Oregon windmills bring backlash


Monday, April 06, 2009 | 10 comment(s)

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BOARDMAN, (AP) - Wind turbines may supply power without pollution but they are also generating complaints about noise and even possible health effects for people who live near them.

Dan Williams says the 240-foot-tall turbines he can see from his hilltop home near Boardman in Eastern Oregon make so much noise they keep him awake at night.

Williams is among neighbors along Oregon 74 demanding that Morrow County enforce state noise regulations on the Willow Creek Wind Energy Project or revoke its land-use permit.

The 40-year-old construction contractor told The Oregonian newspaper in Portland that wind-energy companies downplay the noise.

"They said this is going to be about as loud as your refrigerator in your house, which is a crock," Williams said.

With Oregon on track to triple its wind-energy production in coming years, concerns are likely to increase.

Oregon wind farms already generate 1,000 megawatts, enough to power as many as 300,000 homes, said Lou Torres, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Energy.

Wind farms to produce an additional 2,000 megawatts are in the works, he said, giving the state a total of about 2,000 turbines, many taller than the Statue of Liberty when blades are pointed up.

"When that (work) is completed in the next couple of years, we will probably be fourth or fifth in the country on wind energy," Torres told The Oregonian.

Many are planned for Columbia Plateau in Morrow, Sherman, Gilliam, Wasco and Umatilla counties.

The Oregon Facilities Siting Council last July approved a 909-megawatt farm with 305 turbines spread over 32,000 acres in Gilliam and Morrow counties, being developed by Caithness Energy of Chicago.

But the backlash is getting some attention.

In January, a Massachusetts company yanked plans for a wind farm outside The Dalles after opponents complained that it would be too close to homes, ruin spectacular Columbia River Gorge vistas and put wildlife at risk.

Other critics, including some in Oregon, cite work by a New York doctor who coined the term "wind turbine syndrome" to describe effects such as headaches, dizziness and memory loss of living near the machines.

"This thing is not rare," Dr. Nina Pierpont of Malone, N.Y., said of the syndrome.

Industry representatives dismiss such talk.

Shawna Seldon, spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association in Washington, D.C., said her group is unaware of any peer-reviewed research linking wind turbines and negative health effects.

Likewise, Mike Logsdon of Invenergy, the 6-year-old Chicago company that built the Willow Creek farm, also said there is no evidence suggesting the turbines cause health problems.

Still, another resident of the area, Mike Eaton, agrees with Williams and other neighbors who complain about the noise and vibrations from the turbines.

The retired 61-year-old furniture maker said the turbines give him nausea by aggravating inner-ear and balance problems he's had since a 1966-67 tour in Vietnam subjected him to the constant pounding of an Army 155 mm artillery piece.

"I cannot live where I'm living now with these decibels and vibrations," he said.

Carla McLane, Morrow County planning director, said health issues never came up during planning for the 72-megawatt Willow Creek project. The county approved the farm in 2005, and turbines began operating this past December.

But Ryan Swinburnson, an attorney for Morrow County, said officials take the complaints seriously.

"The county's position is if there is a violation, the violating party needs to correct it," he said.
Tags » energy, oregon
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Just An Observer wrote on Apr 7, 2009 8:58 AM:

Has anyone reading this article actually been to a wind turbine? Slept in a place close by a wind turbine? Rather than speculate, I hope we hear from some people who have gone to where the wind turbines are. That way we can verify or repudiate this story. If it's verified, then we act to deal with the situation. If it's repudiated then we just keep building 'em anywhere we can.


By the way, solar panels are not known for making noise. How about building some of those in relatively dry Eastern Oregon?

My Vote wrote on Apr 7, 2009 7:48 AM:

Anything to get rid of our dependence on foreign oil!

Just a thought wrote on Apr 7, 2009 7:21 AM:

I relize the need for alternative energy but the decision makers need to relize that you cant be putting these turbines in places where people actually live because they do make noise and do cause ground vibrations.I used to live near only one.I can only imagine the noise created by a whole farm.

Mr E wrote on Apr 7, 2009 12:13 AM:

This is a case of people hearing about these problems, and trying to find a way to feign injury, likely so that they can try to sue someone.

Hey, if you stand UNDER one of these wind towers, you may feel it. But they aren't built on top of houses.

washington girl wrote on Apr 6, 2009 11:08 PM:

the wind turbines i feel are a great power resorce... they are wonderfull energy savers and i love that there going up every where!!!

truth wrote on Apr 6, 2009 8:48 PM:

you all down there at the world don't want the truth if it does not fit your agenda.Free press or democrate reporting I know you have not got the guts to print this.After all it is the truth and you don't how to print that if it does not Fit your needs.FREEDOM OF THE PRESS ya B.S.

Furniture Maker wrote on Apr 6, 2009 7:43 PM:

Can handle the noise of power tools but has issues with the turbines?

I say to him to look on the bright side, @ 61 he doesn't have too many years left to worry about having to tolerate them.

DEWKNOT PASSGO wrote on Apr 6, 2009 7:28 PM:

What is the decibel level? These stories seem to have vague references to "high decibel levels" but never give any figures to back it up. It sounds a lot like NIMBY Syndrome to me.

Go forward wrote on Apr 6, 2009 6:40 PM:

Why do Orgonens want to stop anything good for the People.Mohave Cal has it the Bay Area Cal has it and they like it why stop something that will progress us.It is 2009 and don't you think it's time we wake up or should we sit back while every one goes forward. WAKE UP !!!! is this another oppurtunity to stiffle growth again in this state I would hope not.

Good Grief wrote on Apr 6, 2009 4:20 PM:

Everybody has an opinion. Enviro's gripe about Bio-mass energy and hydro energy. People gripe about LNG. Obama wants to go non-coal. These guys gripe about wind energy. Come on people. With the increase of population and Energy demands. We need more output. I got one soultion that is clean and would supply plenty of energy for everyone. Nuclear energy. Europe is already experiencing the benifits from it. OOPS! Sorry, I forgot Obama just put the brakes on that program. Guess we'll just have to start cooking with fire, and reading by candle light.


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