Windfarm has made our lives a ‘living hell’

A local grandmother claims that her family’s life has been a “living hell” since the Meenwaun Windfarm near Banagher became operational early last month.

Olive Cunningham’s home in Garbally is just over 500m from one of the 169 metre high turbines in the windfarm, owned by Belgian company Storm and managed by Element Power.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent this week, Mrs Cunningham says that the noise pollution from the turbines, one of the highest in Ireland, has made life intolerable.

“Every day since January 5, being in our hourse and yard has been just a living hell. It’s like living in Dublin Airport or like living beside a helicopter.

“We can’t sleep. I can’t sleep. You can’t go out in the yard, you have to listen to this noise constantly.”

Mrs Cunningham, who says that only decent night’s sleep she has had in the last six weeks was when the turbine closest to her house was turned off, claims that the value of her home for over 40 years has fallen significantly since the windfarm was constructed.

She recently went to an auctioneer to put the house up for sale but they refused to do so because its proximity to the windfarm would deter buyers.

“Our house is worth nothing. We have nowhere to move to. I spent three and a half hours at the council meeting [where Cllr John Carroll submitted a motion calling for the local authority to take a more “proactive approach” to monitoring noise at wind farms] where they were talking about all these homeless families. Where do we present ourselves as homeless? Who is going to rehouse us? We bought an old cottage and we repaired it up.

“We are both close to retiring now. Where do we go? I have lived in this area for the last 62 years, and in this house for the last 40 years. “I can’t even go and live with my brother and sister down the road as it’s as bad at their houses as mine.

“ I don’t want to move from my house. It’s ideal for me and my family,” she said.

“…We have a polytunnel where my husband would spent an awful lot of time but it’s just unbearable now. My garden is out of bounds as I can’t bear the noise.

“The windfarm was given the green light by planners in April 2015, despite receiving almost 60 objections mainly from people living in the vicinity. Mrs Cunningham feels that although her family have lived in the area for 40 years, their rights have been ignored.

“I understood from planning laws that I can’t take your enjoyment of your house from you. I can’t put a window where I like because it may overlook yours and take your privacy. But they have taken our lives.”

Cllr John Carroll says that the rights of Mrs Cunningham’s family and other people living close to Meenwaun Windfarm have been “seriously infringed”. He also believes that the noise levels at Meenwaun “should and must be continuously monitored by independent evaluators to ensure the quality of life of the local community”.

“Locals have tolerated much disruption during construction of this wind farm but since it’s commission on January 5 life is intolerable.

“…They cannot dispose of their houses if the wished. Surely it is wrong that they are expected to pay property tax on houses where life has become unbearable and have no value for disposal?”

Element Power issued a statment to the Offaly Independent yesterday afternoon:

“Meenwaun wind farm is scheduling to commence the wind farm’s operational compliance Noise Monitoring programme on Monday next, February 26 as required under Offaly County Council’s Planning Approval for project.

“The Monitoring Programme is expected to last for 4-8 weeks with a final report submitted to Offaly County Council on completion of the programme.

“The aim of the programme is to demonstrate that the windfarm is operating within its approved planning condition noise levels.

“The windfarm personnel are in regular contact with both local residents and Offaly County Council on the operation of the wind farm and monitoring programme 

Original article

REPORT LINKS WIND TURBINES TO HUMAN HEALTH PROBLEMS

A recent report by GateHouse Media examines the health-related problems reported by residents and landowners from Oregon to Massachusetts and concludes they are caused by wind turbines.

The rapid expansion of wind power facilities in the United States, driven in large part by federal government subsidies and state renewable-energy mandates, has been accompanied by a spreading rash of health complaints from people living near the giant, spinning turbines.

A recent report by GateHouse Media examines reports of health-related problems by residents and landowners from Oregon to Massachusetts and concludes they are caused by the turbines.

The report, “In the Shadow of Wind Farms,” is an in-depth investigation of the wind industry’s effect on predominantly rural communities where turbines have been erected. During the course of the six-month investigation, the authors interviewed more than 70 families living near three-dozen proposed or current wind installations. They also spoke with 10 state and local lawmakers, examined hundreds of pages of public-service-commission records about wind-energy projects, reviewed court filings in seven wind-related lawsuits, and inspected lease agreements for at least eight wind facilities on private land.

