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The Suncor/Acciona wind project may have been a boost for the
Ripley area, but it has created nothing but health problems for
a group of landowners who live near the power line that connect
the wind farm to the electrical grid.
They came to Huron-Kinloss council Jan. 19, asking for help in
correcting the problems by forcing the company to bury the line.
Sandy MacLeod said that as of the last week of November, 2007,
she has had trouble sleeping. Over the following 13 months, she
suffered from headaches, unstoppable ringing in the ears, high
blood pressure and other health problems.
"We need council to work with us and get the company to return
us to the pleasurable environment we have enjoyed for many
years," she said, adding that council should examine the wording
of other municipalities pertaining to wind farms and conduct a
health study. "The company will no longer work with us; will
council help us?"
Glen Wylds, another neighbour, said on January 13, that, "All
the turbines were down and I've felt better than I have in
months."
"We're trying to work things out with the company on our own,"
said David Colling, an expert in electrical pollution. "I have
been involved since July before the windmills went up. One of
the families called me because they were concerned about stray
voltage. I call it electrical pollution."
A reference test was done in February, 2008, he said, when a
family contacted Colling because of health problems. Drawing on
worldwide evidence, Colling blamed the problems on "dirty
electricity."
"The high frequency of this electricity makes your house like a
microwave," he said. "People are becoming hypersensitive to the
electrical pollution and it's causing such things as chronic
fatigue, fibromyalgia, and ringing in the ears. This is not a
psychological thing. It's a real problem."
Further testing proved that all the families living near the
wind farm power line were experiencing electrical sensitivity.
"The power quality problems are affecting these customers," said
Colling. "The variable speed motors (on the wind turbines) need
proper insulators or they cause these effects. The company knows
about this but doesn't want to admit it."
(next column)
26/01/2009 11:34 PM
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He said one group of residents is having major trouble
due to high frequency electrical pollution, while another group is
better off because the line is buried. A third group had a clean line of
electricity before the windmills were installed. In February, 2008, that
group experienced trouble because of dirty electricity but since the
line has been buried, the situation has improved, said Colling.
"The problem is that the company has connected the grounding grid of the
windmills to the distribution line (for these residents)," Colling
explained. "If I saw a system wired this way on a farm, I would freak;
it's totally irresponsible. That's why they should bury the line. You
can understand our frustration."
He said the company buried 30 kilometres of line and left nine
kilometres above the ground. "Why not bury the whole line?" he asked.
"Once the electricity reaches the substation, it is filtered."
Colling said another concern is the decommissioning of the windmills.
"The data coming out is that these are not cheap to bring down," he
said. "I've signed up for the next windmill phase and now I think it's
the biggest mistake I've ever made." Despite what municipalities do
about the wind turbines, Colling believes the province is going to
override everything because the province supports wind farms. "It's
going to be a horrific thing in Ontario," he said.
While he was conducting tests in a shed, Colling felt pressure in his
ears. An hour later, once he had completed the testing, he went home
with the worst headache he has ever had. "It took me 24 hours to get
over it. Once you have electrical hypersensitivity, it's very serious.
We need to get the collection line here buried so these people can stay
in their houses. I urge council to act fast if you're going to do
anything; otherwise, the province is going to take over."
"I never wanted to see one windmill built in the first place," said
councillor Jim Hanna.
"It's big money pushing this (wind projects)," said Colling. "It's hard
to stop them."
Council thanked the delegation for its presentation.
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