February 4, 2016
Wisconsin

Counties ask for wind farm health study

Sharon Roznik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin | February 3, 2016 | www.fdlreporter.com

Fond du Lac and other counties are asking for a study on the impact of wind turbines on people’s health.

About 15 people who live near wind farms in the Holyland appeared Tuesday before the Fond du Lac County Board of Health to voice concerns over the health problems they say they’ve experienced and why a state study that was promised in 2013 was never done.

Elizabeth Ebertz, who lives near the 88-turbine WE Energies Blue Sky Green Field wind farm in the town of Marshfield, spoke about the constant headaches, nausea and insomnia she says she has experienced since the wind farm was erected in 2008.

“I think the meeting was productive, but we need our legislators to get involved before anything can happen,” she said.

More than two years ago, the Fond du Lac County Board approved a resolution asking the state to conduct a comprehensive study on wind turbines, and Gov. Scott Walker had approved $250,000 to fund it. But legislators in the Joint Finance Committee decided the State Department of Health should instead do a report on existing studies, and they cut the money from the budget, said Fond du Lac County Executive Allen Buechel.

“The conclusion was there wasn’t enough support for any further action,” Buechel said.

Along with Fond du Lac County, Brown, Kewaunee and Sheboygan counties have asked the state to revisit the issue.

If wind turbines were declared a health hazard by the county, it would likely entail a lengthy court battle to have them removed or shut down, he said.

“It seems that once wind turbines are in place, they are there to stay,” Ebertz said. “I think we would have to fight tooth and nail to get them removed.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/02/04/counties-ask-for-wind-farm-health-study/