Frustrated by the wind farm that some residents say drives them "crazy," 60 Middleville, Fairfield and Norway residents have filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court against the entities responsible for its construction, namely Iberdrola Renewables. "A lot of it has to do with the effect that it's having in being in close proximity to the residences," said Jeff DeFrancisco, an attorney from DeFrancisco & Flagiatano Law Firm of Syracuse.

For decades dairy farmers have wrested a living from the Tug -- accepting lives of wind-swept hardship with little prospect of much change. Then, a few years ago, change roared onto Tug Hill. Overnight it seemed, caravans of trucks trundled onto the plateau and for a couple of years the village was ablaze with activity. Today, 195 turbines soar above Tug Hill, 122 metres high, their 40-metre-long blades spinning at 14 revolutions per minute. The $400-million Maple Ridge wind project, the largest in New York state, brought money and jobs and a wondrous sense of prosperity. But the windmills also came with a price -- and not just the visual impact.

In a May 14 letter, the two disputed the background noise levels that Mr. Hessler assumed through his regression analysis. Mr. Elliot and Mr. Tocci had measurements that averaged five decibels below the levels Mr. Hessler predicted ...If ambient noise levels have been overstated in the impact statement, it will allow higher levels of noise from turbines.

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.

Concerns about how a wind turbine that is proposed for farmland on Long Lane in East Hampton could affect the neighborhood and the view were aired once again at Town Hall last Thursday night, when the East Hampton Town Board had a second hearing on a permit request for the system.

A crowded room of residents listened to guest speaker Jerry Borkholder, a Hamlin resident serving on the Wind Tower Committee who has spent hours researching the 400-foot turbines, as he spoke of the negative impact they have had in communities around the world. He called on residents of Orleans County to become informed and take action before it is too late. "Your job is to make sense out of something that, on the surface, makes no sense. ... If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Borkholder said. "Wind developers lie. They mislead. ... They are very close lipped about what they are going to do."

On Earth Day 2009, New York Power Authority (NYPA) President Richie Kessel unveiled plans to industrialize Lake Ontario and Lake Erie with near shore wind turbines clustered in 120MW to 500MW arrays in waters 150 feet deep, or less. Some arrays would consist of 500 turbines towering 450'from the lake levels. NYPAs proposal was unveiled without input from the shoreline communities or businesses that will be the victims. Currently, Jefferson, Oswego, Cayuga and Wayne Counties are working towards unilateral opposition to this NYPA project in Lake Ontario.

A scene from “Windfall”“Windfall,” a new documentary that premieres Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival, could take the sails out of wind power. The film observes the deeply divided residents of Meredith, New York — an Upstate farm community in decline — as they debate the pros and cons of allowing wind turbines on their land.

If industrial wind turbines set up shop in her community, however, she said they'd be destroying a community that is "so peaceful and relaxing." In a 4-1 vote Thursday night the Litchfield Town Board passed a local law that will ban construction of industrial wind turbines.

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski) said today too many questions remain unanswered for windmills to be allowed to be built along the Lake Ontario shoreline. The New York Power Authority announced in December 2009 it is accepting requests for proposals (RFPs) from prospective wind mill companies to construct wind turbines along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The period for proposals to be accepted will come to a close in March.

In Vermont the parties are still waiting for a decision on the Sheffield project, which was argued before the high court in May. A clerk at the Supreme Court said Tuesday she has no idea when a decision might be announced. Meanwhile, the opponents of big wind in western New York believe they are finally getting the recognition they deserve with this month's announcement by the AG's office in Albany.

A Cornell University engineering professor urged the Hammond Wind Advisory Committee to increase the setbacks in its wind energy law to two and a half times the height of a tower. Dr. Paul G. Carr, one of the retired founders of the engineering firm Bernier and Carr, urged the panel to consider the safety of area residents.

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.

The town board is set to approve a new turbine noise limit next month based on an "invalid" sound demonstration, according to the acoustics expert who performed the noise test.

Some residents are furious that the landscape that they have known and loved will soon be gone. "The skies are beautiful. You'll get the northern lights and you don't have all these flashing lights around. And now with the substation going in, the light off that at night, I'm going to need curtains in the house!" said LaClair

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.