Industrial wind turbines, utility-scale turbines -- whatever you call them, they are popping up all over the state. Minnesota is requiring utility companies to be using 25 percent renewable energy by 2025. When I ask most people what they know about turbines, most reply, "They are green energy!" When I probe for more information, they know nothing more. I'd like you to join me on a short journey to see what it is like to live near a wind project.

We live in Leota Township not far from the present wind farm. Instead of peaceful rolling countryside, we get to look at a hundred hulking towers over 300 feet tall. Imagine if all the street lights in Worthington were all bright red and blinked on and off at the same time. Imagine if there were 10 windmills across the middle of Lake Okabena, and the people surrounding the lake got to look at and listen to these 300-foot towers with whirling blades in the daytime and the 10 bright red beacons flashing on and off at night.

As a layperson researching what Minnesota calls a: "Wind Energy Conversion System" (WECS) or also known as a Wind Turbine, there is one issue that always rears its ugly head, "Noise". I found that Minnesota is one of the many states to specify maximum exposure levels of noise to its citizens. The Minnesota Rules Chapter 7030 describes the limiting levels of sound established on the basis of present knowledge for the preservation of public health and welfare. Within this article I will attempt to provide a logical trace of the sound limiting requirements, along with some possible "delta" areas at the County Zoning Ordinance Levels with regards to a WECS application.