Hi All,
It's been a while since I wrote on the blog page...too long really...but it's been a long, tough winter. Getting through the regular day to day stuff (laundry, homework, work, groceries, cleaning, taxes, etc.) seems like more than enough to use up the available time in a day. I wanted to update you on the kids though....
Last night my youngest who is now 7 yrs old woke up screaming that his ears hurt. We had fallen asleep together and so I was next to him. When he woke up and was so upset, crying and complaining of an earache, I instinctively touched his ear softly and he screamed. I assumed he had an ear infection, not uncommon in young children. I got up, got him some children's advil, and a glass of water. I held him and let him watch a movie on the Blackberry playbook until he fell asleep. He said his ears hurt really bad. As I was laying with him I noticed that my ears felt a little sore, not a lot, just a little and that my glands felt a bit swollen, my mouth dry. I assumed we were both getting some kind of sinus, throat or ear infection or a cold. When we woke up in the morning however, everything was fine. It makes me wonder if it was a turbine affect since it came on so suddenly and was gone the next morning.
A few weeks ago, my oldest sons report card left me feeling terrible as well. He is 10 yrs old, in Grade 3 and got an amazing report card with some glowing remarks about him from his teacher. What got to me was a comment from the teacher that said "....needs to pay attention to his fellow students and teacher when they are talking....spends most of his day with his head on the desk". When I asked him about it, my son's reply was - I can't help it mom, I am just so tired ALL THE TIME. Boy, do I know that feeling. I can relate to what he is saying. I think I should mention that both my boys are pretty healthy, strong, good weight and fairly active. They both eat well and aren't huge on sweets or snacks. They go to bed at a reasonable hour, usually by 8:30 on school nights. My boy should not be that tired every day. Then again, neither should I since I usually go to bed with them or shortly after them but I find myself fighting to stay awake when doing things like driving short distances or trying to read a book. This is from lack of sleep compounded over weeks, months, years.
All I really want is to sell the house and move. We are going to try again, maybe one of the people who keep telling me it's all in our head will be sure enough about that fact to want to buy it.
Thanks for listening. Sleep well.
Nik
Dwarfed by Turbines
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Do You Suffer from Insomnia, headaches or heart palpatations?
Here's a New Twist to how the Turbines continue to affect our lives. Tonight I was completeing a paramedical for Life Insurance. The nurse asked do you suffer from Insomnia? I hesitated. I told her I do not suffer from Insomnia. I am kept awake at night, or do not reach REM sleep but not because of a medical or hereditary condition - because there are wind turbines right outside my bedroom that attack me nearly every night. Then she asked "Headaches?" Again, hesitation. I do get headaches but only when exposed to the turbines and if I leave my home they go away. "Have you ever experienced heart palpatations or any irregular heartbeats?" Again, hesitation - this time, she knew... the turbines. I explained, sometimes when you wake up you can feel your heart beating to the rythym of the turbines. When they are really bad and consistent, when you have gone 2,3 or more nights without sleep, the affect on your stress level, your heartbeat, everything, is increased. Next question, "Have you ever felt emotional, depressed, suicidal?" Hmmm, let's see, I haven't slept properly for, oh, 4 years and have spent every possible penny we have on trying to combat the turbines only to watch my house become unsellable and my taxes double because we made "improvements", uh - ya, I feel a little sad sometimes.....
I must say she was very good about it and able to make determinations as to what was a true inherited trait or issue as opposed to an inflicted issue, but we had to note things that would not have been an issue had my next door neighbour (the wind turbine) not inflicted its noise and vibration on me and my family.
So, here I am typing because it's the only way I know to vent the frustration I am feeling at this moment. No family, person, animal or other living creature should ever be put in this situation.
Health, Property Value, Enjoyment, Taxes, Bank Account and now possibly Insurance too - wonder what is next?
Take care,
Nik
Sunday, November 4, 2012
November 4, 2012 - I had a dream...
I had a dream last night! An actual dream....not too exciting for most people, but for me a clear indication that I actually slept. I was feeling under the weather this week, and last night at bedtime especially so. When I woke up this morning I felt much better and that was in part due to a good night's sleep. We are into the fall weather and with the change in temperature comes the stronger winds and noticeable affects of the turbines. Last night, the wind was from the North and not too strong so we had some relief.
It's just the beginning of November and already I have noticed increased fatigue, emotional ups and downs and, a general feeling of "blah". I am not looking forward to the remaining winter months. But for today, I can be happy because last night, I had a dream.
Here is an email forwarded to me that I thought I would share - let's hope a positive shift is in the air.
One of the worst things the Dalton McGuinty government
did in its disastrous dash into green energy was to ride roughshod over the
health complaints of rural Ontarians regarding industrial wind
turbines.
Basically McGuinty dismissed them as NIMBYS.
That is, people who weren’t really suffering any ill health effects from wind turbines other than “Not In My Back Yard Syndrome” — NIMBYism for short.
The Liberal government cited studies — many from the wind industry itself — claiming no adverse health effects from wind turbines, and a report by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Arlene King, concluding there were no “direct links” between wind turbines and ill health.
But wind farm opponents are now armed with a new weapon — a controlled, peer-reviewed, scientific study published in the current issue of the periodical Noise and Health which for the first time links industrial wind turbine noise and vibration to serious health problems.
The study — “Effects of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health” — assessed two wind farm communities in Maine and was first reported by my Sun Media colleague Jonathan Sher of the London Free Press.
Its authors, Michael Nissenbaum of the Northern Maine Medical Centre, Jeffery Aramini of Intelligent Health Solutions in Guelph, Ont. and Christopher Hanning of the University Hospitals of Leicester in the UK, made the following findings:
“We conclude that the noise emissions of IWTs (industrial wind turbines) disturbed the sleep and caused daytime sleepiness and impaired mental health in residents living within 1.4 km of the two IWT installations studied. Industrial wind turbine noise is a further source of environmental noise, with the potential to harm human health. Current regulations seem to be insufficient to adequately protect the human population living close to IWTs. Our research suggests that adverse effects are observed at distances even beyond 1 km. Further research is needed to determine at what distances risks become negligible, as well as to better estimate the portion of the population suffering from adverse effects at a given distance.” Meanwhile, the McGuinty government has been assuring us that its minimum 550-metre setback for industrial wind turbines reduces noise levels to the equivalent of “a quiet library.”
Then again, we also know, thanks to reporting by the CBC during last year’s Ontario election, that the McGuinty government received hundreds of health complaints from people across the province living near wind turbines and suppressed them.
Government documents released under Freedom of Information showed environment ministry staff issued internal warnings the province needed stricter rural noise limits on turbines, that it had no reliable way to monitor or enforce them and that computer models for determining setbacks were flawed.
Despite that, McGuinty forged ahead with his industrial wind development plan through his Green Energy Act, which stripped local municipalities — and thus local residents — of any say in the location of industrial wind farms.
In many ways, the social disaster caused by McGuinty’s reckless and uninformed blunder into green energy rivals the financial disaster he inflicted on all Ontarians in pursuit of it, as revealed by Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter’s findings last year.
McCarter found McGuinty added billions to the cost of electricity generation — to be paid for by Ontario consumers — by failing to do proper business planning, ignoring the advice of the government’s own experts on how to reduce costs and committing Ontario to paying hundreds of millions of dollars for green energy it doesn’t need and may never use.
The problem with the McGuinty Liberals, of course, is that they are now so committed to green energy they’re incapable of admitting error, much less reversing course, something unlikely to change with a new leader.
But the next Ontario government, assuming it’s not another Liberal one, should put a moratorium on wind turbine construction and do an independent study of the health issues related to them. At the very least.
It's just the beginning of November and already I have noticed increased fatigue, emotional ups and downs and, a general feeling of "blah". I am not looking forward to the remaining winter months. But for today, I can be happy because last night, I had a dream.
Here is an email forwarded to me that I thought I would share - let's hope a positive shift is in the air.
Here is a particularly good read...
An ill wind for McGuinty
New scientific study links wind turbines to health hazards
Basically McGuinty dismissed them as NIMBYS.
That is, people who weren’t really suffering any ill health effects from wind turbines other than “Not In My Back Yard Syndrome” — NIMBYism for short.
The Liberal government cited studies — many from the wind industry itself — claiming no adverse health effects from wind turbines, and a report by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Arlene King, concluding there were no “direct links” between wind turbines and ill health.
But wind farm opponents are now armed with a new weapon — a controlled, peer-reviewed, scientific study published in the current issue of the periodical Noise and Health which for the first time links industrial wind turbine noise and vibration to serious health problems.
The study — “Effects of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health” — assessed two wind farm communities in Maine and was first reported by my Sun Media colleague Jonathan Sher of the London Free Press.
Its authors, Michael Nissenbaum of the Northern Maine Medical Centre, Jeffery Aramini of Intelligent Health Solutions in Guelph, Ont. and Christopher Hanning of the University Hospitals of Leicester in the UK, made the following findings:
“We conclude that the noise emissions of IWTs (industrial wind turbines) disturbed the sleep and caused daytime sleepiness and impaired mental health in residents living within 1.4 km of the two IWT installations studied. Industrial wind turbine noise is a further source of environmental noise, with the potential to harm human health. Current regulations seem to be insufficient to adequately protect the human population living close to IWTs. Our research suggests that adverse effects are observed at distances even beyond 1 km. Further research is needed to determine at what distances risks become negligible, as well as to better estimate the portion of the population suffering from adverse effects at a given distance.” Meanwhile, the McGuinty government has been assuring us that its minimum 550-metre setback for industrial wind turbines reduces noise levels to the equivalent of “a quiet library.”
Then again, we also know, thanks to reporting by the CBC during last year’s Ontario election, that the McGuinty government received hundreds of health complaints from people across the province living near wind turbines and suppressed them.
Government documents released under Freedom of Information showed environment ministry staff issued internal warnings the province needed stricter rural noise limits on turbines, that it had no reliable way to monitor or enforce them and that computer models for determining setbacks were flawed.
Despite that, McGuinty forged ahead with his industrial wind development plan through his Green Energy Act, which stripped local municipalities — and thus local residents — of any say in the location of industrial wind farms.
