facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts Windaction http://www.windaction.org/articles/c43+80?theme=atom Xarayar 2006-06-12T02:16:27Z .38381 2013-05-17T22:41:38Z 2013-05-17T22:41:38Z

After years of complaints about noise and health effects, on May 21, 2013 residents of Falmouth, MA will vote on whether or not to tear down both of the town's wind turbines.

.38334 2013-05-11T11:45:43Z 2013-05-11T11:45:43Z

A group of residents have complained that the noise and shadow flicker from the turbine, erected last year, are hurting their health. At the behest of the town's board of health, Scituate Wind hired Tech Environmental to see if the turbine complies with state noise standards.

.38285 2013-05-03T00:13:34Z 2013-05-03T00:13:34Z

Neil P. Andersen of Blacksmith Shop Road filed the appeal in November, asking the zoning board to overturn Building Commissioner Eladio R. Gore's ruling that Wind 1 did not present a nuisance by virtue of excessive noise-a ruling issued in response to a complaint by Mr. Andersen.

.38120 2013-04-19T19:04:05Z 2013-04-19T19:04:05Z

Thompson said that placing a 400-ft tall industrial wind turbine within 650 feet of a residence was "outrageous." "But that is exactly what has happened in the case of the McKeever family," he said. "And legislation allows wind developers and their engineering supporters to proceed with these developments using modeling that grossly understates the levels of noise and strobe light generated by these industrial wind turbines."

.38048 2013-04-12T13:57:13Z 2013-04-12T13:57:13Z

Burbine, 64, a small-business owner, said the residents who live near the turbine, which is off the Driftway, need relief. ..."You can't help but feel empathy, and (I'm) so sad for those people that are dealing with all of this without any real recourse," Burbine said."If we've got to spend a little bit of money, risk-wise, to say, ‘OK, let's turn it off from 7 p.m. at least until first thing in the morning,' we might risk $100,000," Gilmore said. "What's $100,000 (if we're protecting residents)?"

.38025 2013-04-10T14:41:07Z 2013-04-10T14:41:07Z

Murphy said he hopes to provide some relief for the 57 families who have filed complaints about the turbines at the wastewater treatment plant on Arsene Street, including the noise they generate. "I am sorry for all of your suffering and what you have been through," he said. "I realize that many of you tried to speak out and were denied a place on our agenda, and I thank you for your persistence."

.38024 2013-04-10T14:35:02Z 2013-04-10T14:35:02Z

Although it passed by a simple majority, Article 22 failed to yield the 2/3 majority needed for a vote on borrowing money. Selectmen plan to present an amended warrant article when special Town Meeting resumes at 7 p.m. April 10 at the Lawrence School auditorium. ...While Town Meeting Member Marc Finneran said, "This pits money against people's welfare, and I always come down on the side of people's welfare."

.37983 2013-04-06T14:02:00Z 2013-04-06T14:02:00Z

"This is something that has polarized the community. It was a situation in which Murphy's Law played out," said Selectman Kevin Murphy, chairman of the board, with no pun intended. ...But the suffering Falmouth residents endure in their own homes requires the turbines' removal, Cool said.

.37993 2013-04-06T01:13:23Z 2013-04-06T01:13:23Z

“We have filed noise complaints with the Board of Health since May of 2012, we have been at every meeting and have led most of the discussions regarding noise issues related to the Independence turbine and the negative impact to our lives,” Doreen Reilly said. “It is crucial that our home be included as part of the acoustical sound study.”

.37966 2013-04-04T17:13:13Z 2013-04-04T17:13:13Z

Two firms - one chosen by the board of health and another chosen and paid for by the neighbors of the turbine - will be conducting sound analysis on the turbine.

.37932 2013-04-02T14:01:11Z 2013-04-02T14:01:11Z

State energy officials, with their goal of expanding wind energy in Massachusetts, are watching all of this closely, but have been careful to not step in to the Falmouth fray. Alicia Barton, head of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a quasi-public agency, would not say whether there were mistakes made in Falmouth, but she did say there were some lessons.

.37912 2013-03-30T17:57:23Z 2013-03-30T17:57:23Z

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has agreed to commission a shadow flicker study of Kingston's wind turbines. Massachusetts Clean Energy Center spokesman Catherine Williams confirmed there will be a study.

.37903 2013-03-30T14:19:27Z 2013-03-30T14:19:27Z

The neighbors, who say the turbine is hurting their health, announced earlier this week they would hire an acoustical engineer to test the noise levels of the turbine. They want their study to be performed on the same nights as the study conducted by Tech Environmental, the firm picked by the health board to study the turbine.

.37902 2013-03-29T03:26:02Z 2013-03-29T03:26:02Z

"We are not sleeping. We are suffering the adverse effects of shadow flicker. One of the members of the board of health at the October meeting brought forth the issue that we suspend the operation of the industrial wind turbine during night time hours, until we can complete the study. ...we're imploring the town to suspend the operation," Kelly said.

.37890 2013-03-28T14:06:34Z 2013-03-28T14:06:34Z

A second study of the effects of the Scituate Wind turbine has been planned. ...the Community Group decided to conduct its own study “given the inadequate scope of the study supported by the board of health.”

.37857 2013-03-26T17:19:45Z 2013-03-26T17:19:45Z

Two engineering firms have expressed interest in conducting a sound study that will determine whether Scituate's wind turbine is too loud by state standards.

.37745 2013-03-16T13:03:15Z 2013-03-16T13:03:15Z

Middle-school student Brian Reilly says he can't play basketball on Leland Road when the strobing effect from the Kingston Wind Independence (KWI) Turbine's shadow flicker is at full throttle. "I get a wicked bad headache so I have to go inside," Brian told the Journal as he stood on the front steps of his neighbors house.

.37676 2013-03-09T17:07:25Z 2013-03-09T17:07:25Z

Board of Health Chairman Joe Casna said this week that the board has taken no vote, nor acted on any motion by any member of the board, to direct the health agent to acquire a loaner meter.

.37566 2013-03-01T13:30:22Z 2013-03-01T13:30:22Z

The Department of Environmental Protection has discarded sound data on Fairhaven's turbines obtained one night during October when one turbine was experiencing a technological error. DEP spokesman Edmund Coletta said the error caused the turbines to spin without producing power and was caught when a DEP technician was reviewing data after the test.

.37548 2013-02-28T14:05:09Z 2013-02-28T14:05:09Z

Underneath the giant wind turbines in Fairhaven the whirring sound is unmistakable. And even in the closest neighborhood, just over one thousand feet away, you can still hear it. Residents say it's taking a toll.