Wind turbine leaseholder: “They’re louder than I expected”

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By Monte Sonnenberg, Simcoe Reformer
The company that brought a four-turbine wind farm to Port Ryerse last year got an earful about noise levels at a community meeting this week. Boralex officials were on the hot seat Wednesday as 40 people from the Port Ryerse area had at them in a committee room at the Simcoe Recreation Centre. The occasion was a bi-annual meeting Boralex has agreed to have with its neighbours. Also attending were members of the Port Ryerse Community Liaison Committee.

“It’s very loud and it’s very upsetting,” Port Ryerse resident Shana Greatrex told the gathering. “Our whole village has been affected. This is something we warned about a long time ago and no one did anything about it.”

Village residents were surprised when one of the property owners who agreed to host a turbine said his neighbours aren’t imagining things. “I’m surprised I can hear them as loud as I do, and I wear an earpiece,” said Wally Faulkner. “They’re louder than I expected.”

Comments at this week’s meeting are consistent with complaints across the province that wind turbines are noisy, disruptive and interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of property. In telling her story, Gail Lyons started off calm enough. However, the bitterness she feels came through loud and clear in her words. Lyons told the gathering she lives across the road from “one of these pieces of crap that I hate” and that she is often awakened in the middle of the night because her bed is shaking. Read article

43 thoughts on “Wind turbine leaseholder: “They’re louder than I expected””

  1. Shocking? Where was this landowner all this time? As long as people put their hand out and say “show me the money” this problem will never go away. Greed runs from the top down, thanks to this government !

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    • The same destruction is happening here in Vermont…Families who have been abused on their adjacent properties are left “twisting in the wind”…

      Industrial Wind can work in very remote, isolated (and at best, desolated) areas on the High Plains…

      BUT…there is NO stopping the corporate greed in serene (and in some cases pristine) rural residential areas…

      We have tried to fight them legally and respectfully…IMPOSSIBLE…The mountain folks here are ONE step away from rising UP and tearing them DOWN…NO matter what the penalties…

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      • When one has exhausted every possibility, using proper protocol in efforts to try to protect their loved ones and themselves… to no avail, it is no surprise to see acts of vandalism to get these things to stop running.
        The relief that people feel on the days when the wind isn’t blowing is so profound. Who wouldn’t want that feeling every day of the year for the rest of their lives?

  2. After almost two full years since having turbines turned on, residents here in Huron County are still experiencing the loss of enjoyment of their homes/properties. The MOECC has failed to intercede between the residents and the wind company. All who are responsible for this situation have ignored the many pleas for help made by residents.

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      • Are you saying that it’s possible that NAFTA gave corporations legal rights to harm Canadian citizens?

      • No, companies covered by the NAFTA agreement can complain that they are being unfairly treated.

        If a wind project covered by NAFTA gets shut down and another wind project NOT covered by NAFTA is allowed to continue operating, then a NAFTA complaint might be used.

      • Has anyone in Ontario ever tried to make a NAFTA complaint?

  5. Also this article in a mainstream Canadian newspaper means ‘the writing is on the wall’.

    http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/lawrence-solomon-finally-its-safe-for-the-whistleblowers-of-corrupted-climate-science-to-speak-out

    The comments to this article from people who are very, very ill informed are an indication of the enormous ‘knowledge gap’ that must be addressed somehow. But since the vast majority of people are unable to understand the science behind all of this, they lack the ability to fully comprehend what has happened.
    Will our government leaders see this article and realize what the ramifications of it are for them?

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  6. I noticed that Aercoustics will be doing the test on the Siemens turbines in the Boralex project and it will take OVER A YEAR.

    Why is the MOECC allowing this Aercoustics, who is NOT independent continue under the pretense that they are “independent”?

    Aercoustics is the same company that defied the MOECC and did NOT comply with the requirement to test at “complaintant” properties in the K2 Wind project in Huron County.

    1. Aercoustics has testified in the United States as to the adequacy of the Ontario set backs citing Health Canada. The report was cherry picked. In addition, Aercoustics ignored the caveats at the beginning of the Health Canada Study which specifically stated the report should not be used for purposes Aercoustics was using the study for. They have a financial interest in maintaining the status quo. http://watchdog.org/283617/sound-experts-spar-over-turbine-noise/

    2. In addition, Aercoustics is “COLLABORATING” with Siemens. Siemens is the manufacturer of every one of the 140 turbines in the K2 Wind Project and the turbines in the Boralex Project.