In many ways, the social disaster caused by McGuinty’s reckless and uninformed blunder into green energy rivals the financial disaster he inflicted on all Ontarians in pursuit of it, as revealed by Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter’s findings last year.
McCarter found McGuinty added billions to the cost of electricity generation — to be paid for by Ontario consumers — by failing to do proper business planning, ignoring the advice of the government’s own experts on how to reduce costs and committing Ontario to paying hundreds of millions of dollars for green energy it doesn’t need and may never use.
The problem with the McGuinty Liberals, of course, is that they are now so committed to green energy they’re incapable of admitting error, much less reversing course, something unlikely to change with a new leader.
But the next Ontario government, assuming it’s not another Liberal one, should put a moratorium on wind turbine construction and do an independent study of the health issues related to them. At the very least.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
July 19, 2012 Turbines in the News, Health Study
Below is the link to tonight's 6pm CBC Windsor news.... see 0:05:32 for the report on windturbines including an interview with yours truly. I am sickened by our Mayor and his statement that indicates his job is "balance"...It takes only one glance at our horizon to see that $ has taken precedent over balance of any type...please watch the news clip, and the "people's views" immediately following - it seems people are ok with turbines as long as they are "not too close" and as long as "they can't here them". Well people, I am here to tell you, they are too close - you can hear them, and what is even more scary is what you can not hear and the affects you can not easily link
If you can not view the news cast, here is the article. From my point of view it's fairly accurate except they got one part wrong. We have one turbine at approx 600 m, the next at 700m and several under 1000m. Please, please, write into Health Canada to comment on the importance of a proper study using many markers. Call your MP and MPP, we have to protect our children from this mess that they will certainly need to clean up in years to come. The irresponsible placement and use of turbines has to be stopped and if wind energy is to continue, it has to be done in a way that is sustainable, efficient and above all safe. It doesn't take a genius to see that turbines could be placed in many areas where there are few or no homes, but that would mean the cost of running the hydro there to allow access to the grid. Once again, $ over people. So sad.
Thanks,
Nik
Monday, April 2, 2012
Good news from Wisconsin
A county health unit in Wisconsin has adopted the following resolution related to health effects & wind turbines:
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Brown County Board of Health formally requests temporary emergency financial relocation assistance from the State of Wisconsin for those Brown County families that are suffering adverse health effects and undue hardships caused by the irresponsible placement of industrial wind turbines around their homes and property. The State of Wisconsin emergency financial assistance is requested until the conditions that have caused these undue hardships are studied and resolved, allowing these families to once again return safely to their homes and property.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Brown County Board of Health formally requests temporary emergency financial relocation assistance from the State of Wisconsin for those Brown County families that are suffering adverse health effects and undue hardships caused by the irresponsible placement of industrial wind turbines around their homes and property. The State of Wisconsin emergency financial assistance is requested until the conditions that have caused these undue hardships are studied and resolved, allowing these families to once again return safely to their homes and property.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
March 13, 2012 - Meeting with MPP
I have just returned home from a gathering of people at Deer Run Golf Course to meet with our local MPP, Rick Nicholls regarding the wind turbines. Other than Rick, there were several informative speakers who shared information regarding the wind turbines and their effect on wildlife, economics, jobs in Canada and more. I found it to be quite informative, although apparently the speaker on health issues could not attend which was unfortunate. As always, the question/coment period at the end of the meeting brought opinions from both sides but no one was really out of line. It was a pretty good meeting and overall, it seems like this MPP does truly want to help prevent the further erection of turbines if they are a danger to us, the environment and our economy.
My two cents: I offered for people to read my blog because I don't think most people really believe that there are health affects. I hope some do read not only my site, but others as well. There are so many people out there, in so many parts of the world, all with similar stories and symptoms. Once you start reading, it's tough not to at least open your mind to the possibility.
I was really upset though when it was stated, and I am paraphrasing "what's done is done, we can't do anything about the existing turbines...we are just trying to stop more" What about people like us then? Do we just get forgotten about, or will there at least be some relief from the turbines?
So I am hopeful for the cause, but not for us. My biggest fear is that it won't get better and we won't be able to leave without suffering huge financial hardship. There was a family there tonight who is pursuing a lawsuit so that they can try to get away, and they have been called many names because of it. I don't think people understand that it likely wasn't them that picked the magic number that would get the attention of the wind company. It was probably a number dreamed up by a lawyer. I can't speak for them, but if they are anything like us, they just want enough to relocate and not be majorly set back financially because they probably had a plan for their home and their future and now that has been taken from them.
One women asked "You have a right to put up a turbine in your yard, but what about my rights when the affects of that turbine crosses over onto my property?" I thought that was a great question. Neighbors sue over tree limbs that overhang property lines. Industry is governed by noise limitations when in or near residential areas. The general public is now protected even from second hand smoke, but people who live next door to turbines are told "if you don't like it, just move."
I was also very very frustrated by what seemed to be a constant referral to putting the power back into the hands of the municipalities...How will that help? It is our current Mayor and council who got us into this mess here in CK in the first place. I even had councillors come out here and feel the vibration, hear the noise, empathize with the situation and even though they expressed that they were totally shocked and could agree that there was a problem vote yes to more turbines the very next week. Giving the power back to the municiaplities may help the people fight better at lower levels of gov't, but I doubt it.
I am angry, sympathetic, hopeful and hopeless all at the same time. Only time will tell what will actually happen, but I hope that whatever it is, that the health affects are short term and do not have long term affects even after moving away from exposure to turbines - for my boys sake.
G'Night. Nik
My two cents: I offered for people to read my blog because I don't think most people really believe that there are health affects. I hope some do read not only my site, but others as well. There are so many people out there, in so many parts of the world, all with similar stories and symptoms. Once you start reading, it's tough not to at least open your mind to the possibility.
I was really upset though when it was stated, and I am paraphrasing "what's done is done, we can't do anything about the existing turbines...we are just trying to stop more" What about people like us then? Do we just get forgotten about, or will there at least be some relief from the turbines?
So I am hopeful for the cause, but not for us. My biggest fear is that it won't get better and we won't be able to leave without suffering huge financial hardship. There was a family there tonight who is pursuing a lawsuit so that they can try to get away, and they have been called many names because of it. I don't think people understand that it likely wasn't them that picked the magic number that would get the attention of the wind company. It was probably a number dreamed up by a lawyer. I can't speak for them, but if they are anything like us, they just want enough to relocate and not be majorly set back financially because they probably had a plan for their home and their future and now that has been taken from them.
One women asked "You have a right to put up a turbine in your yard, but what about my rights when the affects of that turbine crosses over onto my property?" I thought that was a great question. Neighbors sue over tree limbs that overhang property lines. Industry is governed by noise limitations when in or near residential areas. The general public is now protected even from second hand smoke, but people who live next door to turbines are told "if you don't like it, just move."
I was also very very frustrated by what seemed to be a constant referral to putting the power back into the hands of the municipalities...How will that help? It is our current Mayor and council who got us into this mess here in CK in the first place. I even had councillors come out here and feel the vibration, hear the noise, empathize with the situation and even though they expressed that they were totally shocked and could agree that there was a problem vote yes to more turbines the very next week. Giving the power back to the municiaplities may help the people fight better at lower levels of gov't, but I doubt it.
I am angry, sympathetic, hopeful and hopeless all at the same time. Only time will tell what will actually happen, but I hope that whatever it is, that the health affects are short term and do not have long term affects even after moving away from exposure to turbines - for my boys sake.
G'Night. Nik
Monday, February 20, 2012
Updated Map of Chatham Kent Wind Turbines
For an updated map, visit the link and scroll down just a bit ... it is mind boggling...
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Letter by Email to MP, MPP, Health Canada
From: Nikki Horton
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 9:08 AM
To: rick.nicholls@pc.ola.org ; wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:dave.vankesteren@parl.gc.ca
Subject: Request for assistance - Horton
Dear Honourable Gentlemen,
As our MP and MPP, I request that you please view the letter below. My
family and myself are suffering on a daily basis. Our requests for assistance
have been ignored by our mayor, our government and government agencies such as
the Ministry of Environment since 2009. Please see the letter below and find
out about the human suffering caused by wind turbines in this area.
Can we count on your for representation? Are you aware of the problems we,
and others, are having? What have you done, or, are you doing to help with the
protection of the public.
A response would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Nikki Horton
(for Gerred, Owen, Wyatt Horton also)
nik@ciaccess.com
From: Nikki Horton
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 9:00 AM
To: wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:leona.aglukkaq@parl.gc.ca ; wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:glenda.yeates@hc-sc.gc.ca ; wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:hilary.geller@hc-sc.gc.ca ; wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:Beth.Pieterson@hc-sc.gc.ca
Subject: Health Canada National Guidelines for Wind Turbines Noise -
Concerns
Minister of
HealthHealth Canadawlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:leona.aglukkaq@parl.gc.caDeputy
Minister Glenda YeatesHealth Canadawlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:glenda.yeates@hc-sc.gc.caAssistant Deputy Minister Hilary GellerHealth
Canadawlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:hilary.geller@hc-sc.gc.caMs
Beth Pieterson, Director GeneralHealth Canadawlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:Beth.Pieterson@hc-sc.gc.ca
Dear Honourable Ladies,
It is with the sincerest concern for families throughout Canada that I ask
that you Do Not Implement National Guidelines for Wind Turbine Noise without
much further study and determination. My family and I live within 700m of two
wind turbines and since they have been running (fall 2008), we have suffered the
following symptoms: terrible headaches, internal vibrations (in our bodies),
heart palpitations, ringing ears, extreme fatigue, body soreness, dry eyes, lack
of sleep from audible and inaudible noise, strange travelling rashes that
doctors are unable to diagnose, difficulty with memory and concentration,
dramatic negative changes to our personalities, lack of sex drive, nausea,
nosebleeds and more. Our quality of life has been affected by not only our
health issues, but also financial issues related to money we spent trying to
“protect” our home from the noise and vibration through increased insulation and
windows/roofing.
We have not succeeded in blocking out the effects of the turbines, and we
continue to have symptoms. We struggled at first with whether or not this could
actually be happening, whether our government would actually allow something
that would cause so much harm to be built near our home. We literally could not
believe that the turbines could be the cause. However, after leaving the home
for only a short time, even 1 or two nights, we find that our symptoms begin to
dramatically decrease. Each day we get better, begin to feel like our old
selves again. Upon return to the home, it takes mere hours for the symptoms to
begin.
