Locals cite turbine health concerns 

We live in Northeast Jasper County where a purposed Industrial Wind Turbine business wants to build. We have lived here for our entire adult lives. Jasper County is a great place to live because of the good people that live here.

Our concerns on the wind turbines is the health effects being reported. We have done much research on the effects on humans and animals. The World Health Organization is reporting symptoms from all over the world from families. When we look online for information we always check out the credentials of whom ever did the study or wrote the article. We look for articles that were written by people that are either MD or PHD. We are doing this because we care about the people living in this area along with their children, grandchildren and future children. We are doing this for our health and future health of all.

The following is not Facebook chatter, it is from MUCH research we have done from reliable MD and PHD writers, etc. The subsidies farmers receive do not affect my property values. Wind Turbines DO affect my property values. It is not only farmers living in the area but residential families as well that the turbines will impact. What are the facts? Studies that focus on close proximity are relevant. Studies that minimize or ignore nearby sale data are misleading or irrelevant.

”Pooling” data from multiple, diverse locations tend to set wide parameters that conceals actual impacts. A study in 2009 revealed within 2 miles of a wind turbine your home value drops as much as 25% per square foot. The closer you are the more impact up to 80% per square foot value. *Qualifications Michael S. McCann, CRA. Animal deaths and deformities.

In June 2014 a mink farm in Denmark lost 1600 mink cubs, born prematurely following the installation of four industrial wind turbines less than 1600 feet away. Many had deformities, most were dead on arrival. The lack of eyeballs was the most common malformation. Veterinarians ruled out food and viruses as possible causes. The only thing different at the farm had been the installation of the four wind turbines only 328 meters away.

The same effects are happening to pigs, horses, cattle, cows, birds, wildlife and pets from all over the world. Study done on pigs at 3 different distances of (50, 500 and 1000m) on the physicochemical properties and fatty acid composition of loin and neck muscles. At 50m it showed a lower iron content (6.7ppm) compared to (500m-1000m) which was (10.0-10.5ppm). Avoiding noise-induced stress is important not only for maintaining meat quality but also for improving animal welfare.*World Council for Nature *The New Falcon Herald * Małgorzata Karwowska, Zbigniew Józef Dolatowski, Department of Meat Technology and Food Quality, University of Life Sciences, Lublin, Poland, Jan Mikołajczak, Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology, University of Technology and Life Sciences, Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Effects on humans range from dizziness, and nausea to concerns about dirty electricity and the potential for electromagnetic waves to cause an irregular heartbeat or atrial fibrillation. Sleep disturbance, not simply awakened, but awakening in a panic (“flight or fight”), Headache, Tinnitus, Ear Pressure, Vertigo, Visual blurring, Tachycardia, Irritability, problems with concentration and memory, Panic episodes associated with sensations of internal pulsation or quivering, which arise while awake or asleep. (This latter involving other, thickening of arteries, non-vestibular organs of balance, motion, and position sense.)

Concerns related to noise emissions and the impact these energy facilities can have on children, fetus or other vulnerable family members. Experts and researchers indicate noise whether its traffic, airport noise or other industrial noise such as that from an IWEF poses a health risk and can have a negative impact on children’s health. It is NOT air pollutant that is the contributing factor but rather noise induced ill effects.

Study on sleep disturbance showed effects on sleep and mood that were present decreasing in proportion to the distance from the wind turbines. It was thought 5km would be a controlled distance but it proved to still show changes. Children with developmental and mental health problems, “noxious stimuli or unexpected, or unnatural stimuli, are a source of environmental stress that affect the human brain and mounts a physiological response to re-stabilize.”

Some children develop epilepsy from being exposed to wind turbines and infrasound. Children could exhibit a lessened ability to distinguish between similar consonants confusing “T” and “K” and “W” and “L”. Studies have shown marked effects on brain processing, not just actual hearing, with decreased reading, math, concentration abilities and test performances. Other similar cerebral processing tasks such as remembering lists or recipes, following plots of shows on television, and maintaining a train of thought on the telephone could also be effected. Wind turbine developers and related authorities, including those setting standards for these farms talk about audible sound levels. They ignore and even scorn infrasound – sound levels lower than normal human frequency thresholds.

We have all experienced the carrying power of the audible low-frequency “boom boxes”. And yet there is good scientific evidence from other research that our inner ears do detect these infrasound’s and at much lower intensities than regular sound. There was a study done by Eric Zou showing there was a 2% rise in suicide rate after wind turbines were installed. *Nina Pierpont, MD, Ph.D, *Dr. Michael Nissenbaum. Well water: During construction Vibration and when Wind Turbines are active. “The problem first came to light when residents living near Europe’s largest wind farm, the 215 turbine Whitelee farm in Ayrshire, began to suffer from diarrhea and severe vomiting.

Tipped off by an NHS report which mentioned that difficulties in treating the water supply may pose health risks, local resident Dr Rachel Connor, a retired clinical radiologist, started digging into the council’s water testing results. She found that, between May 2010 and April 2013, high readings of E.coli and other coliform bacteria had been recorded. In addition, readings of the chemical trihalomethane (THM), linked to various cancers, still births and miscarriages, were way beyond safe limits. Scottish Power, who run the wind farm, denied causing the pollution but admitted that they hadn’t warned residents that their water supplies may be contaminated.” * Donna Rachel Edmunds 18 Jul 2015.

Interferes with, Doppler Radar; Infrasound which causes loss of sleep; Infrasound can cause thickening of arteries, case study by Zeneni Krog who has 3 PHDs; Fire;, Kills Birds; Causes abnormal births in livestock and wildlife; Affects well water; Can increase electric bills; Interferes with military radar and flights along with crop dusters; Every megawatt produced by wind turbine has to have a backup source running in standby mode to take over when wind stops blowing; Causes an increase of suicide rates, case study by Eric Zou, PHD, candidate of dept of Economics University of IL at Urbana-Champaign, Postdoctoral Assoc. Cornell Inst for China, Cornell Univ, Assistant Professor, University of Oregon; All these together make a good reason to BAN INDUSTRAIL WIND TURBINES in our county; List of counties in Indiana that have banned them: Allen, Boone, Delaware, Fulton, Grant, Howard, Marshall, Pulaski and Wells. The World Health Organization (WHO) is in the process of updating regulatory guidelines to deal with the problem of noise pollution from industrial wind turbines (IWT) which has become more and more toxic with the proliferation industrial wind developments in quiet bucolic communities. Shockingly they are found even in remote wilderness areas where people generally have an even higher expectation of restorative tranquility. Citizens groups urge protective precaution. The list of complainants increases every day, everywhere.

A minimum setback of 10 miles is often now suggested, unfortunately, not by governments with power to provide permits. We advise everyone (IF THE WIND TURBINES ARE BUILT IN YOUR AREA) go to your doctor NOW and get a complete physical. This way you have a comparison. Also, take a clear jar and get a sample of your well water NOW. Keep it in a safe place. Later if / when you have issues with your well water or health issues, you will have PROOF.

This is not all about the visual site of the turbines (which we don’t want to look at either) but the health and safety of the people. The elected officials have sworn to seek to balance issues such as conflicting issues of land use, growth rate, economic prosperity, environmental quality, government services and QUALITY OF LIFE for the people of Jasper County. They are to use citizen input to help make decisions. The state of Indiana through Indiana statues title 36 article 7 as amended empowers communities to plan with the purpose of improving the health, safety, convenience and welfare of the citizens and to plan for the future development of their communities. We trust our elected officials will listen to the people’s concerns and do the right thing for Jasper County.

Thank you,

Tom and Dixie Schrum