September 22, 2017
Massachusetts

Negatives outweigh benefits of Neighbors From Hell

Letter: Negatives outweigh benefits of Neighbors From Hell | The Berkshire Eagle | September 21, 2017 | www.berkshireeagle.com

The upcoming vote in Savoy about increasing the height of the 425-foot high limitation in the town to 455 feet has me very concerned for the neighbors. These are not windmills, these are huge industrial wind turbines, as tall as the tallest buildings in Massachusetts! And what is the return?

As someone who lives about a mile from wind turbines at Hoosac Ridge, I know from first-hand experience how industrial wind turbines wreck the environment as well as steal peace and quiet from our rural neighborhoods. As if what you see and hear isn’t bad enough, the vibrations from living too close to the Neighbors from Hell are worse.

The thumping can go on for days and nights with little to no respite. Sleep eludes us, taking a toll. Headaches, dizziness, sinus issues, palpitations, tinnitus, anxiety, hypertension, and heart disease are some of the symptoms people experience. This is extensively documented and peer-reviewed. This is no joke!

The irony is we are being told these wind turbines are improving the environment, but the fact is that manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance and decommissioning take a heavy toll on the environment. The real benefit is financial, to land owners and the developers in the way of tax subsidies, along with low- and no-interest loans, and grants. The production of electricity available to the grid is incidental and a relatively small percentage of generation.

Nearby Hoosac Wind, rated at 28,500 MW, added 0.0016 percent of generation in Massachusetts in 2015 at a cost of $90 million to build. Iberdrola pays about $125,000 each a year to Florida and Monroe instead of paying taxes like the rest of us. Keep in mind that wind turbines on the average only generate 25 percent of the rated capacity and not necessarily when demand calls for it.

Everyone loses except the developers and those on the payroll. Meanwhile our mountains are being blasted, bulldozed and filled in for little to no benefit to the neighbors who have to live with such an invasion into our communities. Destroying the ridges and allowing these behemoths isn’t going to make the world a better place, now or in the future. Time for people to take personal responsibility for resource use and stop thinking they needn’t feel guilty for the way they live and its impact while others suffer from these projects.