Massachusetts House of Representatives Wind Turbine Noise Comments June 6, 2017

Massachusetts House of Representatives Wind Turbine Noise Comments June 6, 2017

Wind Turbine Noise Comments Massachusetts June 6, 2017
Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture

H.464----------An Act relative to noise pollution
H.2133--------An Act relative to noise pollution and air pollution
Public hearing Tuesday, June 6, 1-5 p.m., State House, Rm 437 (4th fl.)
Comments to:

Senate Chair Anne Gobi: anne.gobi@masenate.gov

House Chair Gailanne Carriddi: Gailanne.Cariddi@mahouse.gov

State Representative Todd Smola : Todd.Smola@MAHouse.gov

• Scientist Neil Kelley and his team in the mid 1980s thoroughly documented significant adverse health effects resulting from inaudible, very-low-frequency sound produced by a large wind turbine in Boone, N.C. This scientifically rigorous NASA and Department of Energy-sponsored study, in cooperation with MIT and four other prestigious universities looked into complaints from nearby residents about sleep problems along with whooshing and thumping sounds it made.The wind turbine also had complaints of disrupted television line of sight reception.

• In 1979 a wind turbine installation began on Block Island, Rhode Island. This experimental wind turbine on Block Island caused line of sight television interference. In order to operate the turbine the island had to have cable TV installed.

• A PowerPoint Presentation delivered by VESTAS employee Erik Sloth at the Australian Wind Energy Association conference in 2004 shows that VESTAS, Bonus Energy A/S (subsequently Siemens Wind Power) and DELTA knew the wind turbine noise prediction models were inadequate, and that further research was required. As the paper was presented to the AUSWEA conference, the attendees would have all learnt that the models were inadequate, and that there was a need for research and a safe buffer zone.

• The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust's Community Wind Collaborative on behalf of the towns of Mattapoisett, Marion & Rochester prepared by Sally Wright and Lynn DiTullio of the Renewable Energy Research Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts a " Fatal Flaws Analysis for a Wind Turbine " (2005) described ( 2) two distinct types of noise from wind turbines. The study described regulatory compliance measured in decibels and human annoyance. The 1980s NASA and Department of Energy determined the human annoyance as low frequency sound or infra-sound. Between 2005 and 2008 the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust's Community Wind Collaborative :" Fatal Flaws Analysis for a Wind Turbine " can be found in multiple boiler plate noise studies state wide and all refer to (2) distinct types of noise.

• The World Health Organization,WHO, by 2009 had definitively established that inaudible very-low-frequency, infra-sound is a human health hazard, that it can disturb sleep, and increase heart rate and blood pressure, leading in susceptible individuals, to permanent effects such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease, even at sound levels below 30 dB(A).

• In 2011 the Chief Executive Officer of Vestas wind company CEO Engel Ditlev wrote a letter to Karen Ellemann about low frequency noise. The CEO responded that Vestas does not have the technology to stop the noise.

Four more recent preliminary studies :

• 1. Ambrose & Rand’s Falmouth, Mass., 2011;
• 2. Shomer, Rand, et. al., Shirley project, Brown County, Wisconsin, 2012;
• 3. Cooper, Bridgewater, Australia, 2014 of projects with large modern upwind turbines have replicated and confirmed Kelley’s findings; i.e., infra sound, not audible sound, is a major contributor to the health fallout from today’s industrial wind projects.
• 4. In 2015 NOISE CONTROL ENGINEERING, LLC prepared a report that infrasound measurements of Falmouth wind turbines Wind #1 and Wind #2 . The report concluded more commonly, this study finds that the wind turbine(s) produce acoustic emissions which are “acoustically trespassing” into a home.

• World wide people living near wind turbines report symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, and sleep disturbance, the scientific evidence available since the 1980s demonstrates a direct link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects.

• People are the best and excellent human-response indicators of wind turbine noise

Thanks Frank Haggerty