The authors also combed public documents and media reports to identify 400 families living near industrial wind installations who have publicly complained about shadow flicker, noise, health problems, and misleading statements by wind companies soliciting agreements to place turbines on private land.

Rapidly Growing, Wealthy Industry

Citing figures from the Energy Information Administration, the report notes wind power has experienced dramatic growth in the United States over the past decade, with the number of wind facilities growing from 300 with 15,000 turbines to more than 1,000 installations in 41 states comprising some 53,000 turbines.

Although the first wind facilities were located in sparsely populated areas such as California’s Mojave Desert, today thousands of turbines can be found in every region of the country, except for the Southeast, where unfavorable wind conditions and a lack of state renewable-energy mandates (save for North Carolina) have limited the growth of the industry.

In favorable locations, wind companies have offered communities various incentives to accept their projects, in addition to the tax revenues generated by these multimillion-dollar installations.

Benefits with Strings Attached

Some communities receive fixed annual payments instead of tax revenues. In one case cited in the report, Barber County, Kansas gets $500,000 a year from the Flat Ridge Wind Project, plus an additional $5,000 for every megawatt of power the project produces.

Wind-energy companies, often working with local utilities, request landowners’ permission to put turbines on their land. Landowners who sign contracts with wind companies can receive as much as $14,000 a year per turbine, according to the report.

The contracts often lead to conflicts. The GateHouse Media investigation found companies convince landowners to sign away their property rights for generations based on the promise of potential profits with minimal potential problems from wind turbines. The contracts typically do not allow property owners to terminate the agreements, even if they are seeking relief from what they say are intolerable living conditions caused by the turbines.

Complaints About Health Effects

By far the greatest source of conflict between landowners and wind companies is complaints about the health effects the spinning turbines have on those exposed to them on a daily basis.

Complaints come from landowners with turbines on their property and from their neighbors, the investigation found. The most frequently cited problems include shadow flicker, loud noises, sleep disturbance, and low-frequency vibrations that have driven dozens of families from their homes.

In rural Mason County, Michigan, for example, Cary and Karen Shineldecker say they suffered anxiety, headaches, ear pressure, tinnitus, heart palpitations, and sleep disturbances after Lake Winds Energy began operating its 476-foot-tall turbines around their home. After unsuccessfully fighting the wind farm, they sold their property at a loss just to escape the nuisance.

A chorus of similar complaints about the Shirley Wind Farm in Brown County, Wisconsin prompted the local Board of Health to declare the turbines a health hazard. Dozens of residents of Falmouth, Massachusetts complained of nausea, dizziness, migraines, and anxiety after Notus Clean Energy erected a wind turbine in their community. In Calhan, Colorado, four families told investigators they left their homes and moved away to escape the Golden West Wind Energy Center. Hundreds of people nationwide have filed similar complaints.

Although the wind industry generally denies wind turbines harm the health of those living near them, GateHouse Media found wind companies have entered into six settlements with parties complaining of ailments associated with the turbines.

Variety of Complaints

Jay Lehr, Ph.D., science director for The Heartland Institute, which publishes Environment & Climate News, says wind farms cause health problems and raise energy costs.

“It’s about time the formidable health impacts of wind turbines came to the fore,” said Lehr. “In addition to the health risks, wind power is 100 percent dependent on fossil fuels for backup when the wind doesn’t blow, increasing their costs.

“As a result of wind power’s wider use in Europe, people there pay three times as much for electricity as do Americans,” Lehr said.

Craig Rucker, executive director of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, says wind farms have also been linked to wildlife deaths.

“We have long known wind turbines kill hundreds of thousands of birds and bats annually,” said Rucker. “Now we have growing evidence that humans, too, are at risk from these installations, yet we continue to subsidize this nonsense.”

Bonner R. Cohen, Ph.D. (bcohen@nationalcenter.org) is a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research.

INTERNET INFO

Emily Le Coz and Lucille Sherman, “In the Shadow of Wind Farms,” Gate House Media, December 13, 2017: http://gatehousenews.com/windfarms/home/?skipintro=true

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