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By
TOM MEERSMAN,
Star Tribune
Last update: January 12, 2010 - 12:04 AM
ELKTON,
MINN.-- Every sunny morning, shadows from
the massive rotating blades swing across their breakfast table. The giant
towers dominate the view from their deck. Noise from the turbines
fills the silence that Dolores and Rudy Jech once enjoyed on their
Minnesota farm.
"Rudy and I are retired, and we like to sit out on our deck," Dolores
said. "And that darned thing is right across the road from us. It's an
eyesore, it's noisy, and having so many of them there's a constant hum."
Just as they are being touted as a green, economical and job-producing
energy source, wind farms in Minnesota are starting
to get serious blowback. Across the state, people are opposing projects
worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Opposition is
also rising in other states. It's not likely to blow over quickly in
Minnesota, which is the nation's fourth-largest producer of wind
power and on track to double its 1,805- megawatt capacity in the next
couple of years.
To be sure, many people who live more than half a mile from machines are
not bothered by noise, and those with turbines on their property enjoy an
economic windfall. They typically sign 30-year easements and receive up to
$7,500 a year for each turbine on their land.
But the Jechs do not own the land across the road, where a turbine stands
about 900 feet from their 100-year-old farm home east of Austin.
Flickering shadows from the 122- foot blades make east-facing rooms seem
as if someone is flipping a light switch for hours at a time. "We can pull
our drapes, we can put earplugs in, or we can wear dark glasses, I guess,
but it doesn't really make the problem go away," said their daughter Patti
Lienau.
After complaining to the developer, they received two large evergreen
trees to partly block the view, and $3,000 a year to
compensate for the noise. But Lienau said that no money can restore
tranquility for her "shell-shocked" 85-year-old father, who struggles with
panic attacks and anxiety.
Similar concerns have spread about proposed wind farms in Dakota, Goodhue,
Fillmore, Nicollet, Mower, Freeborn, Clay and
other counties.
"I'm not against wind. They're going to put them up whether I like it or
not," said Katie Troe, leader of Safe Wind for Freeborn
County. "What we're asking is that every turbine be looked at and placed
correctly."
Rural
area not the same
The rising numbers of complaints have taken Minnesota regulators by
surprise.
"I've been doing this for 14 years and people are raising issues I've
never heard of," said Larry Hartman, manager of permitting in the state's
Office of Energy Security.
For the most part, said Hartman, wind farms have been welcomed by
struggling farmers and revenue-hungry counties. However, some projects are
drawing fire, often from non-farmers who built country homes and commute
to nearby cities.
"The rural area isn't what it used to be anymore," said Kevin Hammel, a
dairy farmer about 9 miles east of Rochester, where wind developers are
active.
Hammel supported wind generators initially, but changed his mind after a
developer took him and a busload of neighbors to visit a wind farm. The
tour made him feel like he was in an industrial park, he said. Yet others
admire the sleek, graceful turbines with towers up to 325 feet tall,
topped by generators the size of a bus.
Federal subsidies and state mandates for utilities to produce more
electricity from renewable sources are accelerating wind
farm development.
The nature of noise
Minnesota regulations require that wind turbines be at least 500 feet away
from a residence, and more to make sure sounds do
not exceed 50 decibels. In most cases, that amounts to at least 700 to
1,000 feet, depending upon the turbine's size, model and surrounding
terrain. Whether 50 decibels is too loud depends upon individuals, who
perceive sound differently, but it approximates light auto traffic at 50
feet, according to wind industry reports.
Critics say setback distances should be tripled or quadrupled. Nina
Pierpoint, a New York physician who has examined the issue, describes
"wind turbine syndrome" with symptoms that include sleep disturbance, ear
pressure, vertigo, nausea, blurred vision, panic attacks and memory
problems.
Last month, the American and Canadian Wind Energy Associations released a
report that reviewed those claims and said they lacked merit.
Rita Messing, a supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Health, co-wrote
a report last July to help guide the state on noise
decisions.
Wind turbines emit a broad spectrum of sound, she said, including higher
frequencies covered by state noise regulations and lower frequency sounds
that are not. Her report does not recommend changes in the state noise
rules, but notes that local governments can impose longer setbacks.
That needs to happen, said Tom Schulte, who's upset about a proposed wind
farm near his new home in Goodhue County.
"When I built this house, the county told me where to build: how far from
my neighbor, how far from a fence line, how far from a feedlot, and out of
23 acres there wasn't a whole heck of a lot of land left where I could
have put a house," Schulte said. "And yet somebody can plop a
400-foot-tall turbine 500 feet from my house and the county steps back and
says they don't have any say about it."
Changes ahead?
The debate over noise and setbacks will drop into St. Paul this month when
the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission takes up the matter. Comments
filed by 16 wind developers said the state's noise rules and setback
distances do not need to be changed, that "shadow flicker" from rotating
blades can be solved by better modeling and siting, and that there's no
evidence that low-frequency sounds affect human health.
Others are not convinced and want Minnesota to reevaluate the rules.
People who live near wind turbines are "experimental subjects, who have
not given their informed consent to the risk of harm to which they may be
exposed," said Per Anderson of Moorhead. He postponed plans to build a
house on land near three proposed wind farms in Clay County.
Some people challenge the industry's claim that 50 decibels is no louder
than light traffic or a refrigerator running. Brian Huggenvik, who owns 17
acres near a proposed wind farm 2 miles from Harmony, said he has driven
to various wind farms and listened to the noise to judge for himself.
Huggenvik, an airline pilot, said turbines can also produce a whining
sound, similar in frequency to a jet engine idling on a taxiway, though
not as loud. "It's not like living next to a highway with constant sound
and your mind blocks it out," he said. "It's something that you just can't
get used to. It is a different kind of sound."
Bill Grant,
executive director of the Izaak Walton League's Midwest office, said that
all energy sources impose certain costs and inconveniences. If there are
legitimate conflicts about wind turbine noise and public health, the
siting guidelines should be
revised, he said.
But Grant cautioned against putting severe restrictions on a renewable
industry that offers so many benefits. "What people who want to scale back
wind are overlooking is the number of deaths that occur annually from air
pollution from coal plants," he said.
Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388
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