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.

A demonstration of potential noise impacts generated by wind farms will be presented at 7 p. m. today to members of the Allegany Town Planning Board by an acoustic expert. The board's special meeting will be held in the Senior Center on Birch Run Road and is open to the public.

As plans for a wind farm in the neighboring town of Arkwright move closer to reality, landowners in the town of Charlotte are taking the first steps toward development of a wind turbine operation in that municipality. Town resident, Merle Goot, who has spearheaded interest in a WECS (wind energy conversion system), said UPC Wind Management is currently contacting and ‘‘signing up'' town property owners. ‘‘Arkwright has been moving forward with wind energy plans since 2004,'' Goot said. ‘‘Charlotte has a long way to go, but at least we're now on the way.'' After several months of research and tours of wind turbine sites, Goot said, a group of town landowners ‘‘decided to go with UPC.'' ‘‘It was a visit to UPC's Cohocton energy conversion site in December that sold us,'' he said. ‘‘That trip really cinched a decision to select UPC as the developer of our town project.

The Clayton Town Council agreed to keep the sound limitations and most of the setback recommendations from the Wind Committee and forward them to the town attorney to begin writing a new zoning law for wind power development. The council, meeting Wednesday night, held voice votes on all 16 recommendations forwarded from the committee. The only point dropped by the council was a recommendation to site turbines so there would be no flicker effect falling at road intersections.

CH2MHill, did a good job showing the sound levels in the proposed wind farm area, Mr. Carr said. It found the ambient noise levels to be as low as 28 decibels. And it said that adding the turbines would increase the noise levels by around 15 decibels at residences in the wind farm area. "That is intrusive," Mr. Carr said. "Unless you put people who are non-leaseholders in a bargaining position to give noise easements to the developers." He also warned against making short setbacks from roads and participating landowners. "Public health and safety should not be a measure of a project's success," he said.

Before the turbines have been fully placed online, the first noise and shadow flicker complaint was brought before the Cohocton Town Board Tuesday night by David Hunt of Kirkwood Road. Hunt complained that the noise of the turbines, which he said has a constant high-pitched sound like a train whistle, an occasional roar and a loud whooshing sound, has regularly kept him awake at night since the blades started spinning in August.

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.

The idea of windmills brings to mind bucolic Renaissance paintings of Dutch landscapes and tulip beds. But that is hardly the experience of some who have to live next to the 400-foot electricity-generating windmills being built across America's breezy plains.

The County Legislature yesterday unanimously approved a lease agreement with Environmental Technologies, LLC, a Manhattan-based company that will build a 111-foot-tall wind turbine at the college. ...Environmental Technologies has never built a windmill this large, according to county officials ...If the windmill does not work, Environmental Technologies is contractually obligated to tear it down within 60 days. The unproven nature of this wind turbine is one of many things that worries Kenneth Walter, the resident who has been railing against the project because it lies only 500 feet away from his elderly mother's house. Walter is mainly concerned about noise from the windmill and how it will affect his mother's quality of life.

[A]fter they had brought a house in Depauville, they found out about the proposed Horse Creek Wind Project. They and their doctor believe that the turbines will produce similar low-frequency noises and those noises will interfere with his defibrillator. ...The low frequency noise range of these wind turbines could interfere with the proper functioning of Mr. Wilkie’s AIC defibrillator leading to shutting down of the device,” Carroll L. Moody, Mr. Wilkie’s cardiologist, wrote in a visit report. The plans for the development show one turbine within a half mile and nine within 1 ½ miles. In six months Mr. Wilkie had lived up here, he had not had an incident, his wife said. But 12 hours after he returned to Florida in March to finish moving and visit his doctor he collapsed. A second collapse led to a five-day hospital stay.

Charles E. Ebbing, retired engineer with Carrier Corp. with nearly 50 years' experience, explained the source and stress effects of low-frequency noise to the committee, which met Tuesday night. Low-frequency noise ranges from a few thousand hertz down to nearly zero hertz. "A house shuts out all high-frequency noise and allows in only low-frequency," he said. "The noise level of low-frequency can be greater inside than outside, because of the resonance inside buildings."

