It’s up to YOU how far you want us to go….
Category Archives: Health
Introduction of bills Restore Planning Powers to Municipalities Act, 2014
MPP Jim Wilson introduces a bill to amend the Planning Act in Ontario, to return municipal planning authority removed by the Green Energy Act. “Imperative” at this time, Wilson says.
Financial Post – Lawrence Solomon: Ill winds blow from wind turbines
November 25, 2014
The wind industry is dangerous to human health, posing risks to everything from dizziness and nausea to chronic stress and heart conditions
A Canadian court will soon decide if wind turbines violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms by posing a risk to human health. Charter case decisions can be convoluted but the fundamental question of health at issue here is straightforward. Wind turbines, from all that is today known and by any rational measure, represent a risk to those living in their vicinity. Continue reading Financial Post – Lawrence Solomon: Ill winds blow from wind turbines
When too big is an issue
This week, the town of Caitlin, south of Watkins Glen, got cold feet over a proposal to build a wind farm.
The town board was poised to pass a local law that would open the door for a Florida company to build a wind-driven electrical generation facility in this sparsely populated, mostly agricultural Chemung County area. The company has 30 leases already signed by landowners allowing for placement of an undetermined number of wind turbines.
But the town reversed course and now has asked its attorney to draft a law to ban such wind farms.
This sudden political wind shift has its roots in local citizen opposition based on concerns about noise, visual blight and environmental issues. It also springs from fears the state could usurp town authority to set conditions on the wind farm — conditions that might be far less stringent than what town officials would require.
But at the bottom of it all is a sense of unease — shared by many Finger Lakes residents — over any project that seems, well, just way too big, too complicated or too difficult to control.
Wind power facilities, landfills, casinos, hog farms, or liquid propane gas storage — take your pick. It seems like very little proposed development is set to a scale that would seem reasonable, appropriate or often even controllable.
read more: http://www.fltimes.com/opinion/article_3650e9ca-7186-11e4-8da4-33a1a6ea433a.html
Brown County Wisconsin Letter of Support – Human Health Hazard
Hello everyone,
You are probably aware that at the October 14, 2014 Brown County Board of Health meeting a motion was made to declare the Shirley Wind turbines a Human Health Hazard. The motion was unanimously approved by the Board:
“To declare the Industrial Wind Turbines at Shirley Wind Project in the Town of Glenmore, Brown County, WI. A Human Health Hazard for all people (residents, workers, visitors, and sensitive passersby) who are exposed to Infrasound/Low Frequency Noise and other emissions potentially harmful to human health.”
Brown County is located in Wisconsin, USA.
I have been asked to share the Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy (BCCRWE) press release regarding this Human Health Hazard declaration, which can be seen at: http://bccrwe.com/index.php/8-news/16-duke-energy-s-shirley-wind-declared-human-health-hazard
BCCRWE is requesting your words of support for this action which can be sent to BOHsupport@bccrwe.com
This is public and can be shared and redistributed.
All the best,
Carmen
Shirley Wind Human Health Hazard Declaration
* BCCRWE Requests Your Words of Support *
At the October 14, 2014 Brown County Board of Health meeting a motion was made to declare the Shirley Windturbines a Human Health Hazard. The motion was unanimously approved by the Board:
“To declare the Industrial Wind Turbines at Shirley Wind Project in the Town of Glenmore, Brown County, WI. A Human Health Hazard for all people (residents, workers, visitors, and sensitive passersby) who are exposed to Infrasound/Low Frequency Noise and other emissions potentially harmful to human health.”
Brown County is located in Wisconsin, USA.
Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy (BCCRWE) has issued a press release regarding this Human Health Hazard declaration, which can be seen at: http://bccrwe.com/index.php/8-news/16-duke-energy-s-shirley-wind-declared-human-health-hazard BCCRWE is requesting your words of support for this action.
Research indicates that industrial wind turbines can negatively affect the physical, mental and social well-being of individuals if placed too close to homes. BCCRWE has been working intensively for the past 5 years with professional researchers, physicians, acousticians, and legislators to protect citizens of Brown County, the state of Wisconsin, the United States, and those in other countries from the negative health impacts resulting from industrial wind turbines being built too close to people.
BCCRWE welcomes and encourages individuals, organizations, and governmental agencies from around the world to send their words of support regarding the Board of Health’s action. BCCRWE will pass your emails on to the Brown County Board of Health as support for their courage, integrity, responsibility, intellectual honesty, and care in declaring the industrial wind turbines at Shirley Wind to be human health hazards.
If you or others you know have experienced negative health impacts from living in close proximity to industrial wind turbines and would like to share that experience along with your words of support with the Brown County Board of Health, please do so.
Send your words of support, and if applicable your experiences, to: BOHsupport@bccrwe.com
Thank you,
Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy
Flying turbine debris has local MPP concerned
The provincial Ministry of Energy will launch an investigation into reports that an 18-inch chunk of a wind turbine blade came loose and flew some 400 feet before landing in a field in the former Howard Twp.
Chatham-Kent-Essex MPP Rick Nicholls raised the matter during question period Wednesday at Queen’s Park, calling it a significant safety issue that must be addressed immediately.
“Will your government do the do the right thing and put a moratorium on turbine developments until there is a thorough review of safety standards pertaining to industrial wind turbines,” he asked Premier Kathleen Wynne.
Energy Minister Bob Chiarellli said he was unaware of the problem but will raise the issue with his staff as well as those at the ministries of environment and climate change.
