Too Close for Comfort: Turbine decreases neighbor's quality of life

We've heard a lot about wind power, and Kingston, Massachusetts is one of the latest to support it. 

Behind me is one of five wind turbines in this town of 12,000 people. But not everyone in Kingston thinks turbines are a good idea. Town planner is a believer.

"Everything you can do to produce power in a sustainable and responsible fashion is a great idea. Solar, wind, hydroelectric. Like the others, this turbine was installed in 2012, named Independence, it powers municipal buildings including town hall. To date since the turbine went up they've generated 9 million kilowatt hours of electricity, that's like planting 171,000 trees, it almost three quarters of a million gallons of gasoline. So it's significant."

"We're in the parking lot of the mall and these are two no fossil turbines. I don't feel much wind, but they're turning."

"The kick in speed is 6 miles per hour for the turbines. And for the other one it's 8 miles per hour."

Kingston hopes to add solar panels to the independent site which is built on a capped land fill. The turbine's location, however, is an object of controversy.

"Our quality of life is important and I don't think the town of Kingston took the residents into consideration that would be most affected by the turbine. And I don't think anybody did it maliciously. I don't think people realize what they were voting on. Even the people in charge didn't realize what they were doing. They weren't educated."

Doreen and her family have lived in this house for 22 years. The first problem with the turbine? The noise.

"Sometimes it's a boot in the dryer, other times it's more of like a whooshing."

"But the town is on top of it. The town did three sound studies prior to sighting the inc. Ston independence. Since it's gone up we have done a fourth sound study. They determined that there are conditions where the wind turbine exceeds noise levels, so every day they take a reading on what the noise levels are and determine if they can operate. If not, and if they can't, they shut the wind turbine down."

Another issue, says Riley, is the troubling phenomenon called shadow flicker, a strobing effect created by the blades, as shown in these youtube videos.

This is what I come home to. We have it here at our home for over an hour and a half some days. So when the sun is out, you can't read, you can't watch tv, you can't be out in the yard. It's just too irritating, and it makes you feel sick."

"There's no identified health hazards from flicker. It's viewed as an annoyance, and things that annoy people certainly have an effect on them."

"I think for people living in that situation it feels like more than an annoyance, it reduces their quality of life."

"I think that's very possible from their perspective. For the vast majority of people it's been very successful."

Riley says that since the turbine went up in 2012, she and other opponents have amassed mountains of research and testimony to bolster their case. They say large turbines should be farther away from residential areas. Riley says the turbine should be shut down in spring and fall, on days when shadow flicker is as its rs worst. I've been here for 22 years and i love where i live. People say why don't you just move, well, I don't want to move and I love the town of kingston. We're not anti-wind, we're just looking for someone to help us and it's just not right."

A lot of issues on the table, no doubt rising electric rates take a toll on low income consumers. WCVB and bio heat and oil heating provider are supporting the salvation army's good neighbor fund, providing assistance for those who don't qualify for other forms of utility help. To find out more, log onto wcvb.com/"chronicle." i'm J.C. Monahan. I'm Anthony Everett. Have a good evening. We'll see you tomorrow night. Next "Chronicle," what happens here changes lives. I just felt like it was family. At-risk children who can see a better future. And I want to become a lawyer. A boston group's incredible life long commitment.