Man killed after wind tower collapses

The photo shows the collapsed wind turbine tower. Photos courtesy of Brian Hulke

Story Published: Aug 26, 2007 at 2:27 PM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 26, 2007 at 5:42 PM PDT

By KATU Web Staff

NEAR WASCO, Ore. - A giant wind turbine tower collapsed Saturday in Eastern Oregon, causing a worker to fall to his death and another man to be injured.

The man killed is from Goldendale, Wash., while the second man is from Minnesota, according to Deputy Geremy Shull of the Sherman County Sheriff's Office.

The man from Minnesota was at last check listed in serious but stable condition at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles, Shull said.

He did not release the names of the men.

The incident happened about 4 p.m. at a wind farm about six miles east of the town of Wasco in Sherman County, Shull said. Portland-based PPM Energy owns the wind farm but Florida-based Siemens Power Generation manufactured and owns the wind turbine tower that collapsed.

Melanie Forbrick, a Siemens spokeswoman, said three people were at the site when the accident happened, two of whom were Siemens Power Generation employees and a third a contractor.

Shull said the worker killed in the incident was at the top of a turbine tower when the support column holding the turbine buckled about halfway up and toppled over. Forbrick said the injured man was inside of the tower at the time while the third worker, who escaped injury, was at the base.

She said the turbine had been in operation for 500 hours and the workers were doing a routine inspection.

Forbrick said federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials were on site Sunday investigating.

"We are very saddened by this event and our sympathy goes out to the families and the workers as well," Forbrick said.

Forbrick said she did not know how the height of the turbine. Bonneville Power Administration documents from last year said the turbine towers would stand 263 feet high and reach about 400 feet with blades included.

The Klondike III wind project, located in the wheat fields near Wasco, is expected to generate 221 megawatts of electricity when it's completed in late 2007, said Jan Johnson, a spokeswoman for PPM Energy. PPM is using 44 Siemens 2.3 megawatt wind turbines and 80 General Electric 1.5 megawatt wind turbines.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.komotv.com/news/local/9383316.html

From today's Chronicle Herald

Quietly sounding alarm
Forced from home after noise from wind farm turbines made family sick, d’Entremont telling others his story
By Yarmouth Bureau | 6:04 AM

DANIEL D’ENTREMONT has become somewhat of a poster boy for people opposed to having wind farms in their neighbourhood.

He was in Kincardine, Ont., this spring for a speaking engagement and recently returned from Chilton, Wis.

An Illinois trip is also on the horizon for Mr. d’Entremont, the Yarmouth County man who relocated his family of eight away from a local wind farm.

He says the noise from the turbines was making his family sick.

In Ontario, a group of people who had formed a wind-action group invited him to speak.

"They weren’t opposed to wind power but they were just fearful of the effects it would have when wind farms would encroach too close," said Mr. d’Entremont.

In Wisconsin, he was invited by local homeowners who had heard of him.

~~~~~~~

Daniel d’Entremont says this poster of his house in Pubnico Point is being used in Manitoba by a group opposed to windmills being built too close to homes. (brian medel / Yarmouth Bureau)

~~~~~~~

"When they found out these wind companies were proposing wind sites . . . close to their homes they got together and they were afraid for their homes. . . . They want these windmills set farther back," he said.

"They learned of me through Dr. Nina Pierpont from Upstate New York."

She’s a pediatrician who studies the effects of wind turbines on kids.

She did a clinical interview with Mr. d’Entremont over the phone early last year and "presented it to a wide audience," he said.

~~~~~~~

Daniel d’Entremont stands in front of his Lower West Pubnico home. He moved his family out of the house last year after noise from the nearby wind farm was making them sick. The nearest wind turbine is about 350 metres from the house.(brian medel / Yarmouth Bureau)

~~~~~~~

He and his wife Carolyn decided to move last year with their six children back to her parent’s home in Abrams River, about 35 kilometres from the 17-turbine wind farm at Pubnico Point, operated by Atlantic Wind Power Corp. Ltd.

The constant swooshing sounds from the turbines — the closest being 350 metres from their Lower West Pubnico house — was making everyone sick, he said.

No one in the household could concentrate for long and headaches were frequent among family members, he remembers.

Now people want to hear all about his experiences first-hand.

He said there is a common question: "What was life (like) with (wind) turbines next door, in the backyard?"

And what did these audiences find interesting or startling?

"Everything – from the health affects to just the shear magnitude of the noise," said Mr. d’Entremont.

His said his family, for instance, had to use noise to block out noise.

"All (bed)rooms had fans eventually, but the kids would have fans right at their heads, especially the small ones, just to mitigate the noise.

"They could sleep with the fan noise but not with the windmill noise.

"It’s an intrusion. It’s a violation. You feel violated," said Mr. d’Entremont.

People often seemed surprised after hearing him speak, he said. "It really opened their eyes to the potential problems.

"Everybody is not impacted the same way, but a large number of them would be impacted severely."

Mr. d’Entremont has had his expenses covered on these speaking engagements, but has refused to take a fee for both speaking engagements. He said he has another session coming up in Illinois sometime soon.

