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photo by Tim Engstrom
Katie Troe pets her dog in front of her home east of Clarks Grove last week. She spearheads an advocacy group called Safe Wind in Freeborn County, which is calling for greater setbacks on the proposed Bent Tree Wind Farm.
Wind farm group forms
Safe Wind in Freeborn County now is an official entity
Published Monday, April 13, 2009
A group in Freeborn County has concerns with the setbacks for the proposed Bent Tree Wind Farm, the health impacts of living close to wind turbines and the route planned transmission lines need to connect the turbines to the power grid.
“It is not safe to put this size of turbines by residents,” said Katie Troe, a resident of rural Clarks Grove who is spearheading a group called Safe Wind in Freeborn County.
She said the advocacy group doesn’t oppose wind farms so much as opposes having them close to residences. It started last November with a mailing to tell the 381 homeowners in the area of the proposed wind farm that they had until Dec. 3 to comment to the state about the site permit and until Jan. 8 to comment about the certificate of need.
Troe said there is no membership requirement so she doesn’t know how many people are part of the group. But there is another way to estimate it.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s Office of Energy Security received 28 comment letters for the December deadline. Twenty-five of them were from locals with concerns and who likely had seen Troe’s mailing.
Two letters were from people in state agencies, and one was from Alliant Energy, which owns Wisconsin Power & Light.
Larry Hartman of the Office of Energy Security said it was more letters than most wind farm projects receive. The letters can be found online at the PUC’s site. Many of them are form letters, but a few are original.
In March, Safe Wind got a federal identification number and a bank account and filed as a public safety advocacy group.
Photo by Brie Cohen
Wind turbines rotate at the Top of Iowa Wind Farm near Joice. The Bent Tree Wind Farm is proposed for the Hartland and Manchester area in Freeborn County.
At present Wisconsin Power & Light needs four primary documents for its Bent Tree Wind Farm: a certificate of need from Wisconsin (because the energy the wind farm produces is to be for that state), a certificate of need from Minnesota, a site permit from Minnesota and a conditional-use permit from Freeborn County for transmission lines to connect the wind turbines to the Hayward electrical substation.
Last Monday, the Freeborn County Planning Commission met to hear comments about the conditional-use permit. It was the start of a seven-day scoping period. Today is the final day.
The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners meets Tuesday morning to receive the comments.
Transmission lines
Power lines carry power to neighborhoods and buildings, usually seen on poles. Transmission lines carry bulk power, such as substation to substation or from power generators such as coal plants, dams and wind turbines to substations. Usually, they are held by towers, not poles.
There are two initial routes proposed by Wisconsin Power & Light for the route. One follows public right-of-way along roads and the other does the same except for one stretch through one farmer’s field. Later, a third route was added to the list. It follows an existing transmission-line corridor owned by another company.
Last Monday, one comment maker proposed a route through farmers’ fields in an effort to avoid residences.
Under Minnesota’s eminent domain laws, if a landowner rejects purchase offers, Freeborn County Planning and Zoning Director Wayne Sorensen said it effectively takes the route out of consideration. The more private land it goes through, the less the likelihood to reach fruition.
Troe said Safe Wind lawyers have had questions about the lack of depth of an environment assessment Sorensen prepared on the transmission-line routes as part of the conditional-use-permit process. At the March 16 meeting, the assessment was tabled until County Attorney Craig Nelson could review it.
Commissioner Dan Belshan said he has pushed to have legal counsel at meetings concerning the proposed wind farm.
“I think everybody agrees the wind farm is a positive thing, but we just want to do it correctly,” he said.
Troe said environmental assessments done for state agencies in St. Paul take at least eight months to prepare. Sorensen said he is shooting to bring the environmental assessment before the Planning Commission on May 4. Troe said she doesn’t think Sorensen has the expertise.
“I have concerns on how he’s going to prepare an environmental assessment in less than a month,” she said.
Sorensen said Safe Wind has its documents confused because of nearly similar terms. He said state law requires counties to perform an “environmental assessment” and doesn’t give further directions on what that is.
“It just says you have to do an environmental assessment but doesn’t tell you how to do it,” Sorensen said.
