“The Dark Side of Wind Power
By Eleanor Tillinghast

Noise may not be your first concern when looking at wind turbines, but for neighbors, it is tormenting. Dave Pevec, who lives more than a quarter-mile from the Waymart wind power plant in rural Pennsylvania, complains that the noise keeps him awake at night.
"It sounds like an airport. . . my peace is gone forever."

Lou Orehek, whose family lives nearby, says, "It is the opinion of members of my family that the windmills generate a low frequency 'grind'. . . and this noise travels more than 7,000 feet."

In New York, Pastor Kathleen Danley lives two good-size fields from the Fenner wind-power plant, and describes the noise as "a loud clothes dryer; that would probably be the closest sound, that constant turning sound."

She explains, "We were told that the windmills had been redesigned so as not to be noisy, but the grinding noise goes on 24 hours a day (when they are operating) and at times is far worse than other times."

In Michigan, Kelly Alexander lives a quarter-mile from the Mackinaw City turbines. The low frequency sound creates a drumming that penetrates the walls of his home. Even with doors and windows tightly closed, there is no way to escape it. His 80-year-old mother lives next door. The noise keeps her awake at night.

Sister Chris at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, more than a mile to the north, says that when the turbines are started up, she can hear a loud whoosh that is startling.

In West Virginia, Paula Stahl describes hiking up to the Mountaineer turbines. "The noise was incredible. It surprised me. It sounded like airplanes or helicopters. And it traveled. Sometimes you could not hear the sound standing right under one, but you heard it 3,000 yards down the hill, where the wind carried the sound."

Waymart and Fenner have 1.5-megawatt General Electric turbines like the ones planned for the Hoosac wind power plant in the towns of Florida and Monroe, Massachusetts. The Mountaineer turbines are the same size. The Mackinaw turbines are slightly smaller.

Sunlight strobing through spinning wind-turbine blades is also distressing to neighbors. "When the sun is setting, it shines through the blades, causing severe flashing in our house," complains a homeowner near the Lincoln wind-power plant in Wisconsin.

"We get a 'strobe effect' throughout our house and over our entire property (40 acres)," says a neighbor. Others add, "shadows are cast over the ground and affect my balance," and "shadows from the blades sweep over our house and yard and ruin our quality of life."

Physical reactions are pronounced. In England, where the effects of windpower plants have been widely documented, Dave Brierley, a former policeman living in Cumbria, says, "I live 1,000 meters south of the wind farm and my wife, who is asthmatic, gets very distressed when the wind is coming from the north because she can feel her breathing trying to synchronize with the thump of the blades."

A newspaper article titled, Wind farms 'make people sick who live up to a mile away' reports on the findings of Dr. Amanda Harry: All but one of 14 people living near a wind-power plant in Cornwall have experienced increased numbers of headaches, and 10 said that they have had problems sleeping, and suffered from anxiety.

She says, "People demonstrated a range of symptoms from headaches, migraines, nausea, dizziness, palpitations and tinnitus to sleep disturbance, stress, anxiety and depression."

People living near wind turbines aren't the only ones affected. Constantly flashing lights on turbine hubs can be seen for miles. One observer of the Waymart facility describes "the multitude of red blinking aircraft warning lights that now trace across the ridge top at night."

Federal law requires Enxco to fit the 20 Hoosac turbines with flashing white lights during the day, and flashing red lights at night.

What about the effect on property values? Despite claims by wind-power supporters that turbines have no depressive effect on nearby home sales, there's a lot of evidence to the contrary in areas where the landscape is the attraction. At a public meeting on Enxco's proposal for a wind power plant in Lowell, Vt., a Realtor trying to sell a farm near the site told a company representative that his assertion that land values won't decrease is 'ludicrous.'

Don Maclure said that when he tells people interested in buying the farm about the proposed project he never hears from them again.

In England, newspaper articles highlight the problem with such titles as "Wind turbines made our home unsellable," "Wind farms stunt growth of property value," and "Potential losses could run into millions."

People in Florida and Monroe voted for the Hoosac project before they had a chance to learn about its effects. Their neighbors on Tilda Hill Road and nearby areas will undoubtedly suffer.

Sportsmen and hikers will notice the noise, vibration, sun strobing and flashing lights. Snowmobilers and skiers will risk ice hurled from spinning blades.

Residents of Clarksburg, North Adams, and Williamstown will be unable to escape the visual blight of the magnificent Hoosac range. How will the towns of Florida and Monroe compensate all those people for the damage to their quality of life?