You may be asking yourselves why we have not moved. Loss of value is part
of the problem with our homes location being so close to the turbines, not just
the two I mentioned, but another 40 at least which are visible from our home.
But also, here is my ethical dilemma – How can I sell my home to another family,
knowing how the turbines have so negatively affected our family ?
In closing, I would like to say that I believe that innovation and change
are important to saving our planet and maintaining the Canadian way of life.
However, this should not be done at human cost. The turbines may have their
time and place in Canada, but with the way they function now, their place is not
near any living thing.
Please do the right thing and ensure that Wind turbines are not placed
anywhere near life until such time that the affects can be studied, quantified
and corrected. My family and I are suffering the consequences of a rush to “do
the right thing” in the wrong way. I am aware there are other sufferers of wind
turbine symptoms not only here in Ontario, but all around the world. This is a
true problem that you need to take responsibility for before many other families
are affected.
Please, Do No Implement National Guidelines that will give the public a
false sense of security into letting wind turbines be placed near their homes.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Nikki Horton
(also for Gerred, Owen and Wyatt Horton)
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 9:08 AM
To: rick.nicholls@pc.ola.org ; wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:dave.vankesteren@parl.gc.ca
Subject: Request for assistance - Horton
Dear Honourable Gentlemen,
As our MP and MPP, I request that you please view the letter below. My
family and myself are suffering on a daily basis. Our requests for assistance
have been ignored by our mayor, our government and government agencies such as
the Ministry of Environment since 2009. Please see the letter below and find
out about the human suffering caused by wind turbines in this area.
Can we count on your for representation? Are you aware of the problems we,
and others, are having? What have you done, or, are you doing to help with the
protection of the public.
A response would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Nikki Horton
(for Gerred, Owen, Wyatt Horton also)
nik@ciaccess.com
From: Nikki Horton
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 9:00 AM
To: wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:leona.aglukkaq@parl.gc.ca ; wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:glenda.yeates@hc-sc.gc.ca ; wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:hilary.geller@hc-sc.gc.ca ; wlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:Beth.Pieterson@hc-sc.gc.ca
Subject: Health Canada National Guidelines for Wind Turbines Noise -
Concerns
Minister of
HealthHealth Canadawlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:leona.aglukkaq@parl.gc.caDeputy
Minister Glenda YeatesHealth Canadawlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:glenda.yeates@hc-sc.gc.caAssistant Deputy Minister Hilary GellerHealth
Canadawlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:hilary.geller@hc-sc.gc.caMs
Beth Pieterson, Director GeneralHealth Canadawlmailhtml:%7BAE2BA2D0-26AA-460B-BF20-714A53FC246E%7Dmid://00000307/!x-usc:mailto:Beth.Pieterson@hc-sc.gc.ca
Dear Honourable Ladies,
It is with the sincerest concern for families throughout Canada that I ask
that you Do Not Implement National Guidelines for Wind Turbine Noise without
much further study and determination. My family and I live within 700m of two
wind turbines and since they have been running (fall 2008), we have suffered the
following symptoms: terrible headaches, internal vibrations (in our bodies),
heart palpitations, ringing ears, extreme fatigue, body soreness, dry eyes, lack
of sleep from audible and inaudible noise, strange travelling rashes that
doctors are unable to diagnose, difficulty with memory and concentration,
dramatic negative changes to our personalities, lack of sex drive, nausea,
nosebleeds and more. Our quality of life has been affected by not only our
health issues, but also financial issues related to money we spent trying to
“protect” our home from the noise and vibration through increased insulation and
windows/roofing.
We have not succeeded in blocking out the effects of the turbines, and we
continue to have symptoms. We struggled at first with whether or not this could
actually be happening, whether our government would actually allow something
that would cause so much harm to be built near our home. We literally could not
believe that the turbines could be the cause. However, after leaving the home
for only a short time, even 1 or two nights, we find that our symptoms begin to
dramatically decrease. Each day we get better, begin to feel like our old
selves again. Upon return to the home, it takes mere hours for the symptoms to
begin.
You may be asking yourselves why we have not moved. Loss of value is part
of the problem with our homes location being so close to the turbines, not just
the two I mentioned, but another 40 at least which are visible from our home.
But also, here is my ethical dilemma – How can I sell my home to another family,
knowing how the turbines have so negatively affected our family ?
In closing, I would like to say that I believe that innovation and change
are important to saving our planet and maintaining the Canadian way of life.
However, this should not be done at human cost. The turbines may have their
time and place in Canada, but with the way they function now, their place is not
near any living thing.
Please do the right thing and ensure that Wind turbines are not placed
anywhere near life until such time that the affects can be studied, quantified
and corrected. My family and I are suffering the consequences of a rush to “do
the right thing” in the wrong way. I am aware there are other sufferers of wind
turbine symptoms not only here in Ontario, but all around the world. This is a
true problem that you need to take responsibility for before many other families
are affected.
Please, Do No Implement National Guidelines that will give the public a
false sense of security into letting wind turbines be placed near their homes.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Nikki Horton
(also for Gerred, Owen and Wyatt Horton)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
One more thing....January 26, 2012
This is a comment and question for those following. My youngest has had his third nosebleed in a few weeks. He wakes up with them in the morning. It is not particularly dry in the house, and he has never had them before. I am hoping this is not another side effect. Has anyone else had similar issues?
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
January 25th, 2012 - I am worried
Hello. I haven't blogged for quite sometime...I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to live life without constantly thinking about the turbines outside of our home and the consequences of them that we are forced to live with. I am blogging today for a few reasons, just things I think you should know if you are following, things that might help someone else out there to know they are not alone...
First, the turbines are louder than I have ever heard them this past few weeks. Or, maybe I had just forgotten how loud they can be on a winter, windy day. My headaches are unbelievable, no one in the house is sleeping, and there is no sign of this changing anytime in the near future. It doesn't help that another project went up to the front of our house so now we are surrounded. This means no rest from them, even when the wind changes direction...used to be that at least they were quieter when the winds switched, now we get it from all sides...
Which brings me to my second concern, my oldest is getting headaches. He came home from school early last Friday due to a headache (mine was also especially bad that day and my husband had one also - the turbines the night before were incredibly loud), and he complained of a headache again yesterday (coincidentally, the night before last, I was unable to sleep until 6am due to an uneasy feeling I find difficult to describe that comes from inside when the turbines are especially bad), he had not slept well and NO, I don't believe it is a coincidence, that was a little sarcasm. I hate to think it, but I think my oldest son is starting to get the same headaches I get. And lastly, with regards to my boys, both are not sleeping well at all. They wake up several times each night, when the turbines are loud. They become upset sometimes and often can not get back to sleep without comforting and usually me sleeping with them.
The message from this is - if you have children, especially if you have children, or if you know someone with children who is considering moving close to a turbine, or allowing one on their property - STOP THEM! We don't know what the outcome of these steel monsters being put so close to homes is going to be long term, all I can do is hope that there are no significant long term side affects and try to warn others....but you can stop people. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I am afraid for my family - and yours too...
I get angry just typing about it, but I had to post these new developments. I know many have stopped following the blog, but if it helps just one person, it's worth it.
take care,
Nikki
First, the turbines are louder than I have ever heard them this past few weeks. Or, maybe I had just forgotten how loud they can be on a winter, windy day. My headaches are unbelievable, no one in the house is sleeping, and there is no sign of this changing anytime in the near future. It doesn't help that another project went up to the front of our house so now we are surrounded. This means no rest from them, even when the wind changes direction...used to be that at least they were quieter when the winds switched, now we get it from all sides...
Which brings me to my second concern, my oldest is getting headaches. He came home from school early last Friday due to a headache (mine was also especially bad that day and my husband had one also - the turbines the night before were incredibly loud), and he complained of a headache again yesterday (coincidentally, the night before last, I was unable to sleep until 6am due to an uneasy feeling I find difficult to describe that comes from inside when the turbines are especially bad), he had not slept well and NO, I don't believe it is a coincidence, that was a little sarcasm. I hate to think it, but I think my oldest son is starting to get the same headaches I get. And lastly, with regards to my boys, both are not sleeping well at all. They wake up several times each night, when the turbines are loud. They become upset sometimes and often can not get back to sleep without comforting and usually me sleeping with them.
The message from this is - if you have children, especially if you have children, or if you know someone with children who is considering moving close to a turbine, or allowing one on their property - STOP THEM! We don't know what the outcome of these steel monsters being put so close to homes is going to be long term, all I can do is hope that there are no significant long term side affects and try to warn others....but you can stop people. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I am afraid for my family - and yours too...
I get angry just typing about it, but I had to post these new developments. I know many have stopped following the blog, but if it helps just one person, it's worth it.
take care,
Nikki
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Renovations - Was it worth it?
Hi all, Sorry I haven't written lately. I know a lot of you are waiting to hear if the massive renovation we undertook has had any affect on the turbines. The easy answer is, I am not sure.
We are not quite finished the renovation, including the cocking of windows, a few areas for insulation, and a very small portion of the siding. We have been working many extra hours to help pay for the greatly overbudget renovation, so I have not had a lot of time to blog....
This is what I do know.... When renovating, we also did some work on the foundations of the building, I believe that this has greatly assisted with the vibration within our home. I have not had the "vibration" feeling for quite some time while in the house. While I have had some minor feelings of "dizziness", or a "sea legs" type feeling, I am so excited that the mysterious vibrations and heart palpitations seem to be lessened greatly. Unfortunately, I am not sure if that is attributed to the renovation, the fact that I am home far less(therefore less exposure), or because we have not really hit the winter yet and this is when I found it the worst last year. It is unfortunate that even on a nice day we are unable to open our windows because the turbines can not be silenced when the windows are open, or in the yard....
As for the noise, it does seem to be greatly lessened when the windows are closed, etc. in the house. We are sleeping better, however, we often wake with extremely dry tired eyes, and also we all still seem to feel unrested, even after a long night of sleep.
I guess it remains to be seen what happens from here, especially with the new turbines going in out front of the house - we will now be suffering from every angle....
