The owner of the nursery at Gislinge fears for his employees' health because of low frequency noise from wind turbines.
The owner of the nursery at Gislinge fears for his employees' health because of low frequency noise from wind turbines.
The owner of the nursery at Gislinge fears for his employees' health because of low frequency noise from wind turbines.
Ten giant wind turbines on Lammefjord by Gislinge have produced plenty of power back to the energy company Vattenfall and to consumers in less than three years.
But now they have also blown a 43 year old nursery with 15 employees and an annual turnover of 12 million kroner to the ground, according to the daily Nordvestnyt.
Boye Jensen, owner of Lammefjordens Perennials, has chosen to shut down almost the entire nursery, located within 4-700 meters of three of the turbines which will leave only a few employees to return occasionally.
Nursery owner has taken the difficult decision after a Jutland mink breeder was able to …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]The owner of the nursery at Gislinge fears for his employees' health because of low frequency noise from wind turbines.
Ten giant wind turbines on Lammefjord by Gislinge have produced plenty of power back to the energy company Vattenfall and to consumers in less than three years.
But now they have also blown a 43 year old nursery with 15 employees and an annual turnover of 12 million kroner to the ground, according to the daily Nordvestnyt.
Boye Jensen, owner of Lammefjordens Perennials, has chosen to shut down almost the entire nursery, located within 4-700 meters of three of the turbines which will leave only a few employees to return occasionally.
Nursery owner has taken the difficult decision after a Jutland mink breeder was able to prove that a third of his mink born were deformed and stillborn pups after several giant wind turbines were set up nearby.
Himself a neighbour to 127-metre high wind turbines since their installation three years ago, Boye Jensen has long been convinced that low frequency noise emitted by the turbines makes people ill as they do animals.
“When the mink case became known to the public, five of my staff resigned. You have to know that all my female employees have been complaining of irregular menstruations, and several workers have permanent headaches.
“They are also afraid of getting chronic illnesses, and I don’t want to be responsible for one of them giving birth to a deformed child. So, I am shutting down my life-long enterprise”, he says.
Request for a compensation of millions of krones
Boye Jensen’s big problem is that the authorities are still not sure that giant wind turbines make people sick, and it is uncertain whether he can get compensation. But the 67-year-old nursery owner is going for a compensation in the millions. “I am closing my business because of the turbines. Otherwise I would have continued for 6-7 years, and then I would have put the nursery on the market. But now the property is unsalable.
“First, together with my lawyer, we need to find out whom we will take to court: Vattenfall, which own the turbines, or the municipality of Holbæk, which approved their installation.”
In Holbæk, Mayor Soren Kjærsgaard is sad that Lammefjordens Perennials are now withering away into nothing. But he is not worried about a lawsuit for damages. “We have tried to help Lammefjordens Perennials by getting a medical officer from the national health administration, as well as the Ministry of Public Health, to look into the matter. But the municipality has no legal ground for stepping in. The windfarm legislation sets very clearly what may and may not be done, and Vattenfall has been complying with noise limits.
<Translation assisted using Google Translate>