Category Archives: Children Affected

Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Direct Effects, Health, Noise

Vermont cabin becomes lab to study wind turbine noise

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“Deep in the night, when things were quiet on the highway, a low hum came from the opposite direction, punctuated occasionally by louder noises, the Therriens say. Soon, they say, they and their two small children were plagued by sleeplessness, nausea and other problems.”

therriensSHEFFIELD, Vt. (AP) — Once it was just another cabin on a Vermont hillside. Now it’s an emblem in the debate over noise from the growing wind energy industry.

Studies have repeatedly found no evidence connecting noise from wind power turbines to human health problems. But critics question the soundness of those studies. Among them are Steve and Luann Therrien, who say a wind farm near their home made their lives hell.

The case has created a fissure among environmentalists in this liberal state with a reputation for green thinking, pitting those who see wind energy as key to reducing reliance on pollution-spewing fossil fuels against those convinced audible noises and inaudible “infrasound” present health threats to those living nearby. And each side questions the objectivity of the other’s research.

The Therriens’ old cabin is up 5 miles of dirt road from town, but is just a quarter-mile from a rural stretch of Interstate 91. The highway noise largely didn’t bother them.

But after the 16 turbine towers of the Sheffield Wind Project went up on a nearby ridgeline in 2011 — the closest about three-quarters of a mile away and five within a mile — things changed, the Therriens say.

READ AT: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2827437f49bd43b196bc07f4917a97bd/vermont-cabin-becomes-lab-study-wind-turbine-noise

Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Direct Effects, Health

Never Too Late to Do Right

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school-busNowhere else in Ontario would a temporary cement plant be permitted by a public school. Please ask Minister Murray (minister.moe@ontario.ca) and Premier Wynne (premier@ontario.ca) to revoke the Renewable Energy Approval for turbines on Amherst Island.

August 2016 letter to Minister Murray

Dear Minister Murray,

I am the mother of two daughters (ages 7 and 10) who attend Amherst Island Public School. I was a Participant in the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) regarding the above issue.

The panel dismissed my concerns regarding the siting of the cement batch plant, and my belief that the safety of children in their school environment will be compromised.I am formally requesting that you reverse the ERT decision based on my belief that the placement of the concrete batching plant and all associated construction activity for this project directly adjacent to the school will result in harm to children.

My appeal to you is based on the following three points:

1. The cumulative impacts on children of all the construction activities that this project introduces have not been adequately considered, in particular the impacts to Amherst Island Public School.- The evidence presented by the Approval Holder at the ERT broke down the project into detailed, individual activities, whose negative impacts are deemed to be negligible.But the ERT omitted to consider any examination of collective impacts to children.- Because each activity was looked at in isolation and not with an integrated approach, the potential harm of the project’s cumulative impacts has been overlooked.

It remains my opinion that the Director of Environmental Approvals did not adequately consider the cumulative nature of the concrete batch plant and activities and the impacts to the health and safety of students. Given that the concrete batching plant and associated construction for this project will occur less than 1 km from our elementary school, it actually appears that the single group who stands to experience the most negative effects from this project will likely be the children attending Amherst Island Public School.

2. It is unclear who is responsible for safety associated with this project.

It is still unclear who is responsible for safety and oversight in relation to the school environment. During the ERT, I learned that there would be extensive construction traffic from this project passing by our school, in addition to a concrete batching plant in proximity to the school that would not be allowed by our municipality if not for the Green Energy Act.

3. The “Burden of Proof” required by the ERT can only be accomplished by exposing children to unacceptable risk.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Children is clear: Governments have a responsibility to protect children. The best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration in government decisions.

I believe that by approving the project, the Director has authorized the Developer to introduce plausible harm to children.- The ERT found that during my submissions, I had not met “the test” of serious harm to human health. In the case of Amherst Island, to provide undeniable “proof” that the health of children will be impacted by the project would mean allowing the project to move forward as approved, and then assessing outcomes to children after months of exposure.

In Canada, in 2016, we do not permit such trials on children. However, that is threshold of the “legal test” that must be attained in order to successfully defend my children.

We must be reasonable, and consider the Precautionary Principle, which states that when risk of harm is scientifically plausible, actions should be taken to avoid or diminish the harm, and these actions are interventions that are undertaken before harm occurs.

Amherst Island is close to 16 Km long. Why did the Director not ask the Approval Holder to find a different location for the cement plant? Why weren’t these concerns noted in the ERT decision?

Minister Murray, if this project is allowed to move forward as approved, without adequate assessment of the cumulative impacts to the Amherst Island school environment, then our children become the test to see if the decisions of the Director were right or were wrong.

All children deserve better. In order to support the health, safety and welfare of children attending a public school in Ontario, I would respectfully request that you reverse the ERT decision in relation to the placement of the concrete batch plant for this project, and amend the conditions related to the concrete batch plant.

