The Quiet Countryside is Gone

I am writing to give you our personal perspective living within a windfarm. We live near 4 wind turbines, the closest being 1100' away. Our experience so far has been if we are down wind from a turbine they make a considerable amount of noise. Also trees and buildings noticeably amplify the sound. Outside it sounds like jet noise with a intermittent swoosh. Inside it sounds like a truck running outside. In the evening on a sunny day when the blades begin to flicker the incoming light, it is similar to someone turning the lights on and off. We live in a nice ranch style home that we have invested our life savings into. It will never be worth what it was. The quiet countryside is gone. As far as jobs go,  we have been told about the jobs that the windfarm will bring.  Most are transient workers that follow the construction from state to state. The gravel and concrete work that hires most local workers lasts 3 to 4 weeks. In conclusion, remember we all live in the same county and we should all be treated equally in these decisions.  

- Thumb Area Resident

How Can This Happen?

I live and work in the thumb and have friends who live close to the wind turbines. I can tell this bothers them and they complain about the noise. They say the noise is worse when there's no wind on the ground and there is more wind higher up where the turbines are. In the winter with the windows shut they can sometimes hear the noise and in the summer with the windows open they say it's hard to fall asleep. I go to their house, listen for myself and agree with what they are saying. The first time I drove by a wind turbine I stopped on the road and thought it was no big deal,but now I know better. They say that sometimes when the sun is low shadows fly around the yard and flicker inside the house which is really annoying. I think it would drive me crazy to live with it. They have their life savings into their property and even if they could move, who would want to buy a house near the turbines? They feel violated and nobody cares about their concerns. When they speak up people say mean things. They know other people in the neighborhood with similar issues. Somebody told them about a nieghbor with headaches and some other health problems but not many know about this. I can see their frustration but I don't know how to help them. I heard they want to put up a lot more wind turbines in the thumb.  It makes me feel sick that our government can do this and harm people who don't have a say.  I know people want to make money from these turbines but I can't understand why nobody cares about the people. 

- Thumb Area Resident

Diary of an Ubly Resident

Log that I am keeping regarding the wind turbine noise and my thoughts.... 12/22/08 I feel that it is a sin to subject people like us to the sound of jets and whoosh for the rest of our lives. When the wind turbines are running, which is almost all the time if they are facing to the south and west or east and the wind is not low, it is very intrusive to our quiet life we have lived here near Ubly. Of course, cars and trucks go by, but there are long intervals between this happening. At the least 5 minutes or longer between big trucks. At night just a few big trucks. I have not heard the wind turbines in my house, thank God it is insulated quite well. But in the summer we like to open the house up and we will have to listen to the jets 24/7 which is what I told the zoning board, but they refused to listen, greed was in their eyes and sly smiles on their faces. I know the look of greed and it is scary. Just look at what happened to our country. Greed has taken over. My health, at this time of my life, is fragile. If I find out what is wrong I will write it down here. I have great difficulty sleeping and mostly do not get the proper sleep. I survive in poor health with this problem. With the wind turbines, it just might kill me. May God forgive the greed that brought these wind turbines so close to us. I am sure I am not the only one bothered. I am not looking forward to the summer and walking around our property with our dog every day like we usually do. We have heard through the grapevine that one person near the windmills has a strobe in his house sometimes. It is very bothersome. Also a farmer in the area of the windmills is having a hard time adjusting to the noise. We also heard that a person in town had trouble sleeping because of the windmills. How often was not told. 12/31/08 The wind turbines were off for some days after the big winds that happened when we were without power for 4 days. This wind sheared off two light poles south of our house and they were not repaired for 4 days. We were without heat, lights and water for those 4 days. The wind turbines continued to run throughout this wind and went for several days. Gusts were up to 50 miles per hour per the TV news and probably higher to knock down two light poles. I remember being told at a zoning meeting by the representative of Noble Wind Farms that they would be shut off when wind speeds were that high. They were not and continued running day and night throughout these high wind days. 1/16/09 Just a note about the Commissioner’s agenda on what they need to work on in 2009. The wording is so very trying to hide an agenda. It says “Develop plans to use more green energy in Huron County to benefit everyone living in Huron County.” Well, we all know that this is wind turbines, will benefit a few of the farmer’s who sign up for them, and that the rest of the county will be paying higher electric bills for this green energy that is not a cost-saving way to produce electricity. Listening to the jets is another thing people will have to cope with. How they have a play on words? 1/18/09 It seems like if the wind is from the direct east and probably from the west with a little north the whoosh sound will be a problem. The jet sound is there in most west wind from south or north. 24/7 jets is what I feel we have to look forward to with the whoosh sound when wind is directly from the east. We shall see. 3/2/09 It seems like something else I heard has come true, that all people are not affected the same. Today, when I stepped outside I heard jet sound surrounding all areas of the sky. My husband said that he heard jets at first when the wind turbines were up but now he hears a whoosh, whoosh. Perhaps I don’t hear the whoosh because I am inside a lot more than he and it is winter and the doors and windows are closed up. I wonder what will happen in the summer when I am outside or have window up. Just a thought. My friends, who either don’t hear the wind turbines or just don’t care about it (unlikely), seem to have abandoned me. They don’t want to hear about it anymore. If it was my friend, I would care about it. Unless, of course, they think that I am lying about it and don’t even realize I try to tell the truth. I do hear these wind turbines, jet sound and whoosh. Just don’t know yet what it will be like in the summer when my windows are open. Can I put up with it? Don’t know yet, I will ask God to help me survive this.

