Wind turbines: dilemma for farmers, bane for neighbors

Eleanor Tillinghast, NOFA/Mass News, February - March 2005

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Leasing land to wind power developers can appeal to farmers seeking steady income. However, wind turbines have drawbacks: sun strobing, flashing lights, noise, ice throw, property value impacts, and unhappy neighbors.

Sun strobing

Shortly after wind turbines were erected in his Wisconsin farming community, town official Arlin Monfils wrote a public letter about the many problems, including cattle “scared from rotating shadows cascading from the blades in a setting sun.”[1] People there are affected, too. A community survey prompted these responses:

• “When the sun is setting it shines through the blades, causing severe flashing in our house.”
• “Very hard to watch TV or do any work in the kitchen, as the shadows are distracting.”
• “We get a ‘strobe effect’ throughout our house and over our entire property (40 acres).”
• “Shadows are cast over the ground and affect my balance.”
• “Shadows from the blades sweep over our house and yard and ruin our quality of life.”[2]

Flashing lights

Constantly flashing lights on the turbines, required by the Federal Aviation Administration, are also disturbing. Pastor Kathleen Danley, living near turbines in a New York farming community, wrote recently: “The lights flash directly into our bedroom and living room windows all through the night necessitating the closing of the blinds and robbing us of the view of our own backyard and God’s gift of nature.”[3]

Noise

Noise is a problem. There is the mechanical noise, with typical allowances of 103 dBA near the base of the turbine.[4] More bothersome are the low-frequency and pulsing noises caused each time the blades pass the turbine mast. In some instances, these can be heard more than a mile away.[5]

In Australia, John Denham leased part of his farm for eight turbines, some as close as 1,950 feet to his home, and discovered that they sound ‘like a braking semi-trailer’ on windy days. “If you are the landholder receiving lease payments, you can put up with it but we can understand why neighbors who get no direct benefit from the windfarm would find the noise objectionable,” he wrote. He and his wife eventually decided to move, but found that the turbines hindered selling the property.[6]

Ice throw

John Zimmerman, developer of the Searsburg Vt. wind power plant, wrote about a study showing that setbacks of a quarter to half mile downwind are necessary to protect people from ice thrown by spinning turbine blades. He elaborated: “The danger from ice being released from rotor blades overhead is real – and a hard hat is not going to provide you with much comfort…When there is heavy rime ice build up on the blades and the machines are running you instinctually want to stay away. They roar loudly and sound scary…One time we found a piece near the base of the turbines that was pretty impressive. Three adults jumping on it couldn’t break. It looked to be 5 or 6 inches thick, 3 feet wide and about 5 feet long. Probably weighed several hundred pounds. We couldn’t lift it. There were a couple of other pieces nearby but we wondered where the rest of the pieces went.”[7]

Property value impacts

Property values of the farm and its neighbors can be affected by the proximity of wind turbines. At a recent public meeting on Mr. Zimmerman’s proposal for wind turbines in Lowell, Vt., a realtor trying to sell a farm near the site said his claim that land values won't decrease is ‘ludicrous.’ Don Maclure explained that when he tells people interested in buying the farm about the proposed project he never hears from them again.[8]

Resentful neighbors

Mr. Zimmerman has acknowledged that “wind turbines don’t make good neighbors.”[9] Farmers who lease land for turbines may feel adequately compensated for the negative effects, but neighbors suffer. Bitter divisions are often caused by the advent of turbines in rural communities.

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Eleanor Tillinghast is president of Green Berkshires, Inc. For more information on wind power, please visit www.GreenBerkshires.org.

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[1] Letter from Arlin Monfils, Lincoln Town Board Chairman, Lincoln, Kewaunee County, WI, 2/1/00, http://www.greenberkshires.org/wind_power_plants_postings/monfils_letter.html

[2] Kabes, David E., and Crystal Smith, “Comments for the Lincoln Township Wind Turbine Survey,” Lincoln Township Wind Turbine Survey, Agricultural Resource Center, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 5/15/01.

[3] Letter to the Editor from Pastor Kathleen Danley, “Against the wind: In Fenner, wind farm developers made and broke many promises,” Naples Record, 11/3/04, http://www.greenberkshires.org/wind_power_postings/aganst_the_wind.html

[4] Zilkha Renewable Energy LLC, Kittitas Valley Wind Draft EIS, 12/12/03, p. 3.12-8, http://www.efsec.wa.gov/kittitaswind/deis/3.12%20Noise.pdf (1.5-megawatt turbines to be used at Kittitas Wind, http://www.efsec.wa.gov/kittitaswind.html#Project%20Summary%A0%A0)

[5] Letter to the Editor from Lou Orehek, “Wind farms have many drawbacks,” Berkshire Eagle, 1/11/04, http://www.BerkshireEagle.com

[6] Adam Morton, “An ill wind blows down on the farm,” Warrnambool Standard, 12/17/01, http://www.hotkey.net.au/~rayw1/

[7] Email from John Zimmerman, VERA, to listsaver-egroups-awea-windnet@egroups.com, Thu, 20 Jan 2000 10:51:43 -0500

[8] Steve Blake, “Public discussion begins on Lowell wind project,” The Chronicle, 9/24/03, http://www.LowellWind.com/images/photos/lowell/Chronicle_092403.pdf

[9] Robin Smith, “Wind Towers Spark Debate,” Caledonian-Record, 7/1/03, http://www.CaledonianRecord.com/pages/local_news/story/c2296e810