He said “environmental assessment worksheets” as submitted to the state Environmental Quality Board are different and have extensive guidelines. The EAWs indeed are lengthy, he said, but he is not doing one.
He said it is the first time his department has prepared an environmental assessment on a conditional-use permit for a transmission line, but he noted his department has done environmental assessments with several conditional-use-permit applications, including gas lines and fiber-optic lines. He added Clark Engineering in Minneapolis is consulting to review the environmental assessment.
Sorensen said he will suggest Tuesday to the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners that the county address all concerns brought forth during the weeklong scoping period.
On the conditional-use permit for the lines, Wisconsin Power & Light had a choice whether to go to the state or the county.
“I would argue that for the permit by going to the county, instead of the state, it would be more restrictive,” he said.
Last Monday, Troe asked about conflicts of interest on the Planning Commission. The proposed transmission lines are separate from the proposed wind farm but because they would lead to it, she said, anyone benefiting from the wind farm shouldn’t vote on the lines.
She also argues that the county itself has a conflict. She said because the county stands to benefit from additional tax revenue as a result of a wind farm, the environmental assessment should be done entirely by an independent agency or consultant.
Sorensen said Nelson will make a recommendation Tuesday about conflicts.
Nelson said his advice is that members of the Freeborn County Planning Commission who have “a direct financial interest” — in this case, signed leases for wind turbines — should abstain from voting.
Setbacks
The state has a law requiring wind farms to be 500 feet away from residences, but it also requires a decibel setback. They must be quieter than 50 decibels for 54 minutes of every hour.
Turbines at the Bent Tree Wind Farm will be 1,000 feet from residences, wind farm officials have proposed.
Safe Wind in Freeborn County, Troe said, is asking for setbacks of one mile, but she added that she would be happy with a half mile.
Troe and lawyers hired by Safe Wind base their request on research they find at places such as www.wind-watch.org, www.windturbinesyndrome.com and www.windwisefairhaven.com. Some people living near wind turbines say they experience a disorder termed “wind turbine syndrome,” Troe said.
They say they have sleeping problems, headaches, dizziness, exhaustion, irritability and difficulty concentrating, she said. She said because wind energy is a relatively new field there isn’t much research about its impact. Some researchers, one being upstate New York pediatrician Nina Pierpont, argue sensitivity to low-frequency vibration is a factor.
Wisconsin Power & Light spokesman Steve Schultz said an operating wind farm at 750 to 1,000 feet away makes the same amount of noise as a kitchen refrigerator. He said noise is taken into account when siting turbines.
“As far as I know, we are moving ahead with plans,” he said.
Troe lives on an acreage and is not a farmer. She does not reside within the area where the wind farm is proposed. She said she is spearheading Safe Wind because she is concerned for her neighbors and the Freeborn County countryside.
Are there delays?
Wisconsin Power & Light’s intended project schedule can be found in Appendix D of the site permit application the Madison, Wis.-based company filed in August with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Copies were given to landowners, and it is available online.
The project was to start in April 2008 and finish in October 2010.
The application forecast the Wisconsin regulatory process would be wrapped up in December 2008 and the Minnesota regulatory process would be done in January 2008. Neither are finished. The schedule calls for construction to have begun this month.
Schultz said the schedule was merely an estimate and said it was “on the shorter side of what the process could actually take.”
He said Wisconsin Power & Light closed the sale of the development and land rights with Wind Capital Group on March 20. The present schedule aims for construction in 2010. He said hearings for the certificate of need in Wisconsin are scheduled for near the end of this month.
Winds of change
The first phase of the Bent Tree Wind Farm is proposed to create 200 megawatts of energy and the second another 200 megawatts. It has an estimated price tag of $497 million. The site-permit application calls for 266 turbines.
Local officials tout the tax revenue it will bring to the county, and, if state laws change, to the schools.
Safe Wind has two lawyers, Carol Overland of Red Wing and Amy Wasson of Albert Lea.
“Carol has worked in energy law for over 14 years,” said a Safe Wind letter dated March 30.
The letter states, “Safe Wind’s sole purpose is to work with all levels of government to achieve safe setbacks for turbine placement.”
Does the presence of an advocacy group concern Wisconsin Power & Light?