Life at 1,500 ft.

My family and I live and farm in the Thumb area.  We have three turbines within a half mile of our farm. The nearest is about 1500 ft. from our house. Since the turbines began turning this fall, we have been amazed at the amount of noise they create. The sound is like that of a distant jet. The sound can often be heard indoors- especially at night. The nature of the noise is so out of place it is hard to mask. When we're outside, the noise created by the turbine echoes off the buildings and seems to be amplified. When the wind is strong, the noise is masked, but about 75% of the time, the turbines are the dominant sound outside. A big concern we have at this time, is that as the weather improves (which we hope it will soon) windows will open, weather proofing will be removed and the noise that dominates the outdoors will intrude on the indoors even more. At 1500 ft, we thought we may be safe, but we were mistaken. I don't know what the answer is for setbacks, but 1500 ft. is to close.

 

The key to a successful wind farm is placement. Once these structures are erected, there is no turning back! If a turbine at 1500 ft. causes a disturbance when it's new, how much more will it disturb when the components begin to deteriorate. I know some have the view of "it's my land and I'll do what I want", but I'd like to believe the Thumb is different. We are all friends, neighbors and stewarts of the land. As farmers, we control erosion with cover crops, safely apply chemicals, plant filter strips, follow manure management guidelines to reduce the impact on our neighbors, etc.... all in an effort to care for the land and our community. As land owners we have a responsibility to our neighbors as well. We are all part of this peaceful area we call home. It is often said you don't know what you've got till it's gone. Be assured, you may not realize how peaceful this area is until one day, for what ever reason, the turbines aren't turning and you hear the quiet- it's a quiet we've become much more aware of in recent months. A quiet that is to rare. 

 

We were all made promises during the development phase of this project. Two important ones were jobs and money. Jobs came- and then just as quickly went. Many of the jobs were from Wisconsin and other states. They took their paychecks and likely sent them home to their families. Some Michigan people were granted temporary construction jobs, but they have also gone back to their own areas too. There are only a handful of permanent jobs.

 

Money. Where to begin, Money is the driving force of wind development. It seems the only green part of wind development is the money. Subsidies and tax breaks are freely given to developers, and land owners are promised large payments. As for the actual benefit to the area- it remains to be seen. The minimum amounts promised to us (yes- we were offered a contract and after having it reviewed by a land use attorney decided not to sign it) were quite insignificant in the farm industry- less than $3000. Is the promise of more with a guarantee of so little worth the impact on our friends and neighbors? I know first hand of two homes that have been put on the market because of the windmills. Both homes are over a half mile away from the nearest turbine. Noise and other elements  such as strobing and flicker are a concern, even at this distance, and has lead to their decision to sell.

 

Doctors are still learning about the effects windmills have on the human body. It seems quite clear that there is a direct link between health and the proximity of homes to turbines. There are so many questions and so few definitive answers. My experience with developers is that they use a lot of words like- shouldn't, we don't expect, probably, may, etc. Do you feel comfortable with these answers? Are you willing to sacrifice you peace and quiet and possibly your health for these types of answers?

 

Green energy may be critical to our future, but it needs to be done correctly. Families should not have to suffer because they don't own enough land to make the decision for themselves. 

- Thumb Area Resident

 

I Hear Jets Going Over

There are three turbines behind our house. I do not hear them from inside the house when it is closed up for the winter.  When the wind is from the west I hear jets going over in the west depending on the wind speed.  When the wind is blowing from the east there is a swish sound from each blade. I personally don't think this is fair to the people of the community, or myself.  If you can avoid having these wind turbines near your town try to do so.  You may not win because the government doesn't seem to care about the people near them.  Don't delay to learn all you can about issues with turbines; site, sound, property values, etc.  After they've been put up, the jobs are not there anymore.

-Thumb Area Resident