Residents that spoke out against plans to build a wind farm in the area of Bailey's Brook have had their concerns heard. Environment minister Mark Parent has denied Shear Wind Inc. permission to go forward with the Glen Dhu Wind project, saying the registration information submitted by the company is insufficient.

Wind turbines are popping up in rural communities around the world, including Canada, in the hope that they will reduce reliance on coal and other sources for power. Currently, there are about 1,500 turbines across Canada and there are plans to build another 1,000 to 1,500 in the next year. But some residents who live near wind farms complain the turbines cause a number of adverse health effects, such as crippling headaches, nose bleeds and a constant ringing in the ears. ..."I had problems with my heart, with my eyes, my digestive system," Marshall told CTV News. "It traumatizes your whole body."

Property devaluation, a lack of democratic process, and insufficient guarantees for sound monitoring had a group of 15 RM of Rhineland residents asking council to consider several requests last week. The group presented a five page document outlining their concerns about the proposed BowArk 120 wind turbine project to council, and highlighted several of them. Joe Braun questioned the lack of public consultation on the project, pointing out that many who are now opposed didn't have that knowledge initially. "How... does a wind project that is to last 40 years, cost $750 million, and impose a massive industrial impact on the landscape, occur without public input and information, without regulations or guarantees?" he asked.

There's no scientific proof wind turbines make disturbing levels of noise and, although more study is needed, Ontario's guidelines are sound, a long-awaited consultant's report for the ministry of the environment says. The report by Ryerson prof Dr. Ramani Ramakrishnan was finished in December 2007 but was only posted on the government's Environmental Registry website on Monday.

A group of anti wind turbine activists want the local health department to join their fight against the Wolfe Island wind turbine project. Members of "wolf island residents for the environment" made a presentation to the Public Health board this afternoon. The group says the wind turbine project failed to include public health as a key stake holder in the environmental review. Group members say the noise produced by 86 wind turbines will impact the health of island residents.

"The problem is they're putting them too close to people." ...Plans to build four wind projects in the county of Chatham-Kent in southwestern Ontario were stalled last month after a three-hour discussion punctuated by angry residents and concerned biologists. In 2006, Enbridge cancelled plans to build a wind farm in Saugeen Shores on the coast of Lake Huron after facing fierce public resistance.

While one can appreciate the economic and environmental benefits of wind power, residents of four communities in Eastern Kings County, P.E.I., wish they had asked some tough questions. Low-frequency noise from the wind turbines at the Eastern Kings Wind Farm has forced two families to move. Kevin and Sheila Bailey, and their son and daughter-in-law Dwaine and Dodi Bailey, left Elmira seven months ago and moved to nearby communities. Problems started a year ago when the turbines began operating. ..."We were told the windmills are coming, and you don't want to make too many waves." Now, he wishes the community had taken a more active role before the wind farm went up in the centre of four communities.

The conclusion of the Ontario Municipal Board hearing into the Amaranth portion of the 132- megawatt Melancthon II wind farm is being scheduled for the township offices at Laurel on Feb. 27 and 28. ...At the earlier hearing, Mr. Jackson indicated his dissatisfaction with an earlier Certificate of Approval for the first of two 230 kV transformers at a time when neighbour Paul Thompson and others said they were still unhappy with the noise abatement.

While few here are arguing the benefits of wind power, there is a growing movement opposed to a proposed wind power project planned for the nearby Higgins Mountain area. The Folly Lake Wentworth Valley Environmental Preservation Society has launched a campaign for the provincial government to place a moratorium on wind power projects until a number of concerns are dealt with. "We realize that not everyone is concerned about this, and that many want to see green power and sustainable, renewable power as quickly as it can get online, at any expense," said society member Garfield Moffat.

A few studies will proceed immediately to see if wind turbines are appropriate for Caledon. The studies Caledon council wants undertaken are for setback, noise and flicker effects. The results will be brought back to a public meeting. Councillors spent more than three hours on the issue at last Tuesday's meeting. They heard presentations from concerned residents living near a potential wind project site, as well as a representative from Windy Hills Caledon Renewable Energy.

A settlement has been reached in the long-standing dispute over the Cruickshank Wind Power project in Kincardine. Owners Kevin and Nancy Cruickshank have agreed to remove the sixth turbine located on their 300-acre property at the South end of the Municipality. The turbine in question was positioned too close to a neighbouring property not owned by the Cruickshanks. ...Now that the project is free and clear for construction, there is no word on when the Cruickshank Wind Project will get off the ground.

