Ontario's noise regulations for wind turbines are among the weakest in the world and current distance setbacks from homes should be tripled or more, a public meeting was told Monday. About 200 people crowded the Essex Civic Centre to hear experts from across the province debate the health effects of wind turbines. Using teleconferencing, some spoke from as far away as the United Kingdom. The meeting got a little rowdy at times with some Town of Essex councillors trading barbs with taunting spectators.

The Cohocton Wind Farm Controversy continues -- this time, over print reports the turbines were not producing power. ...Local print reports quoted an official from the New York Independent Service Operator saying even though the turbines are spinning, the energy wasn't actually going into the power grid.

Wind turbines will disturb your peace and quiet, neighboring town residents warned the Prattsburgh town board last week. "It's like a jet engine landing right behind you," Hal Graham, of Cohocton, said. "It's constant noise." Graham leased land to First Wind for its 50-turbine wind farm in the town of Cohocton. Tuesday, he spoke during the Prattsburgh board's public hearing on a wind energy facilities permit there. The permit will stipulate certain terms and charge a building permit fee for any wind facilities in the town.

The 10-member committee discussed material presented at the Feb. 12 meeting by Gregory C. Tocci, principal at Cavanaugh Tocci Associates ...Among his recommendations were that the town adopt a law that uses a certain number of decibels above ambient noise as opposed to the current flat allowed rate of 50 decibels. The state Department of Environmental Conservation recommends no more than six decibels.

A Town of Cohocton man tells us that he has a turbine on his property and that there is a wind turbine next door, and because of the turbines, he has trouble sleeping at night. He says he has asked the wind companies to turn the wind turbine off, and he says they won't.

Local property owners and residents addressed Jack County commissioners during the public forum portion of Commissioners Court Feb. 9 to petition them for assistance with noise abatement for the 60-turbine Barton Chapel Wind Farm. Tom Fillene pleaded with commissioners to take a trip down to the area and listen for themselves to the "obnoxious noise" coming from the 400-plus foot "monsters." Fillene stated he was speaking on behalf of other family members who lived under the wind turbines and were experiencing health issues due to the noise coming from the giant towers.

As Maine preps for wind power, medical staff at Rumford Hospital say turbines may make people sick. Others beg to differ. The phrase "vibroacoustic syndrome" started him Googling. The worrisome set of symptoms - allegedly caused by exposure to low-frequency noise and linked by some to wind farms - sent him on a mission he didn't anticipate. This week Dr. Albert Aniel, an internist at Rumford Community Hospital, mailed a letter to Gov. John Baldacci. He visited the Mexico Board of Selectmen. He's contacting every town manager in the River Valley.

Havas, who studies environmental toxicology at the university in Peterborough, has added her voice to the call by Dawn-Euphemia Township council and others who want Ontario to study the impact of the growing number of wind generation projects sprouting up across the province. "Why would you want to put a lot of these wind turbines near people, have some percentage of them get sick, and then have to deal with that afterwards?" Havas asked.

When Carmen Krogh talks about the health effects of wind turbines, she speaks from experience. She shared that experience with the councillors of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards Township at last week's regular meeting. Extra chairs had to be pulled out of storage to handle the large crowd that came to hear her presentation to council. ...Her symptoms came on quickly, she said. She experienced bad headaches, dizziness, queasiness, a heart rhythm sensation and a vibration inside her body. Her health improved when she and her husband, who was not affected, left the area. She decided to research the issue.

"They are very noisy," said Jan Sageman, who lives in the village of Ubly near some of the turbines. While she didn't mind seeing her community jump into the world of renewable energy, her opinion has changed because on certain cold nights with a light wind, she can hear them loud and clear. "You would have swore a train or a jet was coming through the house," she said.

Noise from an industrial wind farm substation in Amaranth has generated several complaints as of late. Residents near the transformers say the sounds have been stronger than usual and they want action - something the company says it's already taken. "It's like a humming noise. We can actually hear it inside the house. It just kind of vibrates inside the house," explains Terry Kidd, who lives across the street from the transformers.

Two local noise experts advised the Orleans wind committee to change the basic noise standard used in the town law that governs wind power development. In its draft environmental impact statement, Horse Creek developer PPM Energy, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, estimated the turbines would create 45 to 50 decibels of noise. The measurement for night-time noise was 26 decibels. "This means the noise could frequently exceed 20 decibels above ambient, which according to DEC guidelines is very objectionable or intolerable," Mr. Schneider said. "And this frequently-occurring condition is permitted under the current town of Orleans law."

A new planning law, set to be launched by the Scottish Government tomorrow, could introduce such strict rules that it would make it impossible for wind turbines and other energy products to be used in homes in Scotland. ...The new law says that homes in which the owners want to install a micro wind turbine or an air source heat pump, which absorbs heat from outside to warm up buildings, would have to be at least 100 metres from its nearest neighbour because of the noise they make.

The ringing in his ears and the constant headaches started about a year ago. Ross Moulton has been to his doctor many times and underwent a CAT scan, but so far there is no diagnosis, no reason for his illness. ...Dr. Robert McMurtry, the former dean of medicine at the University of Western Ontario, is calling for the province to study the health impact of wind turbines. "At a minimum, they should be doing a survey of people around wind farms and getting a sense of how many people are complaining of problems," McMurtry says.

Windmills, and wind turbines, are harmless. Or are they? Centuries after Quixote's fictional fight, the question of wind-power safety is at the centre of a battle between homeowners and an energy firm 150 km southeast of Calgary, where hundreds of wind turbines are planned. Two farmers living close to the Blackspring Ridge Wind Project say they are worried about long-term health impacts -- something the company, Greengate, says has no basis in fact.

A northern Missouri man has filed a lawsuit against farm equipment maker Deere & Co. and a wind energy company alleging nearby wind turbines have hurt his property values and made him ill. Charlie Porter filed the lawsuit in the 4th Circuit Court of Missouri against Deere and The Wind Capital Group, a St. Louis-based wind energy company.

Can the noise generated from a wind turbine be detrimental to the health of nearby residents? That question and others were touched upon during a special presentation made to the Allegany Town Planning Board on noise impacts of commercial wind farms. The presentation was made by Charles E. Ebbing, a retired acoustic engineer in response to a request made by residents of Chipmonk and their attorney, Gary Abrams.

Wind farms might reduce air pollution. But, one neighbor in King City, Missouri says they're a major source of noise pollution. Now, the man is suing the operators of Missouri's first wind farm. If wind farms are the nation's future, Charlie Porter says look out. He calls them a nightmare especially when he tries to go to bed at night.

It is claimed the turbine in the grounds of Winscombe Woodborough Primary School gives out a constant whirring and has been christened Chinook by neighbours. David Egremont, who lives near the school, said: "The noise is not very pleasant at the best of times but when the wind comes from the east, as has happened frequently in recent months, then it becomes a constant annoyance.

A number of Huron-Kinloss residents are claiming the Suncor/Acciona wind turbine project is having a serious impact on their health. A presentation was made at Huron-Kinloss council's Jan. 19 meeting requesting help in their talks with Suncor and Acciona. Sandy MacLeod claimed the turbines are the cause of a rash of health problems, including high blood pressure, headaches, sleep disturbances ...