HARRISBURG — A proposed wind farm near Harrisburg by a Chicago company quickly divided this mid-Missouri town over the past month.

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Though still a long way from fruition — or even a concrete application — the prospect of up to about 50 turbines and 200 megawatts has already stoked debate across some of the surrounding farms and growing bedroom communities of Monroe County.

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"It's all backed by greed. the almighty dollar. with disregard to human lives and the wild life and it's devastating. our hearts are broken," Kim Tindel said.

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The growth of wind farming in Missouri creates green energy and less dependence on out-of-state- coal. But the impacts of turbines and transmission lines may also spark neighbor-to-neighbor, farmer-to-government, and rural-to-urban tensions.

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The turbines were controversial from the get-go. Farmers who allowed them on their land welcomed the extra cash. They are paid about $8,500 a year for each turbine. ...However, others felt the turbines destroyed the beauty and peacefulness of the area. "We're tried to stay out of it," said Perkins' wife Monica. "It is their property to do whatever they want, but when it starts affecting everyone around them... I don't think that's right."

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Opponents of the Osborn Wind Energy Center have created a group called Concerned Citizens For The Future of Clinton and DeKalb counties in an effort to derail the project, despite early moves toward construction, 

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Signs in opposition to the Osborn Wind Energy Center building, a wind farm in Clinton and DeKalb counties, can be seen on U.S. Highway 36. An action has been filed in DeKalb County Circuit Court that questions the method of applying for permits for the work being done for the project.

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The following is the speech that I gave at the Clinton County Planning and Zoning Board meeting on January 22, 2016 that I would like to share with your readers.

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Changes to the landscape are inevitable. But farmers shouldn’t be conscripted to serve a climate-change agenda. States should think twice before granting the power of eminent domain to developers of renewable-energy projects, who should have to negotiate with individual landowners like everybody else.

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Shatto fears a wind energy project proposed for the region by NextEra Energy, based in Florida. Shatto says a wind turbine would be erected less than a half-mile from his farm. "That's very scary to us," he said. "Anything that comes about, whether it's noise, whether it's electricity, that can all put stress on the dairy animals."

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The wind industry will no doubt try to dismiss Windfall as a piece of anti-"green" energy agitprop. But the controversies over wind energy development that Israel exposes in Meredith are not going away. Indeed, as the wind industry continues its breakneck expansion here in the US and around the world, the number of controversies like the one in Meredith, along with the number of mad-as-hell landowners like Charlie Porter, will only increase.

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Charlie Porter has farmed north of King City for years, but it's the new farm next door he says is robbing his family. Talking about the Wind Capital facility nearby, Porter explains, "These windmills have stole our peace and quiet." The massive wind energy farm was built around his ranch a few years ago, changing the look and "sound" of things.

Noise Impact on People Missouri

Resident Charlie Porter is suing over the noise. His 20-acre farm north of King City is surrounded by the giant wind turbines. "On a bad day, what does it sound like?" KMBC's Kris Ketz asked Porter. "It sounds like a helicopter, or a train coming that never arrives," Porter said.

Noise Impact on People Missouri

A northern Missouri man has filed a lawsuit against farm equipment maker Deere & Co. and a wind energy company alleging nearby wind turbines have hurt his property values and made him ill. Charlie Porter filed the lawsuit in the 4th Circuit Court of Missouri against Deere and The Wind Capital Group, a St. Louis-based wind energy company.

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Wind farms might reduce air pollution. But, one neighbor in King City, Missouri says they're a major source of noise pollution. Now, the man is suing the operators of Missouri's first wind farm. If wind farms are the nation's future, Charlie Porter says look out. He calls them a nightmare especially when he tries to go to bed at night.

Noise Impact on People Missouri

Here in this northwest Missouri farm town, 27 industrial wind turbines have been generating more than electricity -- health concerns, a federal lawsuit and a family feud, for starters. The wind industry, which produces about 1 percent of the nation's energy, has gained considerable purchase in the U.S, growing by 45 percent last year. ...Now come claims that industrial windmills cause what one researcher calls "wind turbine syndrome," a range of symptoms that include headaches, anxiety, sleep problems and dizziness in some people who live close by. "It's like someone swinging a rope over your head," says Gentry County horse breeder Charlie Porter of the several wind turbines within about 2,000 feet of his home near King City.

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Two brothers-in-law, a country road in northwest Missouri, a fistfight ...Surely it's happened before, but probably never over wind energy. ...At the heart of the dispute: Just how healthy is the noise from wind turbines? ...In Rock County, Union Township residents studied medical and scientific research for months before drafting their wind ordinance, which says a setback of at least a half-mile from inhabited structures is needed to avoid health problems. Tom Alisankus, chairman of the committee that drafted the ordinance, said committee members found in their research that the state of Wisconsin had no medical or scientific data to back a model ordinance with a 1,000-foot setback. Proposed legislation that would have allowed the state's Public Service Commission to set statewide siting standards failed to reach a vote before the session ended last month. Doctors in other countries, including Canada, England, France, Australia and New Zealand, have written papers about similar illnesses in people who live near wind farms. ..."Does noise bother people differently? Absolutely," said Smith, the area audiologist. "It can have a very debilitating effect." But, he said, before anyone can conclude that the wind turbines are harmful, a major study must be done.

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Last year, 400-foot-tall wind turbines were erected near King City, some less than 2,000 feet from Charlie Porter's house on his small acreage. Soon the sounds from the blades swooshing through the air and other noise were driving Porter and his family crazy, he said. "The sound gets in your head like a saw and you can't get rid of it," Porter said. "Some people compare it to a train that never arrived." Porter's complaints upset his brother-in-law, a Gentry County commissioner who helped bring the wind farm and new economy to the area, as well as others. In February, it spilled over into a fistfight between them, then a lawsuit. At the heart of the dispute: Just how healthy is the noise from wind turbines? ...One researcher calls it "wind turbine syndrome," a collection of symptoms that include headaches, anxiety attacks and high blood pressure. Doctors in some other countries have done research on people who live near turbines and say the sounds they emit make them sick. Several researchers suggest that turbines should be set back from homes, schools and hospitals by more than a mile.

Noise Impact on People Missouri