‘You won’t understand it until you live it’ 

To all Madison County tax paying residents:

My name is Tanya Lamb. I am 50 years old. I have lived at my residence for 26 years, my husband for 37 years. We, at the very second you read this, live in the footprint of industrial wind. My husband loves to boast “I’ve planted every tree but two” on our once beautiful property. He started planning his future on our property in 1982, when he planted rows of evergreens that now surround three sides of our home. We met in 1993, married in 1997, built our dream home and moved in the spring of 2006. Fast forward to November 2019, we are now completely unsure we will be able to stay in our home.

I also have attended several supervisors meetings in Madison County. I have absolutely nothing to gain by attending these meetings and sharing my very real and sad story; I am just simply trying to educate people on the true tragedies and deprivation of industrial wind.

We, personally, have been inundated by 100s of industrial wind turbines. We have seven practically on top of our home, the closest one being 1,800 feet and the farthest 2,800 feet from our home.

Nearly every day (yes, every day) I am discomposed by industrial turbines. We no longer are able to sit outside and enjoy the peace and quiet. Our coonhound no longer sleeps outside; our cats no longer want to be outside at night. We find ourselves sleeping in our basement on a regular basis. We live in a brick home. You don’t and won’t understand, until you live it.

We have, going on three weeks, shadow flickering. It starts out in our bathroom and bedroom, then travels through our dining and living room, then into our kitchen and finally ending in our garage. This is about 30 minutes a day. Then, in the evening it travels in the reverse direction, for about the same 30 minutes. It messes with your head. Imagine being in a room and someone keeps turning the light switch on and off, on and off, on and off. The legal term for this is “trespass zoning”. You don’t and won’t understand, until you live it.

Next, the noise – the horrific noise – we knew the turbines were going to be loud, but not as loud as they truly are. We had three of the Blattner Energy employees stand in our driveway and tell us they indeed were going to be very loud. These men were from Montana, Oklahoma, and a local from Greenfield.

These monsters are 494 feet tall from base to the tip of the blade; the blades are close to 200 feet long. When you have a very large structure, moving and spinning at over 200 mph, vibrating the air, then compound it with multiple structures, all of the same size and speed, there will be noise – and lots of it. You don’t and won’t understand, until you live it.

It doesn’t take any type of degree, or a ton of common sense, to understand this concept. They do indeed sound like jets that won’t land. It goes on all day, almost every day. We pray for days without wind. You don’t and won’t understand, until you live it.

On Saturday, Oct. 19, I heard our neighbor’s cows mooing for the first time in over 30 days. That evening we heard pheasants and even some geese. Again – you don’t and wont, understand, until you live it.

I am not opposed to anyone wanting industrial wind turbines. You just have to keep the noise, the shadowing, and all other adverse affects on your property, and not ours.

The World Health Organization has deemed these industrial turbines a health risk. Common sense would tell, or should tell, any reasonable person this is not right to impose these things on any living being.

Page County, a county not even slated to get turbines, have created an ordinance to prevent industrial wind from destroying their county. They did this because they do not want what happened to Adair County to happen to them. What does this say to any reasonable person?

I am certain, without a shadow of a doubt, had our county been educated it would have been a much, much different outcome in Adair County. We are living it each and every day. And each and every day people are learning that this is truly not what we were led to believe. How can we possibly be wrong? We are not. Again, we are living it – many of the residents of Madison County are not. You don’t and won’t understand, until you live it – as many of our residents didn’t, either. It’s too late for use. It’s not for you.

Stand up for your property rights.

One last note: Judy Neal, if you don’t already know this, not one of your neighbors for miles wants industrial wind turbines. Therefore I am certain they do not want the adverse affects from your turbines. I hope you can keep them from infringing onto your neighbors’ property. They, too, will be very unhappy.

Lastly, I had my hearing checked, as I now have ringing and ear pain, on Oct. 22 at the ENT Clinic of Iowa by Dr. Wright. He found that my hearing had actually improved since my last test in 2017. Therefore, I am certain I can hear pretty well.

You don’t and won’t understand, until you live it.

Tanya Lamb, Greenfield