August 25, 2018
Editorials, Michigan

Huron is making the right move on wind turbine noise testing

Huron Daily Tribune | Saturday, August 25, 2018 | www.michigansthumb.com

To responsibly to address residents’ complaints regarding wind turbine noise, the Huron County Board of Commissioners needs to hire a third party to do sound testing.

And it looks like that is going to happen.

It may seem like a long time coming, since one complaint dates back to October 2016. But it’s not necessarily the county’s fault.

As the county with more wind turbines than anywhere else in the state, Huron County is in many ways a pioneer when it comes to regulating wind energy development.

Ten or 12 years ago, no one could have had the foresight to know what the county would face in terms of wind development regulations, complaints or overall consequences of the development.

Not to mention, it is not entirely the county’s fault that complaints are ongoing. Some complainants’ lack of cooperation with the established complaint process is a factor in things not getting resolved.

And the county has most likely learned how to improve that process for future complainants.

This week, the board of commissioners reviewed a third-party proposal to do sound testing on the three complainants’ property.

Albeit an expensive endeavor, it’s the right move to satisfy everyone – the complainants, county officials, wind developers and the public.

But it’s not going to cost the taxpayer money. This funding is coming from funds from wind developers that were set aside to be used for situations like this.

Wind developers have told the board they will cooperate with the testing.

Here’s hoping everyone else will too.

The county has done its due diligence in seeking a third-party opinion on whether the noise emitted by turbines supersedes what’s allowed by the county’s wind ordinance.

As with a lot of issues related to regulating wind development, dealing with sound complaints has been a figure-it-out-as-you-go situation. This is a step in the right direction toward figuring out this issue.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/08/25/huron-is-making-the-right-move-on-wind-turbine-noise-testing/