Any hope Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. might have had for an early start to the Melancthon II wind farm project appears to have been effectively dashed by a decision of the Ontario Municipal Board. OMB member Norman Jackson has generally decided conditionally in favour of the Melancthon II wind turbines planned for Amaranth Township, but has withheld his order pending a resolution of noise complaints at the transformer substation ...Beyond noise from the transformers, Mr. Jackson wants a continuation of the hearing at some point prior to issuing his order. The outstanding issues to be dealt with at that time include construction drawings, de-icing measures, a decommissioning agreement and an amenities agreement. ...Although the order has been withheld, the township during the hearings appeared fully in agreement with site-specific OP amendments for 22 turbines.

A Yarmouth County couple who claim they were driven from their home by one of their neighbours - in this case a giant electricity-generating wind turbine - are now out shopping for support. Daniel d'Entremont and his wife Carolyn spent about nine hours behind an information table they set up in the Yarmouth Mall one day last week in an effort to publicize their plight. ...Wind turbines produce a thumping, pulsating kind of noise that is more audible at night, Dr. Pierpont said in a study dated March 2, 2006. "The noise is louder at night because of the contrast between the still, cool air at ground level and the steady stream of wind at the level of the tur bine hubs," she wrote.

In a hearing that ended at approximately 10 p.m. last Thursday, Ontario Municipal Board hearing officer Norm Jackson reserved his decision on Amaranth Township's 22- turbine share of the Melancthon II wind farm project. ...Although Mr. Jackson must rule on aerodrome setbacks as well as on all issues, including the underground transmission line, the most troublesome concern is with residential complaints of noise from the transformer substation. ...Whether or not the noise issues would go beyond the transformers was not clear. Joan and John Lever of Melancthon, parties to the Amaranth hearing, presented turbine noise/health issues from Nina Pierpont, PhD, who is doing research on infrasound. Dr. Pierpont posits that turbine noises, even if inaudible, can be injurious to health. Mrs. Lever's contention was essentially that there is a growing number of professionals in agreement, although there are other professionals in disagreement.

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Council seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to settling on a minimum setback distance for wind turbines, and has deferred the matter until mid November when a final decision is expected. At the Oct. 16 meeting, Councillors Barry Millian and Carl Sloetjes presented a verbal report of the noise expert draft findings at the MOE focus group session in Toronto Oct. 15. The pair attended the meeting on behalf of the Township of ACW. "I'll get right to the bottom line here - which was the last chapter of the meeting, and that was, where do we go from here?" said Counc. Millian. "My bottom line is that I need to be put in a comfort zone before I move on this issue, and walking out of that meeting, that didn't happen."

In March 2007, the [Ministry of the Environment] MOE initiated a review of its noise policy for wind turbines. To support the review, the ministry retained a noise expert to review recent findings relating to noise impacts, including a 2006 dissertation by Van den Berg. Attendees at this first session on Oct. 15 in Toronto will hear the first draft findings, as well as ask questions and offer feedback on the draft.

PUGWASH - Opponents of a proposed wind farm on the Gulf Shore got more fuel for the fire Friday night. Mark Harris, a pastor from Bridgewater, Maine, spoke Friday night at the Ground Search and Rescue in Pugwash about how a wind farm in Mars Hill, Maine has terrorized locals. He bought property in Mars Hill roughly 1200 feet away from the turbines, but hasn't done anything with it because of how unbearable the sound and strobing from them is. "Many of the mills we have, on certain days when the wind comes from a certain direction and the humidity is such and such, it will be all but silent at 1200 feet away where my home site would be. But come back the next day and it'll pound until you can't tolerate being there and there's no predicting when that will happen," he said. He said the wind farm has wreaked havoc on the town, with many people now dealing with health complications allegedly caused by the turbines' sounds and shadows.

Agriculture Canada says it has yet to decide what to do with a noisy wind turbine in P.E.I. that was shut down less than three days after its blades started spinning because a nearby resident claimed it was making her sick. The turbine, set up to provide power to an Agriculture Canada research station north of Charlottetown, started operating in January. Department spokesman Mike Hennigar confirmed the $200,000, 30-metre turbine in Harrington was shut down less than three days later, after a woman living a few hundred metres away complained of migraine headaches.

The acceptance of Ministry of Environment (MOE) noise regulations by an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) panel in Kincardine will not deter Amaranth resident Paul Thompson in his fight against a second transformer at the Canadian Hydro Developers substation. Mr. Thompson, one of a handful of residents living near the substation, is a party to the scheduled Sept. 11 Amaranth OMB hearing.