We are not quite finished the renovation, including the cocking of windows, a few areas for insulation, and a very small portion of the siding. We have been working many extra hours to help pay for the greatly overbudget renovation, so I have not had a lot of time to blog....
This is what I do know.... When renovating, we also did some work on the foundations of the building, I believe that this has greatly assisted with the vibration within our home. I have not had the "vibration" feeling for quite some time while in the house. While I have had some minor feelings of "dizziness", or a "sea legs" type feeling, I am so excited that the mysterious vibrations and heart palpitations seem to be lessened greatly. Unfortunately, I am not sure if that is attributed to the renovation, the fact that I am home far less(therefore less exposure), or because we have not really hit the winter yet and this is when I found it the worst last year. It is unfortunate that even on a nice day we are unable to open our windows because the turbines can not be silenced when the windows are open, or in the yard....
As for the noise, it does seem to be greatly lessened when the windows are closed, etc. in the house. We are sleeping better, however, we often wake with extremely dry tired eyes, and also we all still seem to feel unrested, even after a long night of sleep.
I guess it remains to be seen what happens from here, especially with the new turbines going in out front of the house - we will now be suffering from every angle....
November 16th - media release
Dr. Sarah Laurie (from Australia) attended the health symposium in Picton. For those who are unaware, The Society for Wind Vigilance Health Symposium was held in Picton at the end of October 2010. For more information visit the society website....
November 16, 2010
Media Release
Doctor Advises Clean Energy Council to Admit Adverse Health Effects of Wind Turbines
Former Rural GP, Dr Sarah Laurie condemned a report released by the Clean Energy Council last week as lacking integrity for not admitting that some rural Australians are indeed becoming very ill, when they live or work adjacent to wind turbines.
“The major issue for families living in the vicinity of wind turbines is noise for extended periods of time leading to chronic sleep deprivation, which itself is associated with all sorts of health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, suppressed immunity, difficulties concentrating and depression” said Dr Laurie.
The Clean Energy Council commissioned SONUS report acknowledged that complaints generally relate to concerns regarding noise and health related impacts.
Dr Laurie is now the Medical Director of the Waubra Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation committed to the independent study of health effects of wind turbines on rural communities.
The foundation is concerned at the absence of any published independent peer reviewed studies showing wind turbines are actually safe in close proximity to people over the longer term.
There is however, mounting evidence across the world that these turbines do cause major health problems, identical to those described by Dr Nina Pierpont and Dr Michael Nissenbaum at an international conference in Canada in October attended by Dr Laurie.
“I have now interviewed over 40 people in rural Australia who have been affected by wind turbines, with the same symptoms”.
“The reality for some neighbours of wind turbines in Australia is that they become extremely unwell. Some have been forced to leave their family homes, farms and livelihoods as they can no longer work their land. Others are unable to leave, as their main asset is their house and land, which becomes unsaleable” said Dr Laurie.
The SONUS report states that only a few field studies on noise annoyance among people living close to turbines have been conducted and further investigations have been recommended.
The Waubra Foundation believes there is an urgent need for independent academic acoustic and medical research into this important area before more turbines are constructed close to people's homes and workplaces.
“We call on the government and the wind industry to commit to funding these independent studies without delay” concluded Dr Laurie.
Contact Dr Sarah Laurie 08 8636 2051 or 0439 865 914
November 16, 2010
Media Release
Doctor Advises Clean Energy Council to Admit Adverse Health Effects of Wind Turbines
Former Rural GP, Dr Sarah Laurie condemned a report released by the Clean Energy Council last week as lacking integrity for not admitting that some rural Australians are indeed becoming very ill, when they live or work adjacent to wind turbines.
“The major issue for families living in the vicinity of wind turbines is noise for extended periods of time leading to chronic sleep deprivation, which itself is associated with all sorts of health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, suppressed immunity, difficulties concentrating and depression” said Dr Laurie.
The Clean Energy Council commissioned SONUS report acknowledged that complaints generally relate to concerns regarding noise and health related impacts.
Dr Laurie is now the Medical Director of the Waubra Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation committed to the independent study of health effects of wind turbines on rural communities.
The foundation is concerned at the absence of any published independent peer reviewed studies showing wind turbines are actually safe in close proximity to people over the longer term.
There is however, mounting evidence across the world that these turbines do cause major health problems, identical to those described by Dr Nina Pierpont and Dr Michael Nissenbaum at an international conference in Canada in October attended by Dr Laurie.
“I have now interviewed over 40 people in rural Australia who have been affected by wind turbines, with the same symptoms”.
“The reality for some neighbours of wind turbines in Australia is that they become extremely unwell. Some have been forced to leave their family homes, farms and livelihoods as they can no longer work their land. Others are unable to leave, as their main asset is their house and land, which becomes unsaleable” said Dr Laurie.
The SONUS report states that only a few field studies on noise annoyance among people living close to turbines have been conducted and further investigations have been recommended.
The Waubra Foundation believes there is an urgent need for independent academic acoustic and medical research into this important area before more turbines are constructed close to people's homes and workplaces.
“We call on the government and the wind industry to commit to funding these independent studies without delay” concluded Dr Laurie.
Contact Dr Sarah Laurie 08 8636 2051 or 0439 865 914
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Here we go...
Just a quick note to say that last night the turbines were LOUD! My poor husband had to sleep with the radio on, and overslept thanks to a lack of actual sleep during the night!!! We did have the windows open due to the nice weather, but hopefully at least in the winter we will be able to close everything up and get some sleep....
Friday, September 10, 2010
Friday, September 10th
Last night the turbines were not noticeable at all, thankfully. I woke up feeling more rested and not stiff and sore. It would be nice if this continues...I understand that our premier was not too happy to be approached by those against wind turbines - this is a "Green" project and it looks to me like he refuses to discuss any possibility of problems. http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/858614
Here's something interesting, a women informed me last evening that she tried to find out exactly how many turbines were "needed", "wanted", "planned" for Ontario and can not get an answer. As I look at the more than 20 I can see just from my windows, I wonder also - When is enough, enough?
Nik
Here's something interesting, a women informed me last evening that she tried to find out exactly how many turbines were "needed", "wanted", "planned" for Ontario and can not get an answer. As I look at the more than 20 I can see just from my windows, I wonder also - When is enough, enough?
Nik
Saturday, September 4, 2010
September 4th, I may have spoke too soon
It is 10:30pm Saturday night. The kids are asleep and although I tried to sleep as well, I am up - Again... This past 4 days has brought back all of the memories of the difficulties that the windmills can cause. I was actually starting to hope that we had grown accustomed to them, or that they were fixed, or that by some miracle things had changed. Until now.
On the 31st of August, Tuesday, the turbines were as loud as I have ever heard them. Not even like a plane, more like an unimaginably huge fan in the field. More than the usual woosh, it was amplified, so loud, almost like something from a movie. Then on Wednesday, I noticed they were loud still, but quieter, back to "normal", not like the loudest I had heard them the day before. Still, even though they seemed to quiet slightly after 9pm, I found I could not sleep. My glands on my right side of the throat felt swollen, my eyes extremely dry feeling, and my ear hurt slightly.
By Thursday, after having hardly any sleep, and I am sure no REM sleep at all, I felt Tired, my body felt weighed down, my limbs heavy, the pain in my neck and ear worsened but there were no signs of illness or infection. These feeling continued to Friday and it's difficult to explain, but I felt Nothing. No motivation, no real feelings of any kind, just kind of going through the motions of the day with difficulty. No desire to "do" anything. With regards to work, I had big plans to finish some calls, paperwork and organizing in the office this week in preparation for what I hope will be a very successful September. These plans were so important to me the week before, and are again now, however, during these past days, nothing seemed important - I just wanted to sit, not think, just sleep - this is very strange for me as I am usually very motivated and always moving and busy. Even when the children asked me to play or do something for them, it was with great difficulty that I was able to fulfill their needs, and I left the entertaining up to the television and dad because I just couldn't get enough energy up to really "do" anything. And so I slept. I slept almost all day. Again, I had been unable to sleep the night before, but I just slept on Saturday. On and off, I continued to be needed for things, but as soon as I could, I just went back to bed and slept more. I felt a bit guilty for my behaviour, but honestly nothing really mattered but that much needed sleep. I tried a few times to clean up the house, or do the dishes, or work in the office but literally just couldn't. I couldn't concentrate, couldn't be physical, I just felt so tired. I really can not explain it with words.
Today, Saturday Sept 4th was much, much better. The worst symptom I felt today was that my eyes felt 'scratchy'. Dry, like they have little pieces of glass in them that rub when you blink, I guess that describes the feeling pretty good. Funny thing is that my husband left the house first thing this morning and called me a few hours later to say that he could still feel that uneasiness, that "spinning" feeling even long after he left the house. He too has had the "dry eyes" the past few days, and last night slept with a CD playing loudly beside him while he slept in order to drown out the turbines. I think this past few days is the worst either of us can remember - or maybe we have forgotten just how bad it was last year in our efforts to be optimistic. Because I slept most of the day yesterday and most of the night last night I was able to function today. Still, not very motivated, I forced myself to get things done. Laundry, housecleaning, back to school preparation, feeding the kids, playing with them, even some work in the office and some correspondence, and even, this blog now. It was windy today, very windy at times, perhaps too windy for the turbines. I could not sleep tonight, but honestly, I could not hear the turbines as on Saturday nights we can hear the Buxton raceway and that sound is what I heard through the bedroom window. It's funny, I actually find the distant sound of roaring motors less annoying than the turbines. Maybe it's because I know at 11pm it will end until next week. Maybe it's because the roaring engines are not accompanied by the spinning feeling, by the aches and pains, and, I can fall asleep when I hear them - most nights, except tonight and I think that is due to the turbines playing havoc on my body, and not the sound of the cars which I honestly barely notice.
We still have our windows open, at least some of them, so it remains to be seen whether the house closed up for winter will shield us from the turbines. After this past few days, I am skeptical and worried. I don't know how we can live with the turbines if they affect us this way. My business, I work from home, suffered greatly last year in comparison from the previous year in large part due to the many, many days that I felt drained, unmotivated, tired, sore eyes and limbs. I need to work. We need my income. I choose to work from home. Is it fair that this choice may be taken away from me?
