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MPP Carol Mitchell recently quoted Minister of Environment John Wilkinson on the Green Energy Act:  "These rules were put in place to protect human health.  We established a tough setback of at least 550 metres from what is known as a receptor.”

While government and public health officials maintain their policies protect human health, just the opposite was demonstrated at The First International Symposium on the Global Wind Industry and Adverse Health Effects, held October 29-31 in Picton Ontario.

Independent scientists from several countries assembled to share their findings and concerns during this landmark event.

Is it a coincidence that Ontario government and health officials did not accept their invitations to attend this symposium?  Attendance would have enabled them to expand their knowledge beyond the literature reviews they tout as 'proof' their policies could not be impacting health.

Is it true they were told not to attend, as the topics would not be 'congruent with the government's policy'?   It is politically expedient for scientific evidence to be ignored by the current provincial government in their rush to fill rural Ontario with wind turbines. We should all ask why they are hiding from the truth - the effects being experienced in numerous communities already, and the science behind these effects.

The evidence presented at the symposium by experts in ear physiology, sleep disorders, noise, infrasound, and epidemiology demonstrated the mechanisms by which adverse health effects can occur in proximity to wind turbines.

Infrasound is a significant component in the etiology of health effects being experienced, yet is completely ignored in Ontario's regulations. Results from a case-control study in the U.S. will soon be published, showing a significant relationship between proximity to turbines and impacts on health, using standardized, validated health measurements.

According to Carl Phillips, PhD (public policy, Harvard; professor of public health): 'there is overwhelming evidence that there are health problems from turbines near residences'. According to Alec Salt, PhD, Professor of Otolaryngology, there are physiological reasons for wind turbine infrasound effects, and allowing turbines to be located 550 metres from people's homes is 'insane'.  Symposium proceedings are available at www.windvigilance.com.

The symposium presenters, attending on their own dime, assembled to share their findings and scientific expertise in an effort to better understand the phenomena being observed in wind turbine developments worldwide. They all shared genuine concern and a desire to prevent harm.

Our provincial government and public health officers would do well to follow suit. Our rural families deserve nothing less.

J. Morris, MHSc  (Community Health & Epidemiology)
Woodstock ON

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Tuesday, November 16, 2010