In the words of Dalton McGuinty “It’s never too late to do the right thing”.

amherst-island-public-schoolAmherst Island Public School. No place for a cement mixing plant.

Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Cost Benefit

Rural Ontario “in Crisis”

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“If we had 30 kids in Ontario with the measles, we’d have a health crisis. With 60,000 households in Ontario who were disconnected from hydro, that’s a crisis. And in rural Ontario, when that disconnection means you can’t use your well, that’s a public health crisis”

Rural Ontario ‘in crisis’ due to high hydro rates, local United Way head says

By Denis Langlois, Sun Times, Owen Sound

Friday, July 29, 2016 3:39:26 EDT PM

Soaring hydro costs have created a crisis situation in Ontario that is especially concerning in rural areas like Grey-Bruce, says the head of one of the local agencies that is helping people to keep their lights on.hydro meter 1

Francesca Dobbyn, executive director of the United Way of Bruce Grey, which has released a report on utility assistance provided to households in the region over the past year, pointed to national news reports that quote the Ontario Energy Board as saying nearly 60,000 residential customers were disconnected in 2015 from hydro services due to non-payment.

That number was confirmed by The Sun Times Friday.

“If we had 30 kids in Ontario with the measles, we’d have a health crisis. With 60,000 households in Ontario who were disconnected from hydro, that’s a crisis. And in rural Ontario, when that disconnection means you can’t use your well, that’s a public health crisis,” she said in an interview.

The local United Way’s report found that from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016, the United Way, along with Bruce and Grey counties, Y Housing and the Salvation Army in Wiarton distributed nearly $750,000 to help people with hydro or natural gas arrears or to purchase wood, oil or propane to heat their homes.

That figure rises to more than $1 million, the report says, when factoring in the staff time and resources provided by the agencies.

Dobbyn said while that number alone is startling and points to a “crisis brewing in our region,” it doesn’t include the financial assistance provided to people by other sources, such as churches or other organizations or by family members or friends.

The report says electricity costs have climbed by 100 per cent in the past decade.

Rural residents have been hardest hit, Dobbyn said, because they are charged higher delivery costs by utility companies.

Rural residents, on average, pay almost double the delivery rates compared to households in “urban high density” areas, according to the United Way report.

An average household in a low-density area is charged about $84.46 for delivery, distribution, connection, network and other fees, the report says, while homes in high-density areas pay about $44.50. And that’s without using any energy at all, it says.

Homes that use baseboards for heat pay about $80 a month in hydro rates on top of the delivery fees.

“And that’s before turning on a light or using a microwave or any other source of electricity,” Dobbyn said.

The numbers, she said, show that even while conserving energy in the home, people in rural areas are still facing high monthly hydro bills.

“Our clients, our families are not wasteful. They do everything they can to reduce consumption, they unplug everything and we often advise them to turn breakers off in an effort to reduce their bill,” she said……….

READ ARTICLE: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2016/07/29/rural-ontario-in-crisis-due-to-high-hydro-rates-local-united-way-head-says

Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Environment, fighting big wind., Uncategorized

Amherst Island ERT Wraps Up

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“The project is putting children’s safety at risk and that is something that I don’t think we, as Ontarians, want to tolerate”

Kingston Heritage Published June 8, 2016   

By Mandy Marciniak

amherst Island haywagon

On June 7, members of the Association to Protect Amherst Island (APAI), along with many Island residents, gathered at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church to hear the final submissions in their appeal against Windlectric Inc.

The submissions were the final part of the more than six month long Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) that took place regarding the project, and members of APAI were feeling optimistic.

“It has been a long process and we are very proud of what we have accomplished and we are very confident,” said Michele Le Lay, a member of APAI before the final hearing. “We feel we had a fair hearing.”

The final instalment of the tribunal started with a statement from island resident and concerned parent Amy Caughey, who originally spoke to the tribunal in December. Caughey’s main concern is the proposed placement of a concrete batching plant and high-voltage substation directly next to the school on the island.

“It seems like all the industrial activity will be occurring next to the school and I think it is too close,” she said. “Also, the cumulative impacts of this project, especially on the school, have not been assessed. It seems that each component is looked at individually, but it is not looked at as a whole and I think that is a major problem.”

Caughey explained that after six months of hearings she still has numerous unanswered questions about the safety of the project, especially in relation to the school, and she worries that her children and others will be at risk.

“The project is putting children’s safety at risk and that is something that I don’t think we, as Ontarians, want to tolerate,” she said. “We don’t have enough information and if we just go ahead and do this, it is actually our children who become the test to see if the directive is right or wrong and I think that is entirely inappropriate in Canada in 2016.”