Schultz said it isn’t uncommon for people to have concerns about wind farms, whether as a group or as individual landowners.
He said because wind farms are relatively new, people have questions. He said Wisconsin Power & Light encourages people to bring forward concerns so they can be discussed.
“We want to work with these groups and help them understand,” Schultz said.
Safe Wind requested the Public Utilities Commission grant a contested case hearing for the site permit. On March 24, the commission denied the request. However, a public hearing on issues of siting and permitting was ordered but not until an expected report — aka a white paper — is issued from Minnesota Department of Health on the health effects of wind turbines.
The commission suggested the hearing on the permit could be held in conjunction with a public hearing for the certificate of need.
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Comments
Posted by snowbird (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 9:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
another thing that most likely not get done around our area because of conflict . One group wants it another doesn't so for the next 10 years it will get hashed over until eventually nothing happens. No matter whenever something new is brought up there are always a few that disagree. Do whatever helps the most for everyone for me I really don't care one way or the other.
Posted by windfarmer (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 11:56 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by harleyman (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 12:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Freeborn County has an opportunity to enhance its tax base and promote clean energy at the same time. Freeborn County has been losing tax base and residents, this is a great opportunity to address both issues with the additional commerce this project could provide. Continuing to standby and watch these opportunities pass by will continue the decline and the loss of young people from the county. Unfortunately someone with no skin in the game and whom will not even be living near the wind generators is providing road blocks to progress. Asking for setbacks of a mile or half mile in a county as densely populated as Freeborn County is not realistic or viable, hopefully common sense will prevail.
Posted by rmtsmith (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 3:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Windfarmer, your response could have had validity had you not sunk to personal attacks. I believe its quite obvious that Ms. Troe is basing Wind Turbine Syndrome on the research of Dr. Nina Pierpont, an MD-PhD in New York that has done extensive research on the subject.
I don't think anyone objects to renewable energy, it seems to me that Ms. Troe doesn't. But what she does object to is the conflicts of interest and potential health effects on those who live in the vicinity of wind turbines. As a new industry, I think its in the best interest of those who may be affected to pursue all avenues of investigation, and 'vetting' if you will, before the proposed plan is underway. The potential conflict of interest by the county is concerning as well. I would be very disappointed should Freeborn county put potential revenue for the county ahead of concerns of its citizens.
I'm no longer a resident of Freeborn county, but as the industry expands (to a field near you!) I do believe its the responsibility of all citizens to be informed about who or what may be moving in next door.
Posted by Culture_Warrior (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 5:40 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by NoDFL (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 7:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If this is such a good idea than why do they need tax subsides? Just asking. If you want to build a power plant that burns coal you have to jump through the government hoops. Why should wind turbines get a pass? Also if Ted Kennedy can block these by his house why can't these people have the same rights?
Posted by Outsider (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 8:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hear that, NoDFL, I hear that...
Posted by truthshallprevail (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 8:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have relatives in Iowa that own farmland that started the process to have wind turbines put up on their land. After further thinking and talking to other farmers in their area, most of the farmers are not going to do it, because of having to farm around the gigantic concrete pads, the sound and the idea that when the contract runs out, the turbine company may leave the ground unable to farm. They are not willing to take $8,000 a year for each turbine, because of the consequences. So it is not at all unusual to not want the new technology.
Posted by justthinking (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 9:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think it's a good idea to do the research now and know that issues have been checked out instead of wishing it had been checked it out after turbines have been put up. Once they're up, it's a done deal. I appreciate Ms. Troe wanting to put the time and effort into it. I wouldn't want to live next to something that wasn't checked out and approved to be safe before it was installed. She deserves our respect. After all, this group isn't trying to stop the windmills. They're asking for the setbacks to be further from residences.
Posted by northcoastmn (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 10:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Albert Lea needs this, but what is the point of using clean energy if it's not safe. Parties involved better figure out how to resolve these issues and move along with the plan as soon as possible.
When people around the area see those blades whirrling I think they will feel a sense of pride. It's time to embrace innovation before Albert Lea(area) is skipped over for greener pastures.
