Falmouth Neighbors Never Gave Up Fight Against Wind Turbines

Picture : Barry Funfar USMC Budweiser Break Vietnam 1968

Barry and Dianne Funfar (the Funfars) Falmouth residential homeowners filed a request with the Falmouth building commissioner for enforcement of the zoning code as to the operation of two wind turbines in Falmouth. The litigation has gone on at the expense of their health and finances for eight years.

Barry Funfar is a 72-year-old Vietnam veteran who spent most of his time since retirement fifteen years ago working with the hundreds of flowers and trees planted around the quiet suburban house that he built.

A Marine, Funfar flew 127 combat missions as a helicopter mechanic/door gunner on Huey helicopters and was awarded seven Air Medals for meritorious service.

The Town of Falmouth had been warned by email, letter, and maps prior to the installations of the two town-owned wind turbines the turbines generate 110 decibels of chest pounding noise. The Vestas wind turbine company letter warning of the 110 decibels remains not disclosed on the town wind turbine website.

In June 2012 Falmouth Board of Health members: Gail Harkness, Jared Goldstone, George Heufelder, Stephen Rafferty,and David Carignan heard from 63 residents. Of the 47 people reporting health effects from the turbines. 41, or about 85% reported sleep disturbance, 25 reported stress, 21 reported mental health problems, 2 reported suicide attempt or ideation.

The state and town ignored thousands of written noise complaints about the wind turbines. To date, the state has never interviewed any of the abutters of the wind turbines.

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Former Selectman Brent Putnam was on the board in 2010. At Falmouth Town Meeting November 10, 2015, Brent told Town Meeting this about residents around the turbines:"And they're going to continue to fight this. They'd been fighting this when I was a selectman, they're fighting this now and I'm not a selectman. They have a vested interest in this, ladies and gentlemen, that most of us don't. And they, as just pointed out, they're continuing to spend their own money and their own energy and their own time to fight this, and guess what? They're winning."

"When I was on the Board, we were given legal advice and, quite frankly, looking back on it-- because hindsight always is 20-20, isn't it --we were told,"No problem, slam dunk", and then we lost."Oh, no problem, slam dunk", and then we lost. And then we lost and then we lost."

"And right now, Folks, we're looking at several articles here that are asking us to spend more money. One article that's asking us to retroactively rezone the property so we can win a battle that we've lost. This is really getting comical, if not, as one recent writer pointed out, absurd."

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Barnstable Superior Court Judge Cornelius Moriarty had deemed the turbines at the town’s wastewater treatment facility a nuisance and ordered that they be permanently shut down in June 2017. The selectmen voted not to appeal the decision.

On October 15, 2018, the Falmouth Select Board announced plans to move one of the turbines one-half mile to sidestep the Judge Moriarty decision.

The Falmouth Select Board plans to put the cart before the horse does not include an expert acoustic noise study or have made a decision if Falmouth Wind II is a non-conforming or non-compliant structure.

Falmouth complaints of adverse health impacts from those forced to live close to wind turbines continue to rise worldwide. Today the World Health Organization has confirmed noise is a problem for people that live in the proximity of wind turbines.

These turbines involve both audible noise measured in decibels including low-frequency noise, and inaudible noise below 20 Hz, known as infrasound.

This is the way the Town of Falmouth thanks some one for their service

Massachusetts Appeals Court Throws Out Green Center Wind Turbine Appeal -

Barry and Dianne Funfar Neighbors Win Another Costly Victory Again

November 6, 2018 Mass Court Documents

https://www.mass.gov/files/doc...