READ MORE:   http://www.kingstonregion.com/news-story/6712312-environmental-review-tribunal-wraps-up-on-amherst-island-results-expected-by-end-of-june/;send=false

Children Affected, Direct Effects, Fighting the NRWC Wind Project, Noise, Unite the Fight!

Niagara Wind Noise Annoyance

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8c0c0554-b1cf-4cac-a1f6-9ab51c25619e

So it begins.

The fight to protect our residents and community continues.

The Niagara Wind Power Complex is scheduled to be online by September 2016.  Support Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc. and West Lincoln Glanbrook Wind Action group.

Please feel free to attend the May 17, 2016  Open House or contact our community groups directly.

Together we are stronger and together we will be heard.

May 12, 2016
Today at 8:26am
“Well they were Testing that Turbine behind us yesterday -, Rosedene …RD ,West Lincoln ON, -My older son was out side and He said he thought he kept hearing Jets and was looking up , I hadn’t hear it in the house UNTIL Supper Time ,I had my Windows Open and I heard It ,It SOUNDED LIKE A JET and when it was Stopping it Got even louder , JUST LIKE ON THE VIDEOS where you can hear them..Except this is ONE Sounding like Many. and they keep changing the way it points – ::: ( “
Children Affected, Uncategorized

Subsidy Sam the Turbine

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Credit:  By Iain Ramage, Press & Journal

New cartoon character drawn up to combat Turbine mascot

Subsidy-Sam-600x603

 

Tommy the Turbine has a fictional rival to liven up the debate about windfarms.

A leading Highland objector has created “Subsidy Sam” to challenge a character used by the industry.

Sam highlights the massive public subsidies used to finance the technology.

Beauly-based Lyndsey Ward, who today publishes her story online, claims youngsters have been “indoctrinated” by a host of school activities including visits to windfarms. “Tommy the Turbine” is already online and been used in schools in Ireland.

She said: “What’s been happening is similar to what fast food and fizzy drink makers did previously – sponsoring school sports equipment and leaving us with an obesity epidemic.

“The wind industry goes into schools in Scotland and never is the other side of the story told. Youngsters are being brainwashed into thinking we’d be doomed without windfarms.

“It’s a cynical ploy to keep the subsidies flowing into the next generation.”

Caithness campaigner Brenda Herrick successfully fought to have turbines removed from school grounds after a series of incidents involving faulty towers.

She said: “They never tell children how turbines chop up birds, or about the thousands of trees felled to make way for windfarms, or how often blades fly off, or tell children in poor households why their parents can’t afford their energy bills.”

Mrs Ward’s short story is illustrated by St Andrews–based cartoonist “Josh,” who said: “I hate what’s happening to Scotland with the proliferation of turbines killing rare birds and ruining the landscape.”
Neither the SNP nor the trade body Scottish Renewables would comment on “Subsidy Sam”.

The only surviving Highland school turbine is at Scoraig Primary where it is “the primary source of power.”

https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/subsidy-sam-the-turbine/

Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Fighting the NRWC Wind Project, Health Canada's wind Turbine Noise and Health Study, Health effects from wind turbines

Michael Jankowski – Presentation as heard at ERT.

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NRWC ERT Presentation Companion – Michael A Jankowski (1)

here is the word for word presentation….without the accompanying slide show…. that was heard at the ERT.

Michael A. Jankowski – Presentation Companion (Exact Spoken Words at Presentation)

Slide 2:

I have come to you today because I know, based on our experiences, observations and learnings,  that the HAF Wind Turbines have invoked serious health issues for my family and myself and to warn you and others that if NRWC is allowed to proceed with a much larger Wind Project nearly the same distance from our home as HAF, that not only will our issues continue to get worse, but many of the 10,000 people living in the environ of the NRWC project area will also start to suffer from serious Wind Turbine induced negative health impacts as we have and probably worse. Many who will suffer will have a difficult task to determine why they are suffering and will also need help to know where to report any such suffering. Further, if they overcome the hurdles to find out where to report, it is unlikely they will receive any meaningful response, as experienced by my family and I.

We have established a chain of causality, from the noise/vibrations which invade into our home, most often at night as we try to sleep through to the resultant health impacts we have experienced, which, are strikingly the same health impacts that studies note and the experiences of many other people also report. You should consider my presentation to be “eye witness” material. In my full submission, I’ve provided what information I can from professionals in the short time I have been afforded by the ERT process. I offer this in addition to my experiences, observation and learnings including a letter from our family doctor.

In my direct experience, the giant Wind Turbines which are the HAF Wind Power generation project do emit audible Low Frequency Noise and Inaudible Infrasound with a multi-cyclic characteristic so significant that we can hear/feel this noise/vibration in our home many nights as we try to sleep. (Similar in characteristic to 2 or 3 alarm clocks sounding) Often, when we hear/feel this, my ears feel pressurized and in some pain at times after hearing/feeling the noise/vibration from the HAF Wind Turbines. This is also consistent with what many others have noted. The sound/vibration bears a distinct monotonal predictable repetitive pattern – WHOOM, WHOOM, WHOOM, WHOOM, WHOOM which is in time with the HAF Wind Turbines and only present when they are turning as I will describe later.