Posted by alhsgrad90 (anonymous) on April 13, 2009 at 10:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Didn't we do this with high power lines and how they suppossedly caused cancer and made you grow a third eye and all that other crap. When the studies were done it was proven that the power lines had nothing to do with it. I am sure there is a small percentage of people that might have some sort effect from these turbines I am sure they can get something done to their house just like here in the cities with the airport and all the noise from the planes taking off. I just wish that the wind farm was for the people of Minnesota and not being shipped to Wisconsin.
Posted by windfarmer (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 12:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To RMTSMITH
I find the website you suggested very amusing. More propaganda against clean energy. The human ear cannot hear a wind turbine from 1000 feet, much less 600 feet. They had to be standing directly underneath if they heard that much noise. (with the help of a microphone)
From what I read and viewed it is just a group of people and lawyers looking for a way to profit because they missed out.
Maybe you should speak to those who have them on their property.
It seems to me these people like them!!!!!
Windfarmer
Posted by dewdroppedin (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 3:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If you want to know what the towers are like take a trip down by Mason city, they are all over down there. Yes, you can hear them, they make a whishing sound you can hear. The sub-sonic, which literally means below hearing, can’t be heard but may be felt. It may also bother cattle as they can sense lower frequencies.
The towers are a danger in high winds. Can you imagine those blades coming off in a storm, where are they going to end up? Another thing is icing, if they do ice up and they are turning they will launch pieces of ice here and there. Usually the turbine is shut down during icing weather, but hey things don’t always go as planned.
How about all those comments about putting a town next to Riverland, big concerns expressed about that but people in the country are just suppose to shut up and take the money.
The company that wants to do this is just that, a company. They might have a business plan that takes them out four years or until the tax breaks quit. At that time maybe the towers becoming a losing proposition, what happens when they go under and there is no more cooperation? Will the farmers be able to generate power and put it on the grid? Will they be able to get a permit? What if the towers need $100,000 in repairs, will it be profitable to repair them?
Answer the questions honestly and you might have a better chance at a cooperative atmosphere, less turbulence and more organized wind all from the same direction.
Posted by justthinking (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 7:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Windfarmer said, "The human ear cannot hear a wind turbine from 1000 feet, much less 600 feet. They had to be standing directly underneath if they heard that much noise. (with the help of a microphone) Maybe you should speak to those who have them on their property."
I made the point to do just that. I went over by Dexter and visited with an old man who had 2 on his land. We stood outside when we visited. His closest turbine was 1,320 feet away. The whole time that we talked it sounded like a airplane, high up in the sky, going over our heads. It never quit. He said that they can always hear it in their house, but if you keep a radio or TV on at all times, it covers it up. He said that he can't complain because it's nice to get that check. Money talks, you know. It's nice to go outside and not hear a constant noise, and if you had to have a TV or radio on in your house 24 hours a day, it would get annoying pretty fast, even for money.
Posted by rmtsmith (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 8:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Windfarmer, I'm interested in what website I suggested, because a look back at post my post shows that I did not suggest one.
If you're Googling Dr. Pierpont that's fine, although I would take that with a grain of salt. I personally prefer to find my research from sources such as academic journals and recognized sources, such as universities and the World Health Organization, both of which are named frequently as sources in Dr. Pierpont's articles.
It should serve as a mark of interest to us that some European organizations (French National Academy of Medicine, etc.) are researching effects of wind turbine use.
I think its obvious you're not a doctor or researcher Windfarmer, which is absolutely fine. But I would perhaps refrain from being so dismissive of research because it doesn't have the results that you want?
As far as what happens with these turbines, I do hope that the research shows no negative effects and the turbines are placed and we all get the benefits of having environmentally friendly power sources. But first, I believe it is prudent of ANYone who may be affected to thoroughly research it, and make sure that the county has done so as well. I think we all know that as well-meaning as Alliant Energy and other companies that are involved may be, they are still businesses and their bottom line is their primary concern. Citizens need to make sure that their own interests, whether it be health, financial or anything else, are protected.
Posted by JayJ (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 9:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A logical post rmtsmith.
