Not in anyone's back yard
Toolbox
Published: November 7, 2009
There was a very interesting forum held at the West Rutland town hall on Oct. 22. Three speakers presented information that should cause anyone to think very hard about whether an industrial wind "farm" in their community is a good thing. Or whether it's even useful to meet Vermont's renewable energy goals.
Most people realize that the 40 proposed towers (taller than the Bennington battle monument) and turbines (big as a bus) will radically impact the view of the highest peaks of western Rutland County. Day and night.
What they may not know is that there can be health problems. Insomnia. Heart irregularities. Stress-induced disease. In the Netherlands, it's called the new Dutch disease; in Japan it's called wind turbine disease. At some wind projects, they've been severe enough to make developers "buy out" nearby families who cannot stay in their homes. To get the payment, they have to sign a "gag" agreement so they can't talk about their stories.
There is evidence that low-frequency noise, the kind that shakes your house, and your body, without you hearing it, is increased when the things are placed on mountaintops and ridgelines with valleys below.
There is anecdotal evidence that when a wind "farm" moves in, the hunt-able wildlife moves out.
This should be a wake-up call to everyone in Ira, Clarendon, Middletown, West Rutland, Poultney, indeed, all of the county. This project is targeted at our community because one large out-of-state landowner happens to own 4,000 acres of mountaintop and wants to generate revenue. It's backed by a huge Italian conglomerate. They will reap the benefits. Not Rutland County, despite the meager payments to host towns, which will not compensate for the loss of value to real property, nor the harm to those directly in the path of the blades.
It isn't a case of NIMBY. It's NIABY (not in anyone's backyard). These machines should be sited where people aren't, if at all. In fact, there's good evidence they won't even contribute to the solution of carbon dioxide because they only produce at a small fraction of rated capacity, and least of all when it's needed most.
Get the facts at www.stopillwind.org or www.vce.org.
GREG ULLSTROM
Clarendon
32