I didn’t make any complaints. To be honest I don’t have much faith in the complaint line and process. This is the second time I’ve used the complaint line with no response. Granted there was a storm warning in effect last time, still I’d would hope there would have been some follow up from Iberdrola. Also when other neighbors have called the complaint line and sound measurements made, all the turbines were not shut down during ambient measurements! Experts inform me that during ambient sound measurements ALL turbines should be shut down to be accurate. What’s the use of using a process that isn’t fair and doesn’t reflect the reality of what is going on? We are told there is no issue with noise from Hoosac Wind in our neighborhood. How can facts be determined if no sound testing is being conducted in our community?

It’s been three years since Hoosac Wind has been online and we are still living with noise and other issues from Hoosac Wind and our quality of life continues to deteriorate with no solution in sight. I’ve been tired of late as I was diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma and undergoing treatment. Prognosis is favorable but I’m not out of the woods and being stressed and tired doesn’t help my battle back to health. Studies show there is a correlation between sound waves produced by industrial wind turbines and health of those living too close to these projects. I’m not saying Hoosac Wind caused my health issues directly, but there is no doubt that sleep deprivation and other effects is negatively affecting our health and well being.

We would appreciate a response…

— Larry Lorusso
Clarksburg, Mass.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/12/12/my-noisy-neighbor-hoosac-wind/