Posted by 123noname (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 11:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I never hear a discussion about the cost of this technology and the return on investment. Will it be a cost effective method of providing energy or is it going to drive up the cost. Or do we have to increase taxes to cover the cost of maintenance or do we have to add taxes to cover the cost of putting these things up. Five or tens years down the road are we going to be paying 2 or 3 times the price for our energy and then find out that we have another false economy put together by our government that goes bust. Does this type of energy put people to work or does it eliminate jobs. In other countries for every one job created by this process it eliminated two or three other jobs. How about spending some time looking at a long term cost to us instead of just jumping into this without looking at what it really costs us.
Posted by Rauk4 (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Not long ago i was ignorant and uninformed about industrial wind plants. We now live on a one hundred and eighty turbine wind plant. The closest turbine to our home is two thousand feet. My six year old is experiencing serious health effects from this wind plant. He has motion sickness and inner ear problems. More research needs to be done by someone other than the wind industry to find out more about the health effects of living so close to turbines. Not long ago we were happy people, we loved our home and our lives but that all changed the day the wind turbines started going up. Now we are living a nightmare we can't wake up from! It's something you don't even think about until it happens to you. Not everyone living on a wind plant will have health effects but for the people who do it is very serious. Seeing my child go through this has been heartbreaking!
To compare the noise of a turbine to a refrigerator is a joke! It is a typical answer of a wind industry worker but a refrigerator is six foot tall and does not move. A wind turbine is three hundred and fifty feet tall and has sixty six thousand pounds of blades whipping through the air at speeds up to one hundred thirty miles per hour or more. The noise we hear ranges from a mild annoyance to some nights it sounds like there are jet airplanes landing right behind our house. We can hear them in every bedroom inside our home. That is much louder than a refrigerator running!
This wind plant has changed our lives dramatically. I think before people are so quick to judge they should listen to the stories from the people that are living with turbines so close to their homes. For us it has been devastating. We are putting our house up for sale and trying to move as soon as possible so our lives can go back to normal and our child can be healthy again. It's sad these corrupt energy companies can come in and destroy so many lives all because of their own greed.
Posted by headscratcher (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 12:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How do wind turbines cause motion sickness and inner ear problems? I'm just wondering....
Posted by Wildbill (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 2:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
One problem with wind turbines is we will have a blight of them on the landscape. However, it is a good start
toward finding good energy sources.
Posted by alhsgrad90 (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Do you know that there is a wind turbine in Maple Grove next to a medical clinic and is in the middle of a retail area. Funny thing no one is complaining of these ill effects. One wonders if some of these illness are psychosomatic and not really caused by the turbines. Look up Great River Energy in Maple Grove. It is also the first LEED power headquarters in the state I believe. I have been to the clinic when the turbine is turning and I have never heard it and I was less than 500 ft away from it. Build the turbines take the money and everyone else can move away if it bothers them. Come on Freeborn County get with it.
Posted by NoDFL (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 10:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Are these turbines like the other subsides energy? Read that paper companies are making more in subsides for using blended fuel (wood chips soaked in gas) they were using just wood but the new energy bill pays to mix it with oil.
"Thanks to an obscure tax provision, the United States government stands to pay out as much as $8 billion this year to the ten largest paper companies. And get this: even though the money comes from a transportation bill whose manifest intent was to reduce dependence on fossil fuel, paper mills are adding diesel fuel to a process that requires none in order to qualify for the tax credit. In other words, we are paying the industry--handsomely--to use more fossil fuel. "Which is," as a Goldman Sachs report archly noted, the "opposite of what lawmakers likely had in mind when the tax credit was established."
The massive tax subsidy has barely been reported in the press, but it's caused a stir in the paper industry, which is struggling to stay profitable in the teeth of the recession. "Everybody's talking about it," paper industry analyst Brian McClay told me. "In the US and elsewhere in the world--in Canada and Brazil and Chile and Europe."
On March 24 International Paper (IP) announced it had received its first check from the IRS for a one-month period this past fall. The total? A whopping $71.6 million. "It's probably close to a billion a year of cash," McClay said. "If you look at the economics of this business, to make that kind of money today you'd have to be on another planet." IP's stock rose 12 % on the news. "
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090420/ha...
Unintended consequences happen. Giving these "green energy" subsides may hurt us more than help us.