Nicholls said called the detached section “flying shrapnel” since the 400-foot tall turbines with blade lengths of 135 feet rotate at nearly 200 miles per hour at the blade tip. Continue reading Flying turbine debris has local MPP concerned
Legal battle over Ontario wind turbine farm may redefine ‘harm’
The right to be free from chronic annoyance is at the heart of a legal challenge that could shake Ontario’s multibillion wind-energy business, and limit other industrial development in rural areas.
(Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
It pits a family whose farming history goes back a century in Southwestern Ontario against the provincial government, and a consortium known as the K2 Wind Power Project, which includes global companies such as Samsung Renewable Energy Inc.
No evidence shows wind turbines directly harm human health.
But “community annoyance” lasting a year or more and associated with nearby turbines has been linked to headaches, sleep problems, dizziness and high blood pressure, in a study whose summary was released by Health Canada early this month. Continue reading Legal battle over Ontario wind turbine farm may redefine ‘harm’
On Behalf of SWEAR
On Behalf of SWEAR, here is an attached Letter to the Editor which was sent out to various media contacts for publication. Please feel free to bump it along to your local papers or any other contacts you may have. We recognize that it is a fairly lengthy letter but we asked for the media’s indulgence as we believe the letter in its entirety will be of interest to their readerships.
Dear Editor:
The long awaited Divisional Court Charter Challenge of three industrial wind turbine projects wrapped up on Thursday, November 20th. The Appeal went before Justices F.N. Marocco, D.M. Brown and J.R. Henderson at the Courthouse in London. Arguments were made by Julian Falconer and team, counsel for the four families (Drennan, Dixon, Ryan & Kroeplin) objecting to the proximity of industrial wind turbines to their homes in the 140 turbine K2 (Drennan) and 15 turbine St. Columban (Dixon & Ryan) wind projects currently under construction in Huron County, and the 92 turbine Armow Wind Project being constructed in Bruce County. Counsel for the Ministry of the Continue reading On Behalf of SWEAR
Decision from three-judge panel in landmark wind turbine appeal expected before January
A judicial fight over the future of wind turbines in Ontario wrapped up Thursday with the fate of the province’s green energy law in the hands of judges.
On one side is big money, wind energy giants like Samsung and a Liberal government intent on becoming a world leader in creating green energy.
On the other are four families in Huron and Bruce counties whose homes are close to dozens of proposed turbines.
But while it seems a David and Goliath affair, the underdogs have enlisted a legal pugilist who Thursday seemed to dance circles around the arguments of his adversaries, wrapping up a four-day hearing in London with an emotionally-loaded challenge to three Superior Court justices.
“The system has utterly broken down,” said Julian Falconer. “You have been tasked with keeping these people safe.”
Falconer was the most dynamic of lawyers representing four families in Southwestern Ontario battling the building of wind farms.
It’s not the first time lawyers have challenged the Green Energy Act in court. Three years ago, wind opponents lost in court fighting a decision by an environmental review tribunal to allow a wind farm. But the 2011 effort had a handicap this one does not — it was a judicial review, in which judges must give deference to the tribunal.
This time, Falconer wants the three-judge panel to:
-
Halt, by issuing what’s called a stay, wind farms that are expected to be tested in January.
-
Rule the environmental tribunal violated the constitutional rights of wind opponents when it refused to allow new evidence from a Health Canada study.
-
Allow wind opponents to stop wind farms by showing they might be seriously harmed rather than proving they had been harmed.
The judges expect to issue a decision on the stay soon, and while they didn’t specify a date, it’s likely they’ll act by January.
Environmental review tribunals shield their eyes to contrary evidence, Falconer said.
“They keep the blinders on. They’re not interested in new information. They’re interested in getting the turbines up,” he said.
But lawyers for the government and wind companies disagreed, one arguing the Health Canada study only showed a link between turbines and annoyance and the early results hadn’t yet been peer-reviewed.
“It’s a work in progress,” said Darryl Cruz, who represents St. Columban Energy.
The decision by the environmental tribunal was correct and wind companies should be allowed to complete their wind farms, he said.
That’s a position one Niagara wind opponent has been fighting for about four years, moving from her Welland home to keep away from planned turbines.
“It’s just wrong,” Catherine Mitchell said.
Wind opponents say turbines cause dizziness, headaches, heart palpitations and other illness.
The government says that’s wrong and that neighbours are protected because turbines are placed at least 550 metres from homes.
Ontario has more than 6,000 wind turbines built, planned or proposed, mostly in the southwest. Turbines account for about 4% of Ontario’s power.
Jonathan Sher, The London Free Press Thursday, November 20, 2014
“I understand it’s not much of a test if you first have to get sick in order to prove it,” Associate Chief Justice Frank Marrocco observed.
Families failed to prove wind turbines harmful, government lawyer argues
Families opposed to the erection of large-scale wind farms near their homes failed to prove the projects would cause any serious harm to their health, an Ontario government lawyer said Tuesday.
In his opening comments, Matthew Horner told a Divisional Court panel that a review tribunal was correct to reject objections to the turbines based on health concerns.
“There’s no indication that the tribunal made a palpable and overriding error,” Horner said late on Day 2 of the hearing.
He also said the tribunal was right to reject the residents’ “novel argument” that the approvals process violates the constitution.
Four families are asking the appellate court to throw out decisions by the Environment Review Tribunal that upheld approvals of three large-scale wind-energy projects. Continue reading “I understand it’s not much of a test if you first have to get sick in order to prove it,” Associate Chief Justice Frank Marrocco observed.
Mothers Against Wind Turbines Inc. 