As I sit now in the office, windows in this room closed, ceiling fan turning and the sound of my typing, I can not hear the turbines or any other noise from outside. If I listen closely, I think I can hear the raceway, but really no sounds from outside. I am not sure if the turbines are turning right now but I am guessing they are because I can feel a pressure in my head, like a headache coming on, and a tightness in my upper back and shoulders. This usually signals that they are turning. I will go to a window and check.......Yep. At the open window I can definately hear the turbines turning. They are not overly loud at this moment, but consistent. Turning at a pretty good rate. I guess I should be glad that it is chilly and I can shut some of the windows, but my mind keeps wondering what will happen this fall/winter? Will it get worse? Will we be forced from our home like so many before us? We will fight that all the way. We will do everything in our power to combat the symptoms and make our home liveable, but, what if?
If anyone with any say whatsoever is reading this blog, please find a way to place these turbines farther from homes, businesses, and schools. If they are to be a part of our future, then at least put them far enough away that they are not deteriorating quality of life for so many people.
Guess that's it for today. Be happy and healthy. Nik
On the 31st of August, Tuesday, the turbines were as loud as I have ever heard them. Not even like a plane, more like an unimaginably huge fan in the field. More than the usual woosh, it was amplified, so loud, almost like something from a movie. Then on Wednesday, I noticed they were loud still, but quieter, back to "normal", not like the loudest I had heard them the day before. Still, even though they seemed to quiet slightly after 9pm, I found I could not sleep. My glands on my right side of the throat felt swollen, my eyes extremely dry feeling, and my ear hurt slightly.
By Thursday, after having hardly any sleep, and I am sure no REM sleep at all, I felt Tired, my body felt weighed down, my limbs heavy, the pain in my neck and ear worsened but there were no signs of illness or infection. These feeling continued to Friday and it's difficult to explain, but I felt Nothing. No motivation, no real feelings of any kind, just kind of going through the motions of the day with difficulty. No desire to "do" anything. With regards to work, I had big plans to finish some calls, paperwork and organizing in the office this week in preparation for what I hope will be a very successful September. These plans were so important to me the week before, and are again now, however, during these past days, nothing seemed important - I just wanted to sit, not think, just sleep - this is very strange for me as I am usually very motivated and always moving and busy. Even when the children asked me to play or do something for them, it was with great difficulty that I was able to fulfill their needs, and I left the entertaining up to the television and dad because I just couldn't get enough energy up to really "do" anything. And so I slept. I slept almost all day. Again, I had been unable to sleep the night before, but I just slept on Saturday. On and off, I continued to be needed for things, but as soon as I could, I just went back to bed and slept more. I felt a bit guilty for my behaviour, but honestly nothing really mattered but that much needed sleep. I tried a few times to clean up the house, or do the dishes, or work in the office but literally just couldn't. I couldn't concentrate, couldn't be physical, I just felt so tired. I really can not explain it with words.
Today, Saturday Sept 4th was much, much better. The worst symptom I felt today was that my eyes felt 'scratchy'. Dry, like they have little pieces of glass in them that rub when you blink, I guess that describes the feeling pretty good. Funny thing is that my husband left the house first thing this morning and called me a few hours later to say that he could still feel that uneasiness, that "spinning" feeling even long after he left the house. He too has had the "dry eyes" the past few days, and last night slept with a CD playing loudly beside him while he slept in order to drown out the turbines. I think this past few days is the worst either of us can remember - or maybe we have forgotten just how bad it was last year in our efforts to be optimistic. Because I slept most of the day yesterday and most of the night last night I was able to function today. Still, not very motivated, I forced myself to get things done. Laundry, housecleaning, back to school preparation, feeding the kids, playing with them, even some work in the office and some correspondence, and even, this blog now. It was windy today, very windy at times, perhaps too windy for the turbines. I could not sleep tonight, but honestly, I could not hear the turbines as on Saturday nights we can hear the Buxton raceway and that sound is what I heard through the bedroom window. It's funny, I actually find the distant sound of roaring motors less annoying than the turbines. Maybe it's because I know at 11pm it will end until next week. Maybe it's because the roaring engines are not accompanied by the spinning feeling, by the aches and pains, and, I can fall asleep when I hear them - most nights, except tonight and I think that is due to the turbines playing havoc on my body, and not the sound of the cars which I honestly barely notice.
We still have our windows open, at least some of them, so it remains to be seen whether the house closed up for winter will shield us from the turbines. After this past few days, I am skeptical and worried. I don't know how we can live with the turbines if they affect us this way. My business, I work from home, suffered greatly last year in comparison from the previous year in large part due to the many, many days that I felt drained, unmotivated, tired, sore eyes and limbs. I need to work. We need my income. I choose to work from home. Is it fair that this choice may be taken away from me?
As I sit now in the office, windows in this room closed, ceiling fan turning and the sound of my typing, I can not hear the turbines or any other noise from outside. If I listen closely, I think I can hear the raceway, but really no sounds from outside. I am not sure if the turbines are turning right now but I am guessing they are because I can feel a pressure in my head, like a headache coming on, and a tightness in my upper back and shoulders. This usually signals that they are turning. I will go to a window and check.......Yep. At the open window I can definately hear the turbines turning. They are not overly loud at this moment, but consistent. Turning at a pretty good rate. I guess I should be glad that it is chilly and I can shut some of the windows, but my mind keeps wondering what will happen this fall/winter? Will it get worse? Will we be forced from our home like so many before us? We will fight that all the way. We will do everything in our power to combat the symptoms and make our home liveable, but, what if?
If anyone with any say whatsoever is reading this blog, please find a way to place these turbines farther from homes, businesses, and schools. If they are to be a part of our future, then at least put them far enough away that they are not deteriorating quality of life for so many people.
Guess that's it for today. Be happy and healthy. Nik
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday August 30th - Things that make you go "hmmm"
It's almost the end of August...We are finished the outer renovation with a few minor details remaining...we are working now on the inside, and yes, we are broke! Ha,ha, okay, not really, but WOW! what an expensive endeavour this turned out to be - between the re-enforcements, the rounded siding, the steel roof and the extreme amount of insulation - I think we have a turbine proof fortress now! It makes me wonder - if we have to spend all this money to continue to be happy and healthy in our homes, why is it that none of the turbines were turning yesterday?? What I mean by that is that I was driving back from camping along Lake Erie from Wheatley to our home (towards Blenheim) and not a single wind turbine was operating. How can this possibly be? I thought these metal giants were supposed to be Green, Energy producing wonderful machines of the future? And yet, not one was turning yesterday, production of electricity - Zero......Hmmmmm.
Another funny thing, my parents visited for a week from the 18th to the 26th. While he was here, my dad said he slept great but he felt tired, not quite himself, worn out... the same things I describe feeling when I am in this house too much! In fact, since I was around the house a lot that week, I too felt exhausted even though I should have been well rested based on the hours of sleep I received. I haven't asked my father if he has felt better upon returning home yet, but I sure noticed that being gone for three days camping this weekend made all the difference for me! The first day, same feelings, second day, feeling better and by the third day when we came home, I'd had less sleep the night before and felt more alive and awake than I have in a long time - likely since the last time I travelled and slept away from home, It's a bit like finding the fountain of youth - leave home for a few days and get away from the turbines....HMMMMM....Things that make you go hmmmm.
A little update. The turbines have been about the same, turning slowly or not at all, not as noticeable with the protection of the leaves on the trees. I truly hope that this fall we find that our renovations were all worth it and that our home is livable. On a good note though, there are so many skeptics out there who think we are all "making up" these symptoms. I am sure someone will buy the house even after I share my blog with them. Why wouldn't they, after all, I am just "making it up" because I don't "handle change well"...Hmmmmm
Wishing you all a Wonderful Day!
Nik
Another funny thing, my parents visited for a week from the 18th to the 26th. While he was here, my dad said he slept great but he felt tired, not quite himself, worn out... the same things I describe feeling when I am in this house too much! In fact, since I was around the house a lot that week, I too felt exhausted even though I should have been well rested based on the hours of sleep I received. I haven't asked my father if he has felt better upon returning home yet, but I sure noticed that being gone for three days camping this weekend made all the difference for me! The first day, same feelings, second day, feeling better and by the third day when we came home, I'd had less sleep the night before and felt more alive and awake than I have in a long time - likely since the last time I travelled and slept away from home, It's a bit like finding the fountain of youth - leave home for a few days and get away from the turbines....HMMMMM....Things that make you go hmmmm.
A little update. The turbines have been about the same, turning slowly or not at all, not as noticeable with the protection of the leaves on the trees. I truly hope that this fall we find that our renovations were all worth it and that our home is livable. On a good note though, there are so many skeptics out there who think we are all "making up" these symptoms. I am sure someone will buy the house even after I share my blog with them. Why wouldn't they, after all, I am just "making it up" because I don't "handle change well"...Hmmmmm
Wishing you all a Wonderful Day!
Nik
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
I have not blogged for quite some time...we are still in the midst of renovations to combat the noise and vibration from the turbines that are so close to our home. I must say that July and August have been much better. Unfortunately, we won't really know the affects of the renovation until the fall months. You see, like today, during these months the turbines tend to run slower, so, of course, less noise and vibration. Also, during these months, the trees that surround the rear of our home are filled with leaves and we believe this creates a bit of a sound barrier for us. We are very worried about the change in weather and the leaves coming off the trees later this year though. You see, not only do we have the previous turbines to contend with that sit to the rear and side of our home - we now have several others at the front of our home! We fear there will be no relief from the turbines this winter even when the wind is changing direction since we are now surrounded by them.
The landscape is horrible! I used to like the site of them, small lines of them in a few places lined up in the horizon. But, now in our area, you see them scattered throughout the horizon with no pattern, no thought to the scenery, just popped up here and there, wherever permission could be given to erect them.
I must say that this month I am finally beginning to feel like my old self again, with very little turbine activity and the fact that I have not been home very much, I feel more rested. No headaches. Less irritable, more at ease. I hope this continues and that our worries are over, actually, more than hope. I pray.
I still wonder about the affect the turbines have on my children's growing bodies and brains. Still hopeful that they have adjusted to it and will not again experience side affects this winter. My youngest still suffers from itchy skin and rashes, but to a far less degree than the pictures shown earlier in my blog (pictures of his unidentifiable rash, that doctor's could not explain).
