‘Sally’s experience is not unusual’ – calls for turbines closest to homes to be decommissioned 

“We need to explore with SSE decommissioning some of the closest turbines to human dwellings and, in one instance, a school.”

That was the conclusion from Westside resident Sally Huband at the end of a two hour meeting into the health impacts of low frequency noise from wind turbines.

Around 60 people, including three SIC councillors and many residents from the Toft and Mossbank area, had followed the invitation to Thursday night’s meeting in the Tingwall Hall.

They heard from Huband herself, who gave a personal account of how she became affected by low frequency noise from the Viking turbines, and from Dr Lynette Robertson who is working on a citizen science project in Shetland recording infrasound noise at different locations.

The final speaker of the evening was Melvin Grosvenor, who has been representing communities and individuals affected by low frequency noise for more than ten years.

He compared the ongoing denial by the wind industry that low frequency noise is a problem to the Post Office scandal, in which those who were affected by the faulty software were blamed and prosecuted rather than listened to.

“It is absolutely unacceptable for there to be a blind denial that wind turbine noise and especially infrasound low frequency noise is not a problem when it clearly is. It is a growing problem not only in Scotland but worldwide,” he said.

Huband, who lived with her family in East Burrafirth at the time, described how she started suffering from ear pain, tinnitus, losing balance and the feeling her ears might explode during the summer of last year, within days of the Viking Energy wind farm becoming operational.

She contacted the operator SSE Renewables, started researching the phenomenon of turbine emissions, and had to leave her home regularly to escape the symptoms which are strongest during weather inversions – when a layer of warmer air overlies cooler air.

She said that initially she was hesitant to describe her suffering as ‘torture’ as this, by definition, requires an element of intent.

But her research into the issue over recent months has convinced her the potential impact of low frequency emissions is well known to the industry and is simply not being admitted to.

She thanked the council’s environmental health departments, MSP Beatrice Wishart and MP Alistair Carmichael for their support over recent months, and said it was critical for Shetland to become aware and sensitised to the problem as more wind farms are planned for the isles.

“We need acoustic measuring down to 0.1Hz round Viking and Burradale, and then we need to work with SSE to get them to operate their turbines within safe limits according to human health,” she said.

“We need to get SSE to switch their turbines off during stable weather conditions when sound waves propagate further.”

Robertson, meanwhile, gave an introduction to the bespoke acoustic recording equipment she has been using at sites around the isles for the last few months as part of a citizen science project by the International Acoustics Research Organisation (IARO).

She explained how any noise below 20Hz frequency cannot be heard by the human ear and is therefore usually not included in normal research.

She showed a number to graphs created from recordings near the Viking wind farm showing a high level of low frequency emissions, data that is usually missing from the spectrum and from noise impact assessments for planning purposes.

Aiming to help people potentially affected by low frequency emissions, she asked for those interested to get in touch to help collect data of background measurements for locations earmarked for wind farm projects. She can be contacted by e-mail lynette@natureharmonics.co.uk

Grosvenor spoke about how he first became involved in the issue of noise from wind turbines when eight machines were proposed to be built around 850 metres from his cottage in Lincolnshire back in 2007.

There was no noise case to answer, he was told by an acoustician, a statement that raised his suspicion, he said.

Today, he is representing communities across the country in the ongoing battle to have low frequency noise acknowledged and recognised as an issue that affects people.

Confirming that “Sally’s experience is not unusual”, he said the wind industry has been using the same standard quotation for the last 20 years declaring that there is no evidence that infrasound has an adverse impact.

Meanwhile onshore turbines have become much larger and more powerful. There is a lot of acoustic energy, he said, “a mechanical signal” (…) “and it is not true that there is no difference between natural and mechanical sound”.

Meanwhile, “the industry claims it is all in our head” (…) “because what you can’t hear can’t hurt you”, resulting in those who are complaining about health impacts being dismissed because they are being accused of having been against the wind farm development in the first place.

Grosvenor quoted an Irish High Court case from March last year which found in favour of the complainer despite compliance of the noise levels by the wind farm operator.

He said more such cases needed to be raised, and he called on local authorities to be brave and help protect the health of local residents.

“It is inconceivable that impact of infrasound noise was not known to the wind industry” he said, warning that with the “chaotic” way Viking sits in the landscape and the number of new wind farms planned for the isles “there was an environmental and human health catastrophe in the making”.

Speaking after the meeting he added: “It is important for governments, local authorities, planning and environmental health authorities to understand there is a problem; and the problem should not be swept under the carpet.

“They need to listen to people, they need to take it seriously. (…) We are trying to liaise with Environmental Health Scotland, and we are getting rebutted.

“The professionals need to sit up and listen, because they ultimately will be deciding whether more people are going to be affected and if they are affected, what support and assistance they are going to be given.

“People should be listened to; they should not be left on their own, they should not be left to suffer, and more than that, they shouldn’t be blamed for suffering because they are being affected.”