Monthly Archives: May 2017

Adverse Health Effects, Health, Health effects from wind turbines, Noise

Environmental Noise Pollution: Has Public Health Become too Utilitarian?

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noise sensitiveAbstract: Environmental noise pollution is an ever-increasing problem. The various sources: Aircraft, Road Traffic and Wind Farms are reviewed, but the latter source, because of the intrusive, impulsive and incessant nature of the sound emitted, is the major focus of this review. Wind turbines produce a range of sound but it is the Infrasound and low frequency noise which deserves special attention. Infrasound is considered to be below the range of human hearing so it is not measured in routine noise assessments in the wind farm planning process. There is, however, evidence that many can register it and a sizeable minority is sensitive, or becomes sensitised to it. The actual route of transmission still requires elucidation. The net effect of the entire range of noise produced is interference with sleep and sleep deprivation. Sleep, far from being a luxury is vitally important to health and insufficient sleep, in the long term, is associated with a spectrum of diseases, particularly Cardiovascular. The physiological benefits of sleep are reviewed, as is the range of diseases which the sleep-deprived are predisposed to. Governments, anxious to meet Green targets and often receiving most of their advice on health matters from the wind industry, must commission independent studies so that the Health and Human Rights of their rural citizens is not infringed. Public Health, in particular, must remember its roots in Utilitarianism which condoned the acceptance of some Collateral Damage provided that the greatest happiness of the greatest number was ensured. The degree of Collateral Damage caused by wind farms should be totally unacceptable to Public Health which must, like good government, fully exercise the Precautionary Principle. The types of study which should be considered are discussed. Indeed, the father of Utilitarian Philosophy, Jeremy Bentham, urged that government policy should be fully evaluated.

Keywords: Environmental Noise Pollution, Wind Farms, Infrasound, Health Impacts

Evans, A. (2017) Environmental Noise Pollution: Has Public Health Become too Utilitarian? Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 80-109. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2017.55007

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Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Direct Effects, Health, Health effects from wind turbines, Ontario Wind

Medical Officer of Health- Authority to Stop Noxious Wind Turbines in Question

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Medical Officer of Health does not have the authority to stop noxious wind turbines

Posted on 05/16/2017

Just in case we thought the wind turbines would be ordered to be mitigated or shut down  if health problems were noticed in the Huron County Health study – nope that’s not gonna happen. Read the correspondence below and you will realize that it is all just ‘process’, with no action to ‘correct’ on the horizon. Basically more people are just being used as test subjects. That’s it. And that’s flat out unacceptable.

Thanks to Richard Mann, Associate Professor  Department of Computer Science; University of Waterloo for this.

From: Erica Clark
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2017 3:44 PM
Subject: Ability of MOH to write orders against wind turbines under section 13 of HPPA

Hello,

One of the issues the University of Waterloo ethics committee asked us to address was the hope residents had that, at some time, the Medical Officer of Health would be able to write an order curtailing or shutting down the wind turbines. We had already stated in the recruitment materials that the study would not generate sufficient evidence to prove wind turbines cause health problems (establishing causality) but the ethics committee questioned whether we were providing enough information on the limits of the Medical Officer of Health’s authority. To address that concern, we have spoken with individuals experienced in interpreting the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) specifically, sections 11 (investigating health hazards) and 13 (writing orders). They provided us with the attached documents that outline the limits on the MOH’s authority to write orders.

The first document (Pelletier v Northwestern Health Unit) is the proceedings from an Ontario Health Services Appeal and Review Board and the second (Court File 2006-01-04) is a judicial review of the appeal hearing by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Essentially, these documents state that when the Legislature places the authority to regulate with one organization, such as municipal councils or the Ministry of the Environment, the courts do not accept that there was an intention to give the same authority to the MOH under section 13 of the HPPA. The rulings were made when the Northwestern Health Unit MOH wrote orders prohibiting exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (second hand smoke) in several bars and restaurants. At the time the orders were written, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was (and still is) deemed a health hazard.

Since the Legislature assigned the duty to regulate wind turbines to the Ministry of the Environment and not the health units, the courts will not recognize the authority of the MOH under section 13 of the HPPA to write an order curtailing or shutting down the wind turbines.