Our renovation is nearly complete, and I truly believe that the size, solidness and outer materials and insulation will assist us with the vibration and noise - when we have everything closed up. I do not know how we will do when we are outside or when our windows are open.
Due to the renovations we have been forced to make so that we would not have to leave our home as so many others have, we have gone without proper heat in the winter (the roof was open for a while waiting on contractors) and without air conditioning this summer. I have enjoyed having the windows open, with the exception of when the turbines are spinning and then we still hear them.
Last week, or maybe it was the week before we were out on the deck in the evening and could hear a definite problem with one of the turbines. A whining sound, something wrong in the gears perhaps? Likely from lightening...with all of the storms we had here in July, we saw lightening being attracted to all of the surrounding turbines like bugs to light. It was scary to watch and a bit unnerving to see and hear lightening cracks so close to our bedroom window. We lost our Internet connection twice this season due to lightening striking so close to our airnet connection and we have to replace our router. We have had many phone issues, and television issues, as well as problems with other electronics such as the Wii game my kids love. The biggest burden of all is financial. This renovation has cost us so much more than we ever intended it to. The lumber, insulation, siding and roof added up so quickly. If it were not for the turbines, we would never have undertaken this big project at this time. Once started, we were committed, and now we both work constantly to try to pay the bills created - a debt that will be with us for quite some time. It doesn't seem fair that the wind companies and municipality are profiting while all we face is expense after expense and fear of ongoing health issues. I guess it is true that some people are expendable and you can not depend on your government, or anyone else to protect you from the politics of the world. Y'know it wouldn't be so bad if I believed this was the way of the future and that wind turbines would assist to "save the earth", but the more I read and learn, the more I can see that the "green" argument is not a good one for turbines and they do not contribute. They have not created jobs here. The only winners in this equation are the wind companies and the govt's. Even the people who are being paid now to have them on their land, even the ones who are not currently complaining of noise or health issues, will eventually be hurt as well when they are shut down and the landowner is faced with the huge cost of removing them - as stated in most contracts. These landowners have been used and I fear in the end will suffer just as we are now. It is truly a shame.
But, today is quiet. I feel good. My kids are at camp - safe. It is a good day.
I hope this peace continues. I hope this renovation was worth it and that we can stay in our home this winter and that we can share our success with others who are suffering.
A big thank you to all of you who continue to send me information and check in to see how we are doing. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated. Especially since at this point I can not even get a response from the wind company or the MOE. I will post some new pictures soon and try to keep you updated when, and if, we notice changes.
Nik
The landscape is horrible! I used to like the site of them, small lines of them in a few places lined up in the horizon. But, now in our area, you see them scattered throughout the horizon with no pattern, no thought to the scenery, just popped up here and there, wherever permission could be given to erect them.
I must say that this month I am finally beginning to feel like my old self again, with very little turbine activity and the fact that I have not been home very much, I feel more rested. No headaches. Less irritable, more at ease. I hope this continues and that our worries are over, actually, more than hope. I pray.
I still wonder about the affect the turbines have on my children's growing bodies and brains. Still hopeful that they have adjusted to it and will not again experience side affects this winter. My youngest still suffers from itchy skin and rashes, but to a far less degree than the pictures shown earlier in my blog (pictures of his unidentifiable rash, that doctor's could not explain).
Our renovation is nearly complete, and I truly believe that the size, solidness and outer materials and insulation will assist us with the vibration and noise - when we have everything closed up. I do not know how we will do when we are outside or when our windows are open.
Due to the renovations we have been forced to make so that we would not have to leave our home as so many others have, we have gone without proper heat in the winter (the roof was open for a while waiting on contractors) and without air conditioning this summer. I have enjoyed having the windows open, with the exception of when the turbines are spinning and then we still hear them.
Last week, or maybe it was the week before we were out on the deck in the evening and could hear a definite problem with one of the turbines. A whining sound, something wrong in the gears perhaps? Likely from lightening...with all of the storms we had here in July, we saw lightening being attracted to all of the surrounding turbines like bugs to light. It was scary to watch and a bit unnerving to see and hear lightening cracks so close to our bedroom window. We lost our Internet connection twice this season due to lightening striking so close to our airnet connection and we have to replace our router. We have had many phone issues, and television issues, as well as problems with other electronics such as the Wii game my kids love. The biggest burden of all is financial. This renovation has cost us so much more than we ever intended it to. The lumber, insulation, siding and roof added up so quickly. If it were not for the turbines, we would never have undertaken this big project at this time. Once started, we were committed, and now we both work constantly to try to pay the bills created - a debt that will be with us for quite some time. It doesn't seem fair that the wind companies and municipality are profiting while all we face is expense after expense and fear of ongoing health issues. I guess it is true that some people are expendable and you can not depend on your government, or anyone else to protect you from the politics of the world. Y'know it wouldn't be so bad if I believed this was the way of the future and that wind turbines would assist to "save the earth", but the more I read and learn, the more I can see that the "green" argument is not a good one for turbines and they do not contribute. They have not created jobs here. The only winners in this equation are the wind companies and the govt's. Even the people who are being paid now to have them on their land, even the ones who are not currently complaining of noise or health issues, will eventually be hurt as well when they are shut down and the landowner is faced with the huge cost of removing them - as stated in most contracts. These landowners have been used and I fear in the end will suffer just as we are now. It is truly a shame.
But, today is quiet. I feel good. My kids are at camp - safe. It is a good day.
I hope this peace continues. I hope this renovation was worth it and that we can stay in our home this winter and that we can share our success with others who are suffering.
A big thank you to all of you who continue to send me information and check in to see how we are doing. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated. Especially since at this point I can not even get a response from the wind company or the MOE. I will post some new pictures soon and try to keep you updated when, and if, we notice changes.
Nik
Sunday, May 30, 2010
May 30th - Check out this blog ....I could have written the May 23rd entry!!!
I must admit, I have not had a chance to read the entire blog...but this opening description intrigued me and I can certainly empathize with this family....
"we would like our blog readers to know that we are not angry people that go around all day bashing renewable resources. we love life, our neighbors, and people who don't necessarily agree with us. we count our blessings and life goes on. we are not going against the aesthetics of windmills, we are calling for increased setbacks because of constant noise and other issues. we are a small family going up against a very large company who have hired experts to support many of their misleading statements. we are the experts now, because we live with the turbines. 1400 feet is way too close! we would like wind companies, state representatives, county boards, landowners, planning and zoning committees, etc... to realize that they need to make larger setbacks so other residents can be
spared from the issues we (and so many others) are enduring.
thank you for reading."
Our Life with DeKalb Wind Turbines
http://lifewithdekalbturbines.blogspot.com/
I COULD HAVE WRITTEN THE FOLLOWING ENTRY...I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THESE PEOPLE, AND THIS POST LOOKS AND FEELS LIKE SOMETHING I COULD HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG!!!! HOW CAN WIND DEVELOPERS AND POLITICIANS SAY THERE IS NO PROOF....THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING...HOW CAN SO MANY SO FAR APART HAVE THE EXACT SAME COMPLAINTS AND DESCRIPTIONS!!!???!!! TIME TO WAKE UP AND "FEEL THE VIBRATION", SO TO SPEAK....
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sound is horrible today
it's Sunday afternoon, 89 degrees, winds SSW at 17mph. the sound is horrible today and turbine number 30 is whistling again. we were outside on the front porch and had to come in because of the noise. sitting at the computer now typing this out and can still hear the sound through the walls. it is so upsetting to our family that this is happening. we're going to have to move someday. we are being forced to move from our dream home that we designed and built (with our own hands), the home we brought all our babies home from the hospital, the home that is close to our family/friends/and neighbors, the home where we have created such great family memories, the home that is close to a wonderful school where we volunteer and our children attend....HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY PUT A PRICE ON OUR HOME? we wish the turbines could just be turned off. we could deal with what they look like, just turn them off. we reported this disturbance to the Next Era hotline and the planning and zoning office of dekalb county. this is a noise that NO ONE should have to live with. it's heartbreaking that the wind industry misleads voting members in saying that turbines don't affect people. we are proof that they do! wind companies who are reading this, please tell the truth in your presentations to county board members, landowners, residents, etc... we agree, yes they can sound like a light swishing, babbling brooke, a refrigerator as you claim. but, the reality is that they don't always sound like that. most of the time they sound like jet plane engines in your yard and in your home. the quality of sound and low frequency hum is a nuissance that no one should live with. as a side note....say they did sound like a refrigerator all the time (which they don't)....who would want to sleep next to their refrigerator, bike and walk next to one, have a refrigerator running next to you as you push your child on the swingset, listen to a refrigerator as you sit on the front porch...and so on. that would be a nuissance....to ANYONE! these turbines are way too close to homes. we are calling for the wind companies to be honest in their presentations to county board members, planning and zoning committees, residents, landowners, etc. we heard 2 presentations last week from 2 different wind companies claiming the same thing...very minimal sound. live with them for a month and you will know what we're talking about!
"we would like our blog readers to know that we are not angry people that go around all day bashing renewable resources. we love life, our neighbors, and people who don't necessarily agree with us. we count our blessings and life goes on. we are not going against the aesthetics of windmills, we are calling for increased setbacks because of constant noise and other issues. we are a small family going up against a very large company who have hired experts to support many of their misleading statements. we are the experts now, because we live with the turbines. 1400 feet is way too close! we would like wind companies, state representatives, county boards, landowners, planning and zoning committees, etc... to realize that they need to make larger setbacks so other residents can be
spared from the issues we (and so many others) are enduring.
thank you for reading."
Our Life with DeKalb Wind Turbines
http://lifewithdekalbturbines.blogspot.com/
I COULD HAVE WRITTEN THE FOLLOWING ENTRY...I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THESE PEOPLE, AND THIS POST LOOKS AND FEELS LIKE SOMETHING I COULD HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG!!!! HOW CAN WIND DEVELOPERS AND POLITICIANS SAY THERE IS NO PROOF....THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING...HOW CAN SO MANY SO FAR APART HAVE THE EXACT SAME COMPLAINTS AND DESCRIPTIONS!!!???!!! TIME TO WAKE UP AND "FEEL THE VIBRATION", SO TO SPEAK....