Posted by alhsgrad90 (anonymous) on April 14, 2009 at 11:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also these turbines only work when the wind is blowing at a speed of 15 mph or greater. When they do work they store the energy and then it gets transmitted for the turbine into the generator. You would think this group would have research that aspect of the wind turbines.
Posted by allake (anonymous) on April 15, 2009 at 12:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
NoDfl,
I thought the tax credits were for the smaller turbines? Maybe we should get rid of the tax break on rental property?
Posted by SunMan (anonymous) on April 15, 2009 at 2:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hopefully these advocacy groups will also work towards educating people about efficiency, conservation and educating people to use *ALL* energy more efficiently.
I understand people have concerns, but a question just as important is "what are we all doing in our individual lives to stop wasting these precious resources?"
We were taught in school that we are free to do (most) anything we want as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of other people.
Wasting electricity and petroleum infringes on EVERY American's rights. Doesn't matter if it's from wind or from the dirtiest, most polluting fuel of all: coal. There are side effects.
We can't defecate or urinate without treating the sewage because the consequences would be intolerable.
Pulling a Rush Limbaugh and purposely wasting energy is just as moronic, just as uneducated, and just as anti-American. From Rush, we can expect such incredible stupidity, but in every aspect it is wrong. Just because the resulting pollution is separated by distance does not eliminate it.
So... we better all at least think at a 6th grade level and realize that EVERY American's responsibility is to use our resources as wisely as possible and not to waste. Driving a gas hog wastes oil which is less polluting than coal and can be substituted for it in many cases. Saving electricity frees up energy that can be substituted in other processes. Even if that substitution is not local, energy markets are global in nature so it all ties together.
Hand in hand with that we have to make choices about which sources are lower impact and more acceptable.
Posted by allake (anonymous) on April 15, 2009 at 4:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What a bunch of NIMBYs. A mile set back...I doubt you could put up any towers in Freeborn County.
Posted by rmtsmith (anonymous) on April 15, 2009 at 8:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You know its funny, I actually expected to see some decent debate about this. All I've seen is name-calling. At this point the only people who seem to have thought out what they're saying is Ms. Troe.
Not to sink to Windfarmers level or anything, but alhsgrad90, telling people to move is amusing. Especially considering you're still in Freeborn county 19 years after you've graduated. You obviously don't want to move, why are you telling others they should? Is that all really all you've got to say in favor of wind turbines, deal with it or move?
I really enjoy debating the various sides of issues. I find that I learn things and I'm rarely as firmly planted on one side of the fence as I may think I am. But at this point, I'm really thinking that if name-calling is the best the pro-turbine people have to say, I'm not convinced that there is anything more to your arguments.
Posted by allake (anonymous) on April 15, 2009 at 10:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Decent debate? What is there to debate? Pseudoscience from an internet site. Were not breaking new ground here people.
I wish we were building a nuclear plant in Freeborn County, but that is not ever going to happen.
Posted by windfarmer (anonymous) on April 16, 2009 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
rmtsmith
You stooped lower
Posted by trifid (anonymous) on April 16, 2009 at 11:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Locals cannot cast their eyes to the future without trembling with fear of the unknown. If all humans were as such we would still be living in the trees. It's no wonder many of our young curious minds migrate away from this Desert of Changelessness.
Posted by rmtsmith (anonymous) on April 17, 2009 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks Windfarmer, glad to hear from the expert! ;-)
And to the person who wondered why turbines could make someone sick- here is the reasoning behind it. And I'm an RN, so yes I do have some credibility on this. Its essentially vibration affecting the inner ear, which contradicts what the brain is processing from the eyes and muscles. Its along the lines of seasickness! Now I'm not saying oh yes wind turbines cause this, but it does correlate with accepted medical knowledge about inner ear/balance perceptions.
Posted by windfarmer (anonymous) on April 21, 2009 at 3:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just being an RN doesn't make you an expert on wind turbines and the problems you BELIEVE they cause, just because you have read a few articles from research that has not been proven.
As an RN you should know many of the causes related to sleeping problems, headaches, dizziness, exhaustion, irritability and difficulty concentrating. The fact is, a simple ear infection for one can cause all this.
I hope to be working on the wind turbine project in Freeborn County, MN very soon. Maybe we can have lunch sometime.
Have anice day!!!!!
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