Normally, I don't write about problems I encounter in getting information from government because I feel it's too "inside baseball" for readers. I'm making an exception because I think this incident illustrates the problems besieged opponents of industrial wind turbines living in communities across Ontario are encountering in getting straight answers from their own government. This, as Premier Dalton McGuinty appears hell-bent on erecting these giant steel structures, up to 40-storeys high, as fast as he can. The last time McGuinty was this juiced we got ... eHealth.

Barbara Ashbee distributed this letter to all media in Ontario Canada. Ms. Ashbee and her family abandoned their home due to wind turbine noise and other impacts which have harmed their health and quality of life.

It is often said there are always two sides to any story. And generally I believe this to be true. But after five years in this chair I continue to strain to hear or comprehend the argument for wind energy-I have failed to hear a persuasive argument that explains why we had to ruin Wolfe Island and why we must do the same to Prince Edward County. I am still waiting.

Amazing that with the amount of information available, so many choose to ignore the negative impacts resulting from industrial wind turbines projects: effects on health, wildlife, micro climate. How unfortunate for the people and the communities involved. ...New standards governing wind turbines were established in June 2009: set back of 1.5 km for projects with more than 26 wind turbines. Other standards relates to noise level.

Apart from the fact that wind energy is impractical and unreliable, the cost of creating these wind farms is also outrageous (ie. service roads, police escorts, labour, new substations and transmission lines). High demand is also placing too much strain on the mills. As a result, they often malfunction. None of this compares though to the story of Barbara Ashbee-Lormand and her husband Dennis Lormand of Shelburne, Ontario.

Have you ever gone to the doctor's office or emergency room with concerns for your health, only to be dismissed as imaginative or overly sensitive? How does that feel for you? ...This is what is happening to so many families in our rural community as they try to explain that the wind turbines are destroying their health and lives.

To begin I'm all for green renewable energy but not when it harms the well being of people. So let's cut this green charade and get to the nitty-gritty. Nextera Energy is the company proposing a six-turbine wind farm near Formosa, Paisley, Tara and Durham. The newly appointed Green Energy Act takes the planning decisions of such developments out of the hands of Bruce County council. This means we now have no say in the matter and it only gets worse.

My partner and I purchased a very nice home and moved to New Denmark in order to enjoy the peace, tranquility and supposed friendliness of this beautiful area. ...Our dreams are now seriously threatened by a project that will benefit only a few, contribute nothing whatsoever to a reduction in our electricity bills, will absolutely not make any significant contribution to the environment and will forever change our quality of life.

The Sept. 1 letter of Claire Jones hits a key point. Ms. Jones apparently is a regular visitor to the Thousand Island area from far away. I too am a regular visitor, and like so many, we cannot believe how some local town officials are seriously prepared to transform the area in a most profound way. Having seen the Maple Ridge Wind Farm many times on my way to the Thousand Islands, I am shocked that efforts are under way to bring such visually dominating infrastructure to the Thousand Islands.

It's really quite easy to dismiss opponents of wind farms as suffering more from the "not-in-my-backyard" (NIMBY) syndrome than any particular health problem. Wind farms are the cleanest form of energy we have, consuming no fuel and emitting no pollution. They are one part of the solution to wean the world off fossil fuels. And they are being built as quickly as the turbines can roll off the assembly lines ...But for the Ontario government to dismiss what appears to be growing concern about potential health problems generated by wind farms is folly.

‘Wind Power Monthly' (The Editor, September 1998), the magazine for the wind industry and its supporters, actually recognized almost 11 years ago that the reason for the growing unpopularity of wind power is that a de facto heavy industry has tricked its way into unspoiled countryside in "green" disguise. The editor stated that: "Too often the public has felt duped into envisioning fairy tale wind parks in the countryside. The reality has been an abrupt awakening. Wind power stations are no parks."

Let's hope the provincial government will move quickly to have a comprehensive epidemiological study on the impacts of industrial wind turbines conducted prior to having any other industrial wind turbines installed anywhere in Ontario.

The placement of wind turbines near homes is an international problem that can in no way be likened to living near a train or an airport. It is not just what you hear but what you don't hear (low frequency vibration) that causes well-documented health problems. It's insidious that way. Also insidious is the quiet creation of the Ontario Green Energy Act -- a piece of legislation that removes all rights of local municipalities to take part in critical planning decisions for their own communities.

This year, things have changed utterly. The future has arrived on Wolfe Island with a wind-turbine vengeance. And many ferry passengers will surely lament this summer that one of Ontario's more tranquil refuges has been turned into a wind-turbine theme park. ...Whatever the technical merits of the project, there's no question about the aesthetic impact on the island. The turbines have tilted its ambience from the pastoral to the industrial.

Whether or not you agree with wind farms is not the argument surrounding the opening ceremonies of the West Cape Wind farm. ...The wind farm is here and it's not going anywhere. Those landowners that were never notified of the plan will never be given a voice. The turbines do make noise, they do generate flicker and they represent the biggest change to lifestyles that ever came to the west end of P.E.I.

Local MPP John Gerretsen stated in an interview with the CBC that the new setbacks are needed "to best protect the health and safety of Ontarians," and that where turbines are shown to cause negative health effects, "the towers will be moved." Ministry of Environment officials who attended the public forum on the Green Energy Act held on June 25 in Toronto proposed that 5% of Wolfe Island residents in close proximity to the turbines could experience such negative health effects as dizziness, tinnitus, headaches and sleep disorders due to noise and vibration. There are many islanders who are now quietly coming to terms with the reality ...

We are writing to express concerns about the health effects from the placement of industrial wind turbines adjacent the residential areas on the shoreline of Pigeon Bay in Kingsville, Union and Leamington and requesting the Ontario Ministry of Health conduct epidemiological studies prior to construction.

So people on Manitoulin can't handle change or that we think that turbines are monsters. I would suggest to Martin and Northland Power that people on Manitoulin are not children to be condescended to. We know turbines are not monsters and we would accept change as well as anyone, provided that it is to the benefit of all of residents, adjacent landowners, farm owners who are leasing their land. We want the concerns clearly addressed, not just reassurances that turbines are not monsters and that everything will be fine. Islanders deserve better then that.

The presence of these overwhelming techno-energy giants brings to mind a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. ...It's hard to see anything else. When I look towards the water, I don't see the natural beauty of Kingston's harbour anymore. I don't see Garden Island, Simcoe Island or even Wolfe Island, as my vision is drawn to these massive propellers waiting in rest or whirling away, depending on the breeze. If the daytime view isn't bad enough, the blinking red warning lights on the towers at night light up the sky like a runway at Pearson International Airport.

Before we go any further, let me address something that comes up every time someone asks questions about a green project in this province. It's a favourite tactic of our Liberal government to dismiss concerns of their constituents as being NIMBYism (Not in My Backyard), or those people don't want to help the planet. A word of warning to the province: that kind of dismissal here on the Island just makes Islanders dig in harder. As far as I can tell, the concerns of this citizens group are legitimate and I believe they need to be addressed.