I will be putting these documents on the health unit website soon, however, I wanted you to have a chance to read them first. The documents are publicly available at

Thanks

Erica

____________________________________
Erica Clark, PhD
Epidemiologist, APHEO Secretary
Huron County Health Unit
77722B London Rd., RR #5
Clinton, ON N0M 1L0
519.482.3416 ext. 2022
Toll-free 1.877.837.6143
http://www.huronhealthunit.ca
eclark@huroncounty.ca

Reposted from: Ontario Wind Resistance

Canada Wind, Green Energy, Ontario Wind

906 Farms in Ontario Host Industrial Wind Turbines

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tractor and turbine
Industrial wind turbine being erected on prime agricultural land 

Census of Agriculture recently released by Statistics Canada shines a light on some interesting statistics about renewable installations on Ontario farms.  There are 2 465 wind turbines erected in the province as of 2016.

Renewable Energy:

“About 10,255 farms have a renewable energy system, Stats Canada reports. Of those farms, about 85 per cent had solar panels and 15.7 per cent had wind turbines.

Approximately 5,180 farms in Ontario had renewable energy systems, the most of any province. 4,428 farms (85.5 per cent) of these respondents said they use solar panels compared to 906 with wind turbines.”

Farms.com

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Summerhaven wind turbines in Haldimand County, Ontario
Adverse Health Effects, Health, Noise, Ontario Wind

Catching The Breeze. The Local Sound Experience

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MAWT Logo Narrow

&  WLGWAG logo

Would like to welcome all residents to an action packed community meeting.

Catching The Breeze

The Local Sound Experience

Sounds that you cannot hear and their risk of health effects on the human body

Guest Speaker:  Mr. Andy Metelka

President/Acoustics Expert of

Sound & Vibration Solutions Canada Inc.

Thursday, May 18, 2017  Doors open @ 6:30pm

Covenant Christian School, Gymnasium, 6470 Niagara Reg Rd 14, Smithville, ON  L0R 2A0

Exhibits with valuable resources & information

Refreshments  

Connect & reconnect with neighbours

wind energy 1

 May 18, 2017 The Local Sound Experience

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Wind Turbines Never Considered in Property Assessment

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Dave Hemingway of Huron County has been battling the powers that be over impacts of wind turbines in relationship to his property’s assessment.  His ongoing battle has taken years and has hit many roadblocks.  One major barrier he claims is the failure of  MPAC to consider impacts of wind facility infrastructure by instructing its assessors not to consider how close the wind turbines  are when making an assessment.

MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation)  has continued to hold fast to its official line that industrial wind turbines have no measureable impacts on the values for properties in close proximity to wind turbines. It uses several reports to bolster its current stance.

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Huron Resident Wants Turbines Considered In His Property Assessment

BY MAY 4, 2017 4:14AM

A Goderich Township residents says a hearing over his right to challenge his assessment that has gone on for about six years, could have been resolved much sooner.

Dave Hemmingway outlined his position Wednesday at a hearing in Clinton.

He said his main contentions include the fact that proximity to wind turbines was never considered in his assessment.

Hemmingway added he has recorded testimony that assessment officers were specifically told not to consider proximity to wind turbines.  He also contends that assessment officers did not have the proper training to do their jobs.

Hemmingway questioned the legality of much of the written material turned over by MPAC because there is no signature on it.  He also stated the chair of one board actually signed a document six months after she had left the board.

Following the Clinton hearing, Hemmingway said he doesn’t know when he’ll get a ruling.

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Adverse Health Effects, Direct Effects, fighting big wind., Health, Health effects from wind turbines, Shadow Flicker, Turbines & Property Devalue

Shadow Flicker

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You have to see it to believe it.  You have to see it to understand the intrusive severe nature of trespass for residents whose homes are now adjacent to industrial wind turbines.  You have to see it to gain an idea of the damaging effects of being exposed to strobing shadow flicker in the most private of places your home.

““As it stands, shadow flicker is annoying and annoyance is a serious health issue under the World Health Organization.”

Wind facilities are NOT good neighbours.

Dashwood couple’s problem with shadow flicker raises ire

By Lynda Hillman-Rapley, Postmedia Network

Friday, May 5, 2017 5:06:39 EDT PM

Matt Metzgar’s video has gone viral.

Filmed April 28 and then uploaded, the video of the shadow flicker his parents live with at their RR 1, Dashwood home has been viewed over 44,000 times and has been shared 740 times.

Metzgar filmed and then shared the video to draw attention to the conditions in which his parents have had to endure from a nearby wind turbine. The turbine is placed 667 metres away from their home, but the shadows from the rotating blades reach their home on County Rd. 83 in Huron County.