And Dr. Pierpont contacted him again this month, asking that he undergo some tests at a U.S. medical centre after his upcoming appearance in Illinois.

Dr. Pierpont has arranged for a doctor in Lafayette, Ind., to do some work, he said.

She wants to speak with the d’Entremont children individually.

"She’s going to publish this in a medical journal," said Mr. d’Entremont.

He’s e-mailed the premier to let him know what he’s been doing and wants the government to agree to relocate his family.

"They’re both responsible, the government and the wind farm," said Mr. d’Entremont, about decisions made to operate wind turbines so close to dwellings.

Natural Resources Canada ordered a study of noise levels at the site. Testing in 2005 by an Ontario firm determined that sound from the turbines is continually audible, to varying degrees.

The wind power company has made some noise reducing alterations to some of their equipment, president Charles Demond said this week.

"We’ve reconfigured some of the turbines so that they do not engage or generate any power until a higher . . . wind speed," he said.

"At lower wind speeds, if the wind is coming from a southerly direction, then certain of the turbines will not come on until a higher threshold," said Mr. Demond.

He could not say what the wind speeds were or how many machines have been reconfigured.

Mr. d’Entremont said he has seen the three windmills closest to his home shut down during daytime hours, but has heard the same units operating again after dark.

"You can hear them from (my house)," he said.

No one from the company has told him of any changes to turbine operations, he said.

Daniel d’Entremont and his family still live in Abrams River with in-laws and their home in Lower West Pubnico is vacant and still for sale.

"Nobody wants to live near a wind farm," said Mr. d’Entremont.

TURBINE TALK:

•The company that owns the Pubnico Point Wind Park is Atlantic Wind Power Inc.

•The Pubnico project includes 17 turbines connected by 5.2 kilometres of access roads.

• Atlantic Wind Power is also one of two companies now proposing to build upwards of 21 wind turbines on Nuttby Mountain in Colchester County, which is said to be the highest spot in mainland Nova Scotia.

• Atlantic Wind Power, together with Cobequid Wind Power, will operate the wind farm under the name Cobequid Area Windfarms Inc.

• Developers are leasing more than 200 hectares of land on Nuttby Mountain and the turbines would be built approximately 1.5 kilometres from the nearest home, say proponents.

Unhealthy noise

Noise of modern life blamed for thousands of heart deaths

· Stress of exposure adds to risks, says WHO report
· Light traffic is enough for chronic levels at night

• Alok Jha, science correspondent
• The Guardian
• Thursday August 23 2007

Thousands of people in Britain and around the world are dying prematurely from heart disease triggered by long-term exposure to excessive noise, according to research by the World Health Organisation. Coronary heart disease caused 101,000 deaths in the UK in 2006, and the study suggests that 3,030 of these are caused by chronic noise exposure, including to daytime traffic.

Deepak Prasher, professor of audiology at University College London, told the New Scientist magazine: "The new data provide the link showing there are earlier deaths because of noise. Until now, noise has been the Cinderella form of pollution and people haven't been aware that it has an impact on their health."

The WHO's working group on the Noise Environmental Burden on Disease began work on the health effects of noise in Europe in 2003. In addition to the heart disease link, it found that 2% of Europeans suffer severely disturbed sleep because of noise pollution and 15% can suffer severe annoyance. Chronic exposure to loud traffic noise causes 3% of tinnitus cases, in which people constantly hear a noise in their ears.

Research published in recent years has shown that noise can increase the levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenalin in the body, even during sleep. The longer these hormones stay in circulation around the bloodstream, the more likely they are to cause life-threatening physiological problems. High stress levels can lead to heart failure, strokes, high blood pressure and immune problems.

"All this is happening imperceptibly," said Prof Prasher. "Even when you think you are used to the noise, these physiological changes are still happening."

The WHO came to its figures by comparing households with abnormally high exposure to noise with those in quieter homes. It also studied people with problems such as coronary heart disease and tried to work out if high noise levels had been a factor in developing the condition. This data was then combined with maps showing the noisiest European cities.

According to the WHO guidelines, the noise threshold for cardiovascular problems is chronic night-time exposure of 50 decibels (dB) or above - the noise of light traffic. For sleep disturbance, the threshold is 42dB, for general annoyance it is 35dB, the sound of a whisper.

Ellen Mason, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Our world is undoubtedly getting busier and noisier. Some people find noise pollution more stressful to live with than others do. Noise cannot directly kill us, but it may add to our stress. Occasionally, stressful events can trigger a heart attack in someone with underlying heart disease. We know that stressed people are more likely to eat unhealthily, exercise less and smoke more, and these can increase the risk of developing heart disease in the first place."

Mary Stevens, policy officer at the National Society for Clean Air, said of the study's results: "We welcome this because one of the problems with noise is that it's one of the areas that local authorities get most complaints about and it's a big draw on their resources. But, unlike air quality, it hasn't been taken that seriously policy-wise because there [wasn't] the link between noise and health."