    It should be noted that Siemens used the word collaborating in an article written by Siemens concerning their relationship with Aercoustics! It is attached! https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/about_us/success/case_study.cfm?Component=243464&ComponentTemplate=1481

    Aercoustics has a financial relationship with Siemens. What do you think the ramifications for Aercoustics would be if they determined their turbines were out of compliance?

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  7. “I’m surprised I can hear them as loud as I do, and I wear an earpiece,” said Wally Faulkner. “They’re louder than I expected.” Is this the same family that fought tooth and nail in 2013 in court to put them up? If this person had any integrity whatsoever, he would donate the money he’s receiving from Boralex to the people in the village.
    The people are correct in fearing warm weather. Many will not be able to sleep with the windows open due to the noise and will be forced to use air conditioning in the summer.
    https://ontario-wind-resistance.org/2013/04/22/landowners-to-fight-lawsuit/

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  9. FYI

    The Biomass Monitor, Jan.10, 2015

    [Exclusive] Bioenergy Industry Fires And Explosions’

    Article has a list and short description of Bioenergy fires and explosions around the world.

    Read at: https://thebiomassmonitor.org/2015/01/10/biomass-industry-plays-with-fire-gets-burned-2

    Can also internet search: corn stover fires.

    Corn stover is a bale of corn stalks, leaves, cobs. And for some unknown reason, stacks of corn stover bales attract lightning.\

    Corn stovers are used for biomass.

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  10. There are sound investment reasons you could push, apart from noise and the other arguments.

    Just posted this. £18 billion invested in nuclear power [Hinkley] will ‘generate’ 5.23X more income than £18 billion invested in offshore wind [£300.57 billion against £57.42 billion].
    Decommissioning and waste storage and handling will have to be deducted from the Hinkley income, but O & M for nuclear is probably less than O & M for offshore wind.
    The profits [and dividends] from nuclear power are still likely to be 5X greater than those from offshore wind:
    http://idiocyofrenewables.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/nuclear-power-hinkley-point-c-nuclear.html

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  11. Absolutely! it is possible that federal laws are being broken.

    In fact, some of us warned of this to our Members of Parliament, the Prime Minister, members of the Privy Council, the Governor General, and everybody else who would listen (and some who wouldn’t), back when Stephen Harper was in charge, and before Health Canada began the “Wind Turbine Noise and Health Study” in 2012.

    The Income Tax Act is a federal law that may be broken. For example, in Canada, a person may NOT derive income from causing harm to people.

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    • So what would be the best way to proceed to bring this before the law enforcers? Surely there will be ramifications for the government for having neglected their duty to protect people and for the manufacturer of turbines.

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    • The federal tax laws were devised to encourage the development of and/or the investment in renewable energy in Canada.

      At present, it’s very unlikely that this situation will change.

      Same is true with Ontario tax laws.

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  12. Sometimes laws or policies conflict with eachother. And that’s NOT the end of the story.

    For example, the federal government’s “Wind Power Production Incentive” (“WPPI”) gave money to wind project developers in the early 2000’s and made an important contribution to the cause of the international wind energy racket.

    Fortunately, NOT all of the WPPI records were destroyed or went missing.

    As part of the WPPI, the developer had to assure that it would meet certain requirements of this federal government programme.

    One of the requirements, documented in a series of communications c. 2005 between Natural Resources Canada and Mr. Mike Crawley’s company, AIM PowerGen Corporation, 200 Consumers Road, Suite 604, Toronto, Ontario, developing the “Erie Shores Wind Farm”, was, as NRCan wrote:

    “it is expected that ALL residences, regardless of whether a property intends to host a wind turbine, will NOT be at risk of significant environmental impacts with respect to operational noise.” (emphasis added)

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    • Okay, so what does this mean for people who are living within power stations against their will and without having given their consent, who are being exposed to audible tonal noise that the MOECC cannot seem to measure or get under control with the wind companies? And what about the people who have reported symptoms of infrasound radiation and low frequency noise modulations?

      Why on earth would it take years to study these people and their experiences before protective measures are taken by this government?
      Why would victims have to pay for legal procedures to seek protection?

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      • Sometimes if you scream in the wind,
        the person next to you doesn’t hear one bit,
        but elsewhere you can be heard, clear as a bell.

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