“Most people admire a beautiful sunset, my parents not so much,” Metzgar says in the video.

The video has drawn comments from around the globe, but more importantly for Metzgar, it’s also drawn the attention of Northland Power, which owns and operates that wind turbine and others. Northland has promised to investigate, and has even offered to provide some blinds for the occupants “until a permanent solution” can be found.

The senior Metzgar have lived with the flicker problem – without complaint – since the turbine became operational in 2016. They didn’t want to be interviewed about the situation.

But their son believes the flicker needs to be corrected. Indeed, he said his parents can’t watch television without their viewing being interfered by the movement of the turbine blades.

“My parents have never been complainers,” Metzgar said. “And they don’t wish to be seen as such. They don’t have any hope that complaining will get them any results. I, however, have heard them mention the shadow flicker numerous times but never experienced it until last month. I was under the impression that the flicker is the same as what I’m experiencing at my home. That flicker lasts for about 45 minutes, and since we are not using the east part of my house in the morning for prolonged times, I just took notice of their complaints and never thought it was this extreme.”

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Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Health, Noise, Ontario Wind

No One Should Have to Suffer

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MPP Lisa Thompson called upon Minister of Environment to meet family adversely impacted by wind turbine noise. She calls out new  Ontario Noise Guidelines for Industrial Wind Turbines as failing to “cut it” by not taking into account tonal qualities  of exposure in a home.  Facts matter.  No ONE should have to suffer.

Cost Benefit, fighting big wind., Green Energy, legal challenges

Big Green and Mean

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next era bullies

Big ‘Green’ and Mean: A Wind-Energy Giant Attacks Small-Town America

by ROBERT BRYCE May 2, 2017 4:00 AM @PWRHUNGRY

The world’s biggest wind-turbine company has filed lawsuits against five rural governments because they stand between it and millions in tax subsidies.

NextEra Energy, which bills itself on its website as “the world’s largest generator of renewable energy,” is suing a tiny municipality in one of Oklahoma’s poorest counties. In mid February, NextEra, which operates 110 wind projects in 20 states, filed lawsuits in both state and federal court against the town of Hinton, population: 3,200. Why is the wind giant suing the Caddo County town? Simple: Hinton stands between NextEra and nearly $18 million per year in federal tax subsidies. NextEra isn’t suing only Hinton. Since last October, the wind giant has filed lawsuits against five rural governments from Oklahoma to Michigan, all of which have imposed limits on wind-turbine development.

The company has also filed a libel suit against Esther Wrightman, a Canadian activist who opposed a project NextEra wanted to build in Kerwood, Ontario. Wrightman’s offense? She called the company “NexTerror” and “NextError” on her website, ontario-wind-resistance.org. That libel suit, filed four years ago, is still pending.

To be certain, the oil and gas industry has filed lawsuits against local governments that have sought limits on hydraulic fracturing. The difference is that NextEra is using taxpayers’ money to fund its courthouse mugging of small-town America. Between 2008 and 2015, according to a recent report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, NextEra accumulated profits of $21.5 billion but didn’t pay a dime in federal income taxes. Over that time frame, only ten other American companies received more in tax subsidies than NextEra. Nor does it appear that NextEra will be paying federal taxes any time soon. In its 10-K filing for 2016 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company reported $3 billion in tax-credit carryforwards that it can use to directly offset tax liabilities in future years. Remember, tax credits are more valuable than a deduction from revenue or accelerated depreciation. As my accounting consultant (and brother) Wally Bryce, a CPA, reminds me: “You’d much rather get a tax credit because it applies dollar for dollar against what you owe the government.”

NextEra wants more tax credits. And it’s litigating to get more. But each lawsuit NextEra files against a yet-smaller rural town or yet-smaller website owner provides another example of the backlash against Big Wind and, even more appalling, how Big Wind is using the issue of climate change as an excuse to make a run on the Treasury. Since 2015, more than 130 government entities in states from Maine to California have moved to reject or restrict the encroachment of the wind industry. And while other wind companies have also sued small towns, none can match NextEra’s scorched-earth tactics……

Read more at National Review 

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Esther Wrightman holding notice of lawsuit filed against her by NextEra

SLAPP Lawsuit Filed by NextEra Against Esther Wrightman

Statement of Defense filed by Esther Wrightman