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Speakers warn of adverse effects from wind turbine developments By Liz Dadson |
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 Crowd gathers for meeting about industrial wind turbine developments in Huron-Kinloss | ||||
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Industrial wind turbine developments cause adverse health effects for those living near them. That's the word from three guest speakers who spoke to a crowd of about 250 people in the Point Clark Community Centre Saturday morning. Organized by Huron-Kinloss Against Lakeside Turbines (HALT), the meeting was called to provide technical and scientific information to help people understand why HALT is fighting the proposed wind developments in this area. The group is most concerned about the Bluewater Wind Project which would see 50 2.5-megawatt turbines installed north of the 2nd of Huron-Kinloss on both sides of Highway 21. Mike Sapiro of HALT called the meeting to order and said the group's goal is to protect the health and welfare of those exposed to wind turbines, especially since there are also plans to build off-shore turbines along the coast of Lake Huron. He said wind companies are here to take advantage of the massive Ontario government subsidies for building wind developments. But the wind projects are causing numerous adverse effects for those who live near them, including health problems, property devaluation, and neighbour disputes. "Our local council has had its powers stripped away," said Sapiro. "Now, we need to take our protest to the provincial government." He urged everyone in the audience to attend a meeting Sept. 16 in Clinton when Ian Hanna and Dr. Robert McMurtry will be speaking. Hanna of Big Island, Prince Edward County, has launched a legal action against the provincial government's Green Energy Act. He claims there is more than sufficient scientific uncertainty surrounding wind development in the province to allow Ontario's courts to strike down key portions of the legislation until such time as proper health studies have been carried out. McMurtry, former Dean of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario, reports that the number of people already apparently suffering adverse health effects from industrial wind turbines is now over 100 in Ontario alone. “The actions of this government have turned the Precautionary Principle on its head,” he says. He has been publicly calling for an independent epidemiological study into health effects from wind turbines since Nov. 23, 2008. HALT's main concerns arising from wind installations, surround noise levels and low frequency sound issues. These two factors and others have resulted in many apparent victims suffering from sleep deprivation, cardiac arrhythmia, tinnitus, nausea, heart palpitations, severe headaches and acute hypertensive episodes. Carmen Krogh of Killaloe, near Barry's Bay, has been studying these adverse health effects for several years and is a founding member of the Society of Wind Vigilance which consists of many health professionals, including McMurtry. She said that the research done regarding wind turbines has not considered the human response. As for off-shore projects, she noted that turbines have never been installed in fresh water before. "Many communities draw their drinking water from the lake," she said, noting that more research must be done about the effects of these turbines in the water. Regarding on-shore wind projects, Krogh said the World Health Organization states that "annoyance" is an adverse health effect, so the annoyance caused by the incessant turning of the wind turbines is a serious situation. She said even the American and Canadian Wind Energy Associations have acknowledged there are adverse effects from the turbines. A review done by Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Arlene King, is fraught with inaccuracies and contradictions, said Krogh. That review indicates there is no conclusive evidence that wind turbine developments cause adverse health effects. Krogh said many of these health conditions stem from the low frequency noise from the wind turbines. "People have been doing strange things to get away from this kind of noise," she said, "including sleeping in a tent or in their car or leaving town altogether and sleeping elsewhere." She said some low frequency noise sufferers said their house hummed and they can't get away from the noise of it. "More research about the health effects of wind turbines is urgently needed," she said. "And we need guidelines for the maximum exposure allowed in order to avoid adverse health effects." As for the off-shore turbines, she said the Ontario Ministry of the Environment wants the turbines 5,000 metres from shore. However, sound travels a greater distance across the water, said Krogh. "We simply don't know enough about this." David Colling of Ripley told of his experience testing houses in the Ripley area affected by the wind project there. He said residents who were exposed for a long time to dirty electricity, have electro-hyper-sensitivity which is very serious. It causes ringing in the ears, which Colling felt, himself, when he was in the affected house testing it.
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 Carmen Krogh (L) of Killaloe, and David Colling of the Ripley area, speak about the adverse effects caused by wind turbines  Stephana Johnston of Norfolk County tells the audience what it's like living beside an industrial wind development "Wind and solar projects should generate a pure 60 Hz to avoid these problems," he said. Colling said that wind companies hired him to test for dirty electricity but didn't want to hear the truth of what he was telling them. "It would scare you if you knew what was going on," he said. "There's a lot of money backing these wind companies. And it means your hydro bills will triple in the next five years." He urges farmers to seek the advice of a corporate lawyer before they sign a lease agreement with these companies. Stephana Johnston of Norfolk County explained what it's like living beside an industrial wind development. She and her neighbours, in a small rural community, discovered the county council had agreed in secret to allow a 38-turbine project near their community. It changed the nature of their area from agricultural to an industrial wind turbine zone. Eighteen more turbines were put up within three kilometres of the residential area, causing many people to have adverse health effects - about one-third of them abandoned their homes or are trying to sell. In Johnston's case, she rented an apartment in Delhi, about 50 kilometres from her home, and when she stayed there, her health problems disappeared. Once she returned to her home, the symptoms came back. "Now, I sleep in my son's trailer," she said. "I've actually had a doctor tell me that my hearing problems are caused by the proximity to wind turbines." She said people need to lobby the Ontario medical officer of health to get proper research done about the health effects of wind projects. "Be vigilant and don't allow these developments near you," she said. "You're working against a powerful lobby group. The wind associations have deep pockets. I urge you to stay opposed, keep working and never give up." For more information about wind developments and adverse health effects, check the following sites:
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