Ms Stevens said that there were many options for reducing noise. Traffic could be quietened if more cars used low-noise tyres and councils installed low-noise road surfaces, for example. And coordinating roadworks by utility companies would also prevent the proliferation of potholes, another source of noisy traffic.

The EU has already issued a directive that obligates European cities with populations greater than 250,000 to produce digitised noise maps showing where traffic noise and volume is greatest. "[The research] all supports work going on at the moment to manage traffic noise, which is driven by the environmental noise directive," said Ms Stevens.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/23/sciencenews.uknews

Pictou County turbine setbacks

The story below is in today's Chronicle Herald.

~~~~~~~~~

County deciding wind turbine rules

By MONICA GRAHAM

PICTOU — A wind-turbine bylaw under consideration by Pictou County council may include some of the province’s most restrictive conditions.

If the bylaw passes a public hearing and final readings next month, large wind turbines capable of supplying electricity to the power grid will have to be placed at least 600 metres from homes.

That’s the farthest distance legislated so far in Nova Scotia, said Pictou County Warden Allister MacDonald, adding that other jurisdictions call for a 500-metre setback.

The land-use bylaw, which applies to no other land use in Pictou County than wind turbines, calls for the structures to be at least 300 metres from public roads. Both utility and domestic turbines must be at least their own height from property lines in case they topple.

"We’ve listened to what the people had to say," Mr. MacDonald said.

After council was approached by a development company last year, councillors met with developers, consultants and concerned residents to draft a bylaw and changed it seven times before its first reading this week.

"Council has stated very clearly it’s in favour of wind energy," Mr. MacDonald said. "At the same time we have to protect the interests of the residents and the developers."

The setback does not apply to residences on the same lot as wind turbines, to future homes built less than 600 metres from an already existing wind turbine or to later purchasers of those homes. The property line setback will be waived if adjacent properties are leased for a long term to the wind-turbine owner.

The bylaw does not restrict the number of turbines on a property as long as the setback rules are followed, but it does regulate the expansion of turbines existing before the bylaw’s introduction.

There are now three utility turbines in Pictou County — two on Fitzpatrick Mountain and one in Marshville — with more in the planning stages for other areas of the county.

~~~~~~~~~~

My comment

Cumberland County has less than half (46%) the population density of Pictou County, yet has passed a land use bylaw amendment for wind turbines to be no less than 500m from a residence. That is from a residence - not from a property line.

How can Pictou County manage to write a bylaw that keeps turbines 600m from a residence, keeps them back from roads and property lines, but Cumberland County cannot? Pictou has actually paid attention to suggestions from its residents.

There are large wind farm developments being suggested for Pictou County. Shearwind's owner tells me that his Glendhu project is a minimum 4km from a residence.

Why can't projects destined for Cumberland County keep back at least as far?

More communities affected

In the last several months my neighbours and I have directly spoken to many people whose lives have been affected by wind energy projects. It seems like there is not a project out there, large or small, that leaves a community unaffected.

We have most recently heard from Pastor Mark Harris of Mars Hill, Maine. Pastor Harris was here at the Seventh Day Adventist camp on the Gulf Shore this week. This camp sees an average of 1000 people per week through the summer season.

There is only one wind farm in Maine, and it is on Mars Hill. There are 20 families whose lives have been seriously and detrimentally affected by this project, built by UPC. Some turbines are extremely close to families. Complaints have been made from people living as far away as three miles.

They complain of sleep disturbance and migraines. A couple who was running a retreat for autistic children with riding horses and a petting zoo has had to stop business. Not because of the animals, but because the movement, noise and strobing from the wind farm was seriously affecting the children.

Pastor Harris and his wife had planned to build their retirement home on Mars Hill, but that plan is now on hold until the turbines issue is resolved satisfactorily.

They have 80 acres on the mountain off which he periodically cuts off fire wood. He describes how when he goes up there early in the morning, he can hear the birds in the trees, the rustling leaves, babbling brook and the thump, thump thump of the nearest turbines. After he puts on his hearing protection in preparation to cut wood, he can no longer hear the birds, leaves or brook – but he can still hear the thump, thump, thump of the wind turbine.

Hunters have noticed that large mammals have left the mountain. Bird and bat kill is only part of an environmental impact to wildlife – avoidance of the area is another part of it.

Pubnico, Marshville, Brookfield, Amherst NS, Elmira PEI and Mars Hill, Maine.

Direct conversations with people who have either moved away or would like to. In Rodney, there is a couple who don't want to move away at all – their families have lived in the area for generations – they just want the noise to stop. She would like to be able to lie in bed at night and not feel her chest vibrating. They have to run a radio in the garage when working in there, because otherwise the turbine noise reverberates so loudly, it makes use of the garage too uncomfortable.

There are some people who do not seem to be affected by the noise and vibrations – but for as long as there are people who are – these machines have to be located so as not to possibly affect anyone living near them.

It really isn't complicated. Keep them away from people!

http://www.barehillsoftware.com/Welcome%20to%20Mars%20Hill-PC.wmv