Scituate Massachusetts residents address wind turbine concerns with Board of Health

[Dave]

Besides the concerns we've heard about the wind turbines before, mainly the effect on the land values around the area of where turbines are put, I've come to learn of there being health concerns and other concerns. As the article hear speaks about, there are health concerns regarding the turbines. Another concern I've come to find out about in the last few days is the turbines affecting reception of both TV and ham radio signal. Had a customer in my store a few days ago that mentioned that since the turbines came in that he can't get reception like he use to. He has contacted Consumers and was told that they would cover the cost of building new antenna towers... the catch is is that he has to first at his expense put these towers up and then Consumers will pay him.

It should also be noted that Scituate is not the only town in Massachusetts that is having a health issue with the wind turbines, Falmouth also has concerns regarding their turbines.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Several Scituate residents are going through the town's Board of Health to try to remove the newly installed wind turbine on The Driftway.

At a meeting Monday night, resident David Dardi and several neighbors met with town health officials to discuss the issue and formally request that something be done.

Dardi, a summertime resident of Scituate, said that since he moved back to town and found the turbine several hundred feet from his backyard, he has suffered from sleep deprivation because of the turbine noise.

Other residents who live nearby complain of ringing of the ears, dizziness, and vertigo, Dardi said.

“This is the first shot forward in the Scituate community against the wind turbine. I think it’s a big move. And it’s not just one person, and it’s all around – to the north, west and east of it. There is a big problem,” Dardi said in a phone interview.

In addition to coming with several other residents, Dardi showed up to the meeting with a petition containing over 20 signatures of neighbors who also had problems.

“I was very happy about how my presentation was received,” Dardi said following the meeting. “[The board was] very excited listening, they didn’t act bored, they asked questions and there were a number of people who supported what I said. I have 25 different houses, 360 degrees around the turbine, with problems with noise, shadow flicker. They were all there.”

Also present at the meeting was Sumul Shah, owner of Solaya Energy, which owns and operates the turbine.

Shah wasn’t immediately available for comment for this article; however, according to Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi, it is far too early to determine what kind of steps might be taken in response to complaints.

“The folks went to the Board of Health and they have taken the issue under advisement. I think they are even having another meeting to digest all the info they received last night,” Vinchesi said. “Jennifer [Sullivan, Director of the Board of Health] told me one of their members wasn’t there, so they want to bring him in and bring him up to speed, I’m sure they will be discussing it at their next meeting, but it would be very extremely premature to comment any further at this point.”

On Tuesday, Sullivan and Chairman Russell Clark came out to speak with residents and hear the noise for themselves.

They, too, are reserving judgment for what might occur in the future.

“We only started the process last night, so it’s going to take a while,” Sullivan said. “It’s still a new field, and there [are] a lot of questions to be answered.”

Regardless of what occurs from here, Dardi, who also testified against turbines at a Plymouth Planning Board hearing, said the opponents of the wind turbine are off to a good start.

“I testified before planning board in Plymouth when they went to support a two-year moratorium, and one man said, ‘If one person gets sick that’s too many for me, and I support this moratorium.’ That should be the attitude of our public leaders,” Dardi said. “This isn’t a Third World country. Granted we have an energy problem....Alternative sources of energy is a wonderful thing, but where do we draw the line?”

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/scituate/2012/09/scituate_resid...

[XLFD]

The radio reception issue with our local wind farm was looked at here:  could-our-mom-triumph-over-the-lake-winds-energy-farm, but so far it hasn't seemed to be an issue.  Sunday I traveled south and  could hear the signal clearly past New Era.  I'm hoping to do some field research this spring to look into the turbine issue further, but would love to hear from anyone before then anything positive or negative about the wind turbines so far since they started operation in late fall.

[Dave]

The wife of one of the people I work with has been having some of the health related issues that were described by the residents in the article above. If I can, I'll see if I can either get a little more info about her exact issues or if possible, just have her post them here. From what I understand, her and her husband live just down the road from one of the turbines.

[Willy]

I wish someone connected with the real estate industry would compile a study of how property values have been affected by the installation of these towers. It would also be interesting to see what the houses, if any, have sold for and how long they have been on the market. I would also like to know how much interest potential buyers have displayed in real estate located around the towers. I know property owners who can't even get people to look at their property now that they are surrounded  by these monster monoliths.