Since the HAF Wind Turbines (HWTs) commenced operation on June 14th, 2014, my family and I noticed serious and negative changes to our health and wellness over time. Since my family and I have been subjected the HWTs noise/vibration, we have endured negative health consequences which we have not experienced previously and which are directly related to the parts of my body which are irritated when we hear/feel this noise/vibration. Continue reading Michael Jankowski – Presentation as heard at ERT. →

Adverse Health Effects, Children Affected, Health effects from wind turbines

West Norfolk mother tells of blindness fears for son over wind farm scheme

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This is the mother who says she will have to move if a controversial wind farm is built – or risk her nine-year-old son going blind.

Karen Robinson with her son Ronnie Robinson (9) in the garden at Clenchwarton Hall, showing the current view. ANL-150129-112536009
Karen Robinson with her son Ronnie Robinson (9) in the garden at Clenchwarton Hall, showing the current view. ANL-150129-112536009

Ronnie Robinson suffers from primary congenital glaucoma, asevere visual impairment in which his eyes cannot cope with changing light conditions.

Developers of the Ongarhill wind farm, which is due to be debated by the West Norfolk Council planning committee next week, say conditions attached to any permission, and technology on the turbines themselves, will prevent shadow flicker from affecting residents.

But Ronnie’s mum Karen says she has been warned by doctors that she will have to leave her home on Hall Road, Clenchwarton if the plan goes ahead, in order to save his sight.

She said any flicker would leave Ronnie at risk of becoming disorientated and banging his head. Continue reading West Norfolk mother tells of blindness fears for son over wind farm scheme →

Children Affected, Direct Effects, Health Canada's wind Turbine Noise and Health Study, Health effects from wind turbines, Stray Voltage

County urged to study EMF levels along Dufferin Wind transmission line

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While Dufferin Wind Power Inc. (DWPI) “unequivocally” states its transmission line meets all regulations, Melancthon Mayor Darren White wants the county to conduct its own electromagnetic field (EMF) tests.

At county council’s meeting this Thursday (Jan. 8), White plans to urge politicians hire an electrical engineering consultant to determine whether the amount of stray energy being emitted from Dufferin Wind’s 230 kV transmission line is safe or not.

“It’s in the best interest of us to at least know what the levels are that we’re dealing with,” White said. “To have somebody, who is professional in the field, explain to us that this is safe, this is not safe, or under which conditions it is safe.”

Since Health Canada doesn’t consider EMF a hazard, there are no precautionary measures required when it relates to daily exposure. As such, Dufferin Wind spokesperson Connie Roberts noted the company has no testing guidelines to follow.

“We state unequivocally that all protocol has been followed in the construction of this line,” Roberts explained in an email, claiming opponents to her company’s project are requesting EMF measurements that aren’t mandated in Canada.

“DWPI has installed a safe power line,” Roberts added. “It has been built to the latest industry standards; and it is consistently operating at well under capacity.”

Continue reading County urged to study EMF levels along Dufferin Wind transmission line →

Adverse Health Effects, Appeal NRWC Wind Project, Children Affected, ERT Appeal, Fighting the NRWC Wind Project, Health effects from wind turbines

Wind turbine fears discussed at preliminary hearing

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DONATE TO THE LEGAL FUND TODAY!!!  These are Real members of our Community.

Sue Atkins says she has acoustic neuroma — a benign brain tumor that develops on the main nerve leading from the inner ear.

 

Members of Mothers Against Wind Turbines, from left, Catherine Mitchell, Marianne Kidd, and Linda Rogers, discuss their appeal of a planned wind turbine project in West Niagara. ALLAN BENNER Tribune Staff
Members of Mothers Against Wind Turbines, from left, Catherine Mitchell, Marianne Kidd, and Linda Rogers, discuss their appeal of a planned wind turbine project in West Niagara. ALLAN BENNER Tribune Staff

 

 

Although it’s non-cancerous, she says it is continuing to grow and has resulted in hearing loss and the possible need for surgery. It has also made her particularly sensitive to infrasound, like the sound created by the huge spinning blades of industrial wind turbines.

But the rural St. Anns farm she shares with her husband Leon and their 29 ponies and horses will be within five kilometers of 24 huge industrial wind turbines if a provincially approved Green Energy Act development by Niagara Region Wind Corp. is allowed to proceed.

“We are really concerned at the fact that our small parcel of property is going to be surrounded by these wind turbines,” she says.

Continue reading Wind turbine fears discussed at preliminary hearing →