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.

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.

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.

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.

It's not yet midnight. The sky is clear, except for a few small clouds moving across the sky. I am standing on my back deck and I am in awe of the ominous, deep rumblings of the closest windmill. It is a kilometre away. This is the sound they told us did not exist. Just like the ones I saw in Loweville, the turbines sound like a jet--too high to be seen, but close enough to hear. The difference is, the jet passes over, and the silence of the night resumes. In the case of the turbines, the noise continues into the night, and then into the day.

In its headlong rush to appear to have "green" policies, the McGuinty government has jumped on the green power bandwagon and has rejected science and engineering as well as economic, social and environmental considerations when it comes to implementing the so-called "green energy" plan.

People from across Ontario who welcomed wind turbines into their community are now coming forward with questions and concerns about disturbed living conditions and health concerns and don't know where to turn. Some have been driven from their homes. Some can't afford to leave and just try to cope. Many of these people are re-victimized by the denial of any adverse health effects from wind companies.

During this meeting one family in particular gave their account of what it is like to live 450 meters from a wind turbine. ...Their experience, like many other families, is nothing like the romantic picture painted by the green media. The reality of life in the shadows of a wind turbine can be devastating. This couple gave a passionate and at times tearful testimony of the impact to their lives since these turbines started operating.

To the people of this province reading this, please do your research. Please stand up for your rights. Read the fine print in your newspapers. Don't be caught unawares. There are no health studies or environmental studies being done. They are just being whipped into place without due diligence, and now our Premier has decided to take out the role of the municipalities. Instead of working with them to solve issues, he is rolling over them. And it prompts my question once again; why is the protection for people and the environment virtually non-existent in this program?

There is a perception that industrial wind turbines are saving the environment, producing lots of 'free' energy. People want to believe wind farms are a solution to carbon emission and global warming. I wish that were true, but it isn't.

It was great to see Essex County put a hold on wind farm projects. There are a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to this energy solution. ...Until one is up close to one of these giants, it is hard to comprehend their imposing nature. There is a place for wind farms, but it must not interfere with a person's right to enjoy their property.

When the turbines started up near her home, in Shelburne, Ont., Helen Fraser suffered severe health effects. ...The latest ad from Sky-Power [a developer of renewable energy projects], states: "In over 25 years and with more than 68,000 turbines installed around the world, no member of the public has ever been harmed by wind turbines." ...So who is telling the truth?

It was noted that there are always costs that must be mitigated when producing power for our consumerist lifestyles. One glaring omission from the meagre list of negatives to wind power is the pollution of noise and its sequela. These generators are very noisy. Research into sound pollution is not complete and its effects on both human and wildlife must be considered. ...We must do a full environmental assessment on how the sound vibrations will affect life within its footprint, just as we would any other technology.

Had the research been peer reviewed, published in a scientific journal of repute and conducted completely independently by Ryerson University, with funding for the project not emanating from any level of government, credence could legitimately be given to its findings. ...The lengths and depths to which governments at all levels will go in order to foist their projects onto an unwilling electorate no longer surprises me, but I am bitterly disappointed. We deserve better.

So the wind power industry and consultants hired by the government tell us Ontario's noise rules for wind farms are 'very good' and 'strike a balance'. ...While the MOE studies the problem, Ontario's lax noise rules allow the government to let contracts worth $15 billion for another 3,000 wind turbines to be squeezed into populated southern Ontario. As the wind farm developers follow the yellow brick road to Oz, families caught up in the developments will be exposed to noise pollution levels two times higher than what the World Health Organization says are safe.

In the last several months my neighbours and I have directly spoken to many people whose lives have been affected by wind energy projects. It seems like there is not a project out there, large or small, that leaves a community unaffected. We have most recently heard from Pastor Mark Harris of Mars Hill, Maine. Pastor Harris was here at the Seventh Day Adventist camp on the Gulf Shore this week. This camp sees an average of 1000 people per week through the summer season. There is only one wind farm in Maine, and it is on Mars Hill. There are 20 families whose lives have been seriously and detrimentally affected by this project, built by UPC. Some turbines are extremely close to families. Complaints have been made from people living as far away as three miles.

Wind turbine setback bylaws for Cumberland County are clearly inadequate for protection of the rights of residents who will be living adjacent to wind turbines. They desperately need to be re-examined and amended.