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sound is horrible today
it's Sunday afternoon, 89 degrees, winds SSW at 17mph. the sound is horrible today and turbine number 30 is whistling again. we were outside on the front porch and had to come in because of the noise. sitting at the computer now typing this out and can still hear the sound through the walls. it is so upsetting to our family that this is happening. we're going to have to move someday. we are being forced to move from our dream home that we designed and built (with our own hands), the home we brought all our babies home from the hospital, the home that is close to our family/friends/and neighbors, the home where we have created such great family memories, the home that is close to a wonderful school where we volunteer and our children attend....HOW COULD WE POSSIBLY PUT A PRICE ON OUR HOME? we wish the turbines could just be turned off. we could deal with what they look like, just turn them off. we reported this disturbance to the Next Era hotline and the planning and zoning office of dekalb county. this is a noise that NO ONE should have to live with. it's heartbreaking that the wind industry misleads voting members in saying that turbines don't affect people. we are proof that they do! wind companies who are reading this, please tell the truth in your presentations to county board members, landowners, residents, etc... we agree, yes they can sound like a light swishing, babbling brooke, a refrigerator as you claim. but, the reality is that they don't always sound like that. most of the time they sound like jet plane engines in your yard and in your home. the quality of sound and low frequency hum is a nuissance that no one should live with. as a side note....say they did sound like a refrigerator all the time (which they don't)....who would want to sleep next to their refrigerator, bike and walk next to one, have a refrigerator running next to you as you push your child on the swingset, listen to a refrigerator as you sit on the front porch...and so on. that would be a nuissance....to ANYONE! these turbines are way too close to homes. we are calling for the wind companies to be honest in their presentations to county board members, planning and zoning committees, residents, landowners, etc. we heard 2 presentations last week from 2 different wind companies claiming the same thing...very minimal sound. live with them for a month and you will know what we're talking about!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
May 29th - two nights of the BEST sleep!!!
Thursday night was an amazing night sleep for all of us! The wind was from the North which is unusual, and not extremely heavy but just enough to enjoy a great breeze through the house. We were actually able to open our windows and take advantage of the breeze and not hear the turbines. They were not turning much, and the wind was in a better direction for us as far as noise goes...I think we all had the best sleep we have had at home in probably over a year!!! Last night was almost as good....Too bad we couldn't keep these conditions, but soon, we will have to close up the house tight as can be in a feeble attempt to block the noise of our "monster neighbors"... In the mean time, the windows open upstairs is amazing and wonderful - imagine, a world where you could sleep with your windows open in the country and not have to hear the sounds of giant mechanical monsters in the distance....I wonder if our children's children will ever know what silence truly is? Or, will our world be so determined to "advance" technology at the cost of beauty, nature and even human well-being that peaceful country evenings on the porch watching the sun go down will be something only seen in old movies or read in historical books....???? That is a sad, sad, thought.....G'night....Nik
Thursday, May 27, 2010
May 27 - Debate on effects of wind turbines still raging on
May 27th - we did not sleep at home last night so I am not sure how the turbines were, but thankfully, the night before they were not running or if they were, very slowly and quietly so nothing new to report, however, please read the article from the Daily News below and also, Read the letter I have been given permission to share written by Barb A to Dr. King after her report came out. A great letter in my opinion with many, many valid points..
Debate on effects of wind turbines still raging on
Posted By DANIEL PEARCE, QMI AGENCY
Chatham Daily News Article May 26
The controversy over whether industrial wind turbines can make people who live near them sick just won't go away.
Last week, Ontario's chief medical officer of health declared them safe. Well, not so much safe as not proven dangerous.
"According to the scientific evidence, there isn't any direct casual link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects," Dr. Arlene King announced in a media release.
There's a lot of wiggle room in that statement.
Somebody standing before a judge could be guilty of a crime they are charged with but is set free because it can't be proved.
The fact that the turbines could be harmful hasn't been ruled out. Their harmfulness just can't be proven.
Rather than toning down the debate going on in Norfolk County about the wind farm in the far southwest corner of the municipality, King's report is only going to rev it up.
A group of people living in the former Houghton Township area continues to insist the windmills that have gone up in their area over the past few years are making them sick.
It's easy to dismiss their charges. People become ill, especially as they get older. Headaches? Dizziness? Sleeplessness? These things happen to people all the time.
But if you listen to their stories, something disturbing starts to emerge. Outspoken critic Stephana Johnston insists her problems disappear once she leaves her Lakeshore Road home to sleep in a room she rents in Delhi. Another woman offers a sober, detailed account of the problems she faces: the low level noise from the propeller blades of surrounding turbines, she says, creates vibrations in her house and in her body.
On the surface, it may sound far-fetched, but a Portugese study concluded the phenomenon does happen and is harmful. Vibrations can be set off inside body cavities and soft organs damaged. Their study is referred to in King's report and dismissed.
"This finding has not been recognized by the international medical and scientific
community," her report notes. "This research group also hypothesized that a family living near wind turbines will develop vibro-acoustic disease from exposure to low frequency sound, but has not provided evidence to support this."
Whether or not turbines are a health hazard is an important question for Norfolk County. The province announced recently that another group of turbines are set to go up in the other end of the county east of Port Dover as part of a vast collection of wind and solar farms extending into Haldimand County.
You can say the science doesn't support that turbines are sickening people. But the anecdotal evidence continues to pile up that they are.
What's needed is a scientific report stating clearly and unequivocally that wind turbines are not harmful -- end of story.
Until then, we should all remain skeptical. And our elected officials should join the other municipalities in Ontario that are calling for a moratorium on the building of any new turbines.
More studies need to be done before we can say for sure they are safe.
LETTER TO DR. ARLENE KING FROM ORANGEVILLE RESIDENT BARB A
May 24, 2010
Dr. King,
I have corresponded with your office since January of this year. I asked for your help. I asked you to please respond to the many victims in this province who are suffering and being forced to leave their homes since the start up of wind turbines and substations that are situated too close to their homes.
You claim there is no causal link. How can you call a developer shutting down turbines to alleviate the noise not a causal link? How can you call a house that is audibly humming and vibrating not a causal link? How can you justify an MOE representative admitting there is a 160 hertz tonal noise being emitted from an entire wind farm, which I have been told is very disturbing to the human body, not a causal link? How can you call a developer sending families to live in a motel not causal link? How can you call families that were happy and healthy, some in their homes for decades but now broken up, in distress and unable to sleep in their own homes not a causal link? How can you call hundreds of people across this province and around this entire world that are experiencing identical symptoms since the start up of the wind farms around their homes not a causal link?
To my knowledge, you have not talked to any of the victims. You have not started at the most obvious place to start. Dr. Hazel Lynn of the Grey-Bruce Public health office held two open houses to discuss this topic. One was held in Owen Sound and the other in Walkerton. She invited Dr. Ray Copes. At these two open houses, victims who were able to attend and speak out, lined up at the microphones to tell the public health office what was happening to them and they were asking for help. We all thought that we were finally going to have someone who cares about our health listen to us and help us. We had lost faith in every other ministry involved in this policy but we thought you would listen. You listened alright, and then you ignored.
Is it your mandate to protect and prevent harm to our health? If so, you have not done the job you are supposed to do, just as the rest of the ministries, who for some reason have been silent or have deliberately fed people misleading information, have not done their jobs. If not, then you should not have put this report out under your office's name.
You have just thrown well over 100 victims in rural Ontario under the bus in your allegiance to your Premier. You have also put more people clearly in the path of harm in future wind farms by issuing this report. Is this the legacy that you wanted attached to your career? Is this what you want people to remember when they hear your name? This should be an embarrassment for those who participated in drafting this report. No one in this province will ever trust any of you again.
We heard many times at the beginning of your department’s involvement that renewable energy project health consequences were not included in the mandate of the public health office. Your staff literally did not know what to do with complaints.
I quote:
“I empathize with your concern about the neighboring wind turbines and the ineffectiveness of various agencies to legitimize your grievance. Unfortunately your request that our public health unit be able to take some action on this matter does not align with the current reality. I apologize for any false impressions I may have relayed to you about any type of regulatory capacity we may have but to do so would only give you false hope and perhaps undermine any legitimate avenue of appeal you are trying to seek through the appropriate provincial agency or court action.
Our public health unit does not have the recourse, resources or expertise to monitor the health effects of turbines and seek the type of remedy you are looking for. To circumvent or intervene with the processes already in place, however, would be foolhardy and wasteful on our part given our mandate.
I am sorry that you feel you have been undermined by these very processes but we are unequivocal in our principles to fully practice protecting the public’s health in an effective manner with the tools and guidelines we have. To stray from this course, by pursuing such avenues, would be highly problematic for effectively serving the public in accordance with our public health protocols and directives.” April, 2009
I know that this general message has also been expressed to others. If this is not in your departments mandate then you should have stepped down from any involvement in this and passed it to someone who could do a proper investigation.
This report implies that industrial wind turbine installations are not causing residents adverse health effects. This is shameful and misleading.You cleverly conclude that wind turbines do not cause hearing impairment. It appears you are trying to confuse the public, by adding an irrelevant issue to the issues that they are trying to understand. How could you dismiss so many people and render them invisible? Why would your department completely ignore the precautionary principle and the voices that have been pleading for help from this government? Shame on you as a doctor and shame on you as a person.
I have included in this letter the conclusions of your literature review. As follows:
The following are the main conclusions of the review and consultation on the health impacts of wind turbines:
• While some people living near wind turbines report symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, and sleep disturbance, the scientific evidence available to date does not demonstrate a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects.
• The sound level from wind turbines at common residential setbacks is not sufficient to cause hearing impairment or other direct adverse health effects. However, some people might find it annoying. It has been suggested that annoyance may be a reaction to the characteristic “swishing” or fluctuating nature of wind turbine sound rather than to the intensity of sound.
• Low frequency sound and infrasound from current generation upwind model turbines are well below the pressure sound levels at which known health effects occur. Further, there is no scientific evidence to date that vibration from low frequency wind turbine noise causes adverse health effects.
• Community engagement at the outset of planning for wind turbines is important and may alleviate health concerns about wind farms.