Ebbing said he is not for or against wind energy but cautioned town officials to set noise guidelines for the project after obtaining independent readings of ambient sound levels from at least 20 different locations at different times of day and in different seasons. He warned that turbine noises are magnified during temperature inversions and will be heard at greater distances if the community's ambient readings are at or below the 25 or 30 decibels prevalent in rural areas.

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."

HERKIMER - A town of Fairfield resident claims her daughter is in danger of adverse health impacts if a proposed wind energy project is pushed through in the towns of Fairfield and Norway. Resident Lisa Sementilli told county legislators during Wednesday night's session that her 10-year-old daughter suffers from a severe hearing problem that would only be aggravated by the noise produced by the wind turbines. Atlantic Renewable has proposed to construct a series of 65-70 wind turbines in the towns.

If you have ever driven off campus, you have likely noticed giant windmills looming on the horizon. Part of a system of some twenty turbines, these iron giants comprise the Fenner Windpower Project, just one component of a nationwide initiative to utilize clean and renewable energy. Operational since the fall of 2000, the mills have the capacity to power about 10,000 homes solely by harnessing the energy of the wind as it sweeps over the Adirondacks and down the Chenango Valley. Despite their efficiency, the mammoth cost to assemble just one of these turbines (about $2.5 million dollars) has stirred local and national debate over cost versus benefit at the Fenner site, not to mention the intrusions they cause for residents.

The majority of the Gaines Wind Advisory Committee said at Wednesday's meeting that they don't believe wind energy is in the best interest of the Town of Gaines. ...Concerned Gaines residents filled the town hall to capacity Wednesday evening as they listened to prepared statements from each of the committee members listing worries about noise, costs, property values, vibration effects and the impact on wildlife. Of the eight-member board, two said they would be in favor of the 400-foot wind turbines. The remaining, including alternate Ted Swierznski sitting in for Royce Klatt, voiced opposition to the towers, while acknowledging their research is incomplete. "Federal and state subsidies are the only reason wind energy is taking a foothold in this country," said advisory member Marilynn Miller.

Blades have begun to turn on 121 wind turbines here and in neighboring Ellenburg, a 35-minute drive northwest of Plattsburgh. Saturday, they turned with a soft whush, whush, whush. "Whush, whush, whush, all day long, all night long - I moved here because it was so peaceful and quiet," groused Allen Barcombe as he pointed to the nearest tower, jutting up 400 feet into the sky behind his house. ...The New York turbines, in two projects developed by Noble Environmental Power, are the first of nearly 400 expected to go up in five towns on a windy plateau just south of the Canadian border. When completed, the development about 90 minutes from Burlington will represent the largest concentration of wind turbines in the eastern United States.

ARKPORT - The Hornellsville town board discussed the benefits and drawbacks of a wind farm at its meeting night. With the Steuben County towns of Howard and Hartsville set to vote this week on wind laws developed for these communities, Hornellsville is still in the talking phase. Hornellsville still has a moratorium on wind farm development in place. One opponent of Howard's wind farm - Howard resident Eric Hosmer- was on hand at the meeting. He spoke about the impact of the turbines- usually between 400-450 feet tall - particularly the sound the windmills make.

The company has a detailed complaint resolution process which it made available Thursday to The Daily News. It also has a 24-hour telephone hotline for reporting turbine issues. "We encourage people if they have a concern that they should call that number, and we check it daily," said Project Manager Eric Miller. "We keep a log of who calls."

The town board sent an open letter to the media Monday afternoon outlining its intentions on monitoring noise generated by the 50 wind turbines erected in the town in 2008 following complaints by residents and leaseholders involved with the project. ...Under the town's wind law, the letter states, there is a distinction between participating landowners - like Graham, who has several turbines on his property - and non-participating landowners. ..."Participating landowners are viewed under the Town's local laws as, in essence, First Wind's co-applicants."