Wind turbines in Plymouth declared public health nuisance

PLYMOUTH – After years of fighting, Plymouth has declared several massive wind turbines a public health nuisance.

“Thank goodness they’re responding,” said Karen McMahon, who has lived for three years in the shadow of several 500-foot tall wind turbines. “It’s horrible and it vibrates. And it vibrates the windows.”

She says it is nearly impossible to tune out the sound of the giant blades. “There are three sets of blades that I can see from my living room,” she said.

Her neighbor Larry McGrath has lost sleep. “Why put them next to a neighborhood? No reason for it. They should be taken down,” McGrath said.

The turbines have been up on private property since 2016, but just this week the Plymouth Board of Health declared the turbines a public health nuisance after repeated pleas from neighbors like McMahon.

“They have nothing against wind turbines but they don’t want them in residential areas,” said Birgitta Kuehn, the chair of the Plymouth Board of Health. She says what happens with these turbines is up in the air for now, but the board is now going to take a hard look at the health impacts in the weeks and months ahead.

“The industry itself is constantly refining itself. It’s getting better. And we want to know what they have done regarding public health issues,” Kuehn said.

McMahon wants them down now, but she says at least her voice is being heard, over the hum of the turbines.

“They have to act,” McMahon said. “Some intervention has to happen.”

Con Edison Solutions owns the wind turbines. They have not responded to WBZ-TV’s request for comment.