• Concerns about fairness and equity may also influence attitudes towards wind farms and allegations about effects on health. These factors deserve greater attention in future developments.
Can you really dismiss the low frequency issues when your fellow ministries have admitted they don’t even know how to measure it? Again, you are confusing the public. Unfortunately it is the victims of these vibrations that are the most knowledgeable and experienced at this, but sadly, you failed to ask them about it.
You suggest that community engagement may alleviate health concerns? How? How does that stop noise, low frequency vibration and dirty electricity from bombarding ones home and body?
My husband had just finished building his dream shop. We were building it as the turbines were being erected. I was gleefully taking photos of each. We did not anticipate any problems and we had certainly not heard about all of the problems in previous installations because many of those people had been silenced. How dare you imply to the public reading your conclusions that my husband and I would not have had problems had we been more involved in the process. How dare you imply that a small child who is howling with earaches when she lives in her home and that are relieved when she is taken out of her home, is angry because she has been left out of the process. Your insults are not taken lightly by the residents of this province.
In the Toronto Star newspaper, May 21st, 2010 you said:
“There are no direct links between wind turbines and adverse health impacts,” King said in an interview. “This variety of symptoms can be caused by a variety of different factors. It is important if individuals have symptoms or concerns (that they) be assessed by their physicians.”
How can patients be properly assessed by their physicians when you have broadly and publicly told doctors that their symptoms are not being caused by industrial wind turbine facilities? By this statement you have jeopardized every victim in getting help. If you have not talked to any victims or completed any ground studies then this statement to the press is inappropriate.
you should immediately resign from your position. You have done nothing to protect our health and you have done nothing to investigate valid health concerns.
Barbara Ashbee
Debate on effects of wind turbines still raging on
Posted By DANIEL PEARCE, QMI AGENCY
Chatham Daily News Article May 26
The controversy over whether industrial wind turbines can make people who live near them sick just won't go away.
Last week, Ontario's chief medical officer of health declared them safe. Well, not so much safe as not proven dangerous.
"According to the scientific evidence, there isn't any direct casual link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects," Dr. Arlene King announced in a media release.
There's a lot of wiggle room in that statement.
Somebody standing before a judge could be guilty of a crime they are charged with but is set free because it can't be proved.
The fact that the turbines could be harmful hasn't been ruled out. Their harmfulness just can't be proven.
Rather than toning down the debate going on in Norfolk County about the wind farm in the far southwest corner of the municipality, King's report is only going to rev it up.
A group of people living in the former Houghton Township area continues to insist the windmills that have gone up in their area over the past few years are making them sick.
It's easy to dismiss their charges. People become ill, especially as they get older. Headaches? Dizziness? Sleeplessness? These things happen to people all the time.
But if you listen to their stories, something disturbing starts to emerge. Outspoken critic Stephana Johnston insists her problems disappear once she leaves her Lakeshore Road home to sleep in a room she rents in Delhi. Another woman offers a sober, detailed account of the problems she faces: the low level noise from the propeller blades of surrounding turbines, she says, creates vibrations in her house and in her body.
On the surface, it may sound far-fetched, but a Portugese study concluded the phenomenon does happen and is harmful. Vibrations can be set off inside body cavities and soft organs damaged. Their study is referred to in King's report and dismissed.
"This finding has not been recognized by the international medical and scientific
community," her report notes. "This research group also hypothesized that a family living near wind turbines will develop vibro-acoustic disease from exposure to low frequency sound, but has not provided evidence to support this."
Whether or not turbines are a health hazard is an important question for Norfolk County. The province announced recently that another group of turbines are set to go up in the other end of the county east of Port Dover as part of a vast collection of wind and solar farms extending into Haldimand County.
You can say the science doesn't support that turbines are sickening people. But the anecdotal evidence continues to pile up that they are.
What's needed is a scientific report stating clearly and unequivocally that wind turbines are not harmful -- end of story.
Until then, we should all remain skeptical. And our elected officials should join the other municipalities in Ontario that are calling for a moratorium on the building of any new turbines.
More studies need to be done before we can say for sure they are safe.
LETTER TO DR. ARLENE KING FROM ORANGEVILLE RESIDENT BARB A
May 24, 2010
Dr. King,
I have corresponded with your office since January of this year. I asked for your help. I asked you to please respond to the many victims in this province who are suffering and being forced to leave their homes since the start up of wind turbines and substations that are situated too close to their homes.
You claim there is no causal link. How can you call a developer shutting down turbines to alleviate the noise not a causal link? How can you call a house that is audibly humming and vibrating not a causal link? How can you justify an MOE representative admitting there is a 160 hertz tonal noise being emitted from an entire wind farm, which I have been told is very disturbing to the human body, not a causal link? How can you call a developer sending families to live in a motel not causal link? How can you call families that were happy and healthy, some in their homes for decades but now broken up, in distress and unable to sleep in their own homes not a causal link? How can you call hundreds of people across this province and around this entire world that are experiencing identical symptoms since the start up of the wind farms around their homes not a causal link?
To my knowledge, you have not talked to any of the victims. You have not started at the most obvious place to start. Dr. Hazel Lynn of the Grey-Bruce Public health office held two open houses to discuss this topic. One was held in Owen Sound and the other in Walkerton. She invited Dr. Ray Copes. At these two open houses, victims who were able to attend and speak out, lined up at the microphones to tell the public health office what was happening to them and they were asking for help. We all thought that we were finally going to have someone who cares about our health listen to us and help us. We had lost faith in every other ministry involved in this policy but we thought you would listen. You listened alright, and then you ignored.
Is it your mandate to protect and prevent harm to our health? If so, you have not done the job you are supposed to do, just as the rest of the ministries, who for some reason have been silent or have deliberately fed people misleading information, have not done their jobs. If not, then you should not have put this report out under your office's name.
You have just thrown well over 100 victims in rural Ontario under the bus in your allegiance to your Premier. You have also put more people clearly in the path of harm in future wind farms by issuing this report. Is this the legacy that you wanted attached to your career? Is this what you want people to remember when they hear your name? This should be an embarrassment for those who participated in drafting this report. No one in this province will ever trust any of you again.
We heard many times at the beginning of your department’s involvement that renewable energy project health consequences were not included in the mandate of the public health office. Your staff literally did not know what to do with complaints.
I quote:
“I empathize with your concern about the neighboring wind turbines and the ineffectiveness of various agencies to legitimize your grievance. Unfortunately your request that our public health unit be able to take some action on this matter does not align with the current reality. I apologize for any false impressions I may have relayed to you about any type of regulatory capacity we may have but to do so would only give you false hope and perhaps undermine any legitimate avenue of appeal you are trying to seek through the appropriate provincial agency or court action.
Our public health unit does not have the recourse, resources or expertise to monitor the health effects of turbines and seek the type of remedy you are looking for. To circumvent or intervene with the processes already in place, however, would be foolhardy and wasteful on our part given our mandate.
I am sorry that you feel you have been undermined by these very processes but we are unequivocal in our principles to fully practice protecting the public’s health in an effective manner with the tools and guidelines we have. To stray from this course, by pursuing such avenues, would be highly problematic for effectively serving the public in accordance with our public health protocols and directives.” April, 2009
I know that this general message has also been expressed to others. If this is not in your departments mandate then you should have stepped down from any involvement in this and passed it to someone who could do a proper investigation.
This report implies that industrial wind turbine installations are not causing residents adverse health effects. This is shameful and misleading.You cleverly conclude that wind turbines do not cause hearing impairment. It appears you are trying to confuse the public, by adding an irrelevant issue to the issues that they are trying to understand. How could you dismiss so many people and render them invisible? Why would your department completely ignore the precautionary principle and the voices that have been pleading for help from this government? Shame on you as a doctor and shame on you as a person.
I have included in this letter the conclusions of your literature review. As follows:
The following are the main conclusions of the review and consultation on the health impacts of wind turbines:
• While some people living near wind turbines report symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, and sleep disturbance, the scientific evidence available to date does not demonstrate a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects.
• The sound level from wind turbines at common residential setbacks is not sufficient to cause hearing impairment or other direct adverse health effects. However, some people might find it annoying. It has been suggested that annoyance may be a reaction to the characteristic “swishing” or fluctuating nature of wind turbine sound rather than to the intensity of sound.
• Low frequency sound and infrasound from current generation upwind model turbines are well below the pressure sound levels at which known health effects occur. Further, there is no scientific evidence to date that vibration from low frequency wind turbine noise causes adverse health effects.
• Community engagement at the outset of planning for wind turbines is important and may alleviate health concerns about wind farms.
• Concerns about fairness and equity may also influence attitudes towards wind farms and allegations about effects on health. These factors deserve greater attention in future developments.
Can you really dismiss the low frequency issues when your fellow ministries have admitted they don’t even know how to measure it? Again, you are confusing the public. Unfortunately it is the victims of these vibrations that are the most knowledgeable and experienced at this, but sadly, you failed to ask them about it.
You suggest that community engagement may alleviate health concerns? How? How does that stop noise, low frequency vibration and dirty electricity from bombarding ones home and body?
My husband had just finished building his dream shop. We were building it as the turbines were being erected. I was gleefully taking photos of each. We did not anticipate any problems and we had certainly not heard about all of the problems in previous installations because many of those people had been silenced. How dare you imply to the public reading your conclusions that my husband and I would not have had problems had we been more involved in the process. How dare you imply that a small child who is howling with earaches when she lives in her home and that are relieved when she is taken out of her home, is angry because she has been left out of the process. Your insults are not taken lightly by the residents of this province.
In the Toronto Star newspaper, May 21st, 2010 you said:
“There are no direct links between wind turbines and adverse health impacts,” King said in an interview. “This variety of symptoms can be caused by a variety of different factors. It is important if individuals have symptoms or concerns (that they) be assessed by their physicians.”
How can patients be properly assessed by their physicians when you have broadly and publicly told doctors that their symptoms are not being caused by industrial wind turbine facilities? By this statement you have jeopardized every victim in getting help. If you have not talked to any victims or completed any ground studies then this statement to the press is inappropriate.
you should immediately resign from your position. You have done nothing to protect our health and you have done nothing to investigate valid health concerns.
Barbara Ashbee
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