Neighbor News
Falmouth Reporters Duped Over Wind Turbines Noise ? ??
Information Today : Town Hid Noise Warning Letter And Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Had Known About Nuisance Noise, Human Annoyance
Reporter Heather Goldstone and Reporter /Editor Sean Corcoran over five years ago reported about the Falmouth turbines where some residents say they're suffering headaches, insomnia and depression because of a 400-foot tall town-owned wind turbine that began operating there in 2010.
The blog was called Climatetide Blog. The video was produced in 2011.
Today over five years later it appears the scientific investigative reporters were unaware at the time of their video report that in the 1980s the US Department of Energy and NASA had conducted nuisance noise studies at a wind turbine in Boone, North Carolina.Residents around the Boone wind turbine complained of the health affects as the Falmouth residents. A nuisance noise that caused suffering headaches, insomnia and depression etc.
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The study was conducted by Neil Kelley, Principal Scientist --Wind Energy Section. The federal government in 1985 over 30 years ago was aware of infra sound from wind turbines
The 1985 noise studies concluded that the nuisance noise or human annoyance was indeed infra-sound. The federal government has been aware of wind turbine infra sound since the 1980s
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center formerly the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative warned of two types of noise in 2005 five years before the installation of the Falmouth wind turbines.
A report made in 2005 for Mattapoisett, Marion and Rochester -Massachusetts
The state of Massachusetts knew in 2005 about the two types of noise
-Noise considerations generally take two forms, state regulatory compliance and nuisance levels at nearby residences:
A. Regulatory compliance: Massachusetts state regulations do not allow a rise of 10 dB or greater above background levels at a property boundary (Massachusetts Air Pollution Control Regulations, Regulation 310 CMR 7.10).
B. Human annoyance: Aside from Massachusetts regulations, residences must also be taken into consideration. Any eventual turbine would be sited such that it would be inaudible or minimally audible at the nearest residences.
Falmouth residents were not warned about the two types of noise in any of their preliminary reports.
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Reporter Heather Goldstone and Reporter /Editor Sean Corcoran at the time of their report appear to be unaware the Town of Falmouth had failed to disclose that the turbines installed were twice as loud as a single General Electric turbine used as preliminary acoustic noise study.
The Vestas wind turbines installed were twice as loud
August 3, 2010
Mr. Gerald Potamis WasteWater Superintendent
Town of Falmouth Public Works
59 Town Hall Square Falmouth, MA 02540
RE: Falmouth WWTF Wind Energy Facility II "Wind II", Falmouth, MA
Contract No. #3297
Dear Mr. Potamis,
Due to the sound concerns regarding the first wind turbine installed at the wastewater treatment facility, the manufacturer of the turbines, Vestas, is keen for the Town of Falmouth to understand the possible noise and other risks associated with the installation of the second wind turbine.
The Town has previously been provided with the Octave Band Data / Sound performance for the V82 turbine. This shows that the turbine normally operates at 103.2dB but the manufacturer has also stated that it may produce up to 110dB under certain circumstances. These measurements are based on IEC standards for sound measurement which is calculated at a height of 10m above of the base of the turbine.
Click here to read entire letter :
http://www.windaction.org/posts/41357-vestas-raises-concerns-about-turbine-noise-letter#.Ve9oyhFVikp
Recently On January 18, 2017 at a meeting in Buzzards Bay an aide to State Senator Vinny deMacedo told residents on video said "Massachusetts Officials Don't Care If Wind Turbines Make You Sick"
If you have a twitter account you can view the video on the links below :
Watch this video and ask yourself if these two reporters were aware of the hidden Falmouth-August 2010 Vestas noise warning of 110 decibels of noise generated by the turbines and did they know the federal government had conducted infra sound studies in Boone, North Carolina in the 1980s and lastly were they aware five years prior to the installations of the Falmouth wind turbines the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center warned of two distinct types of noise -Regulatory state noise measured in decibels and nuisance noise today called infra sound or human annoyance
The answer is clear they did not - The question today is why was all the noise information hidden from the public ?
Do you think there should be a follow up to this video today ?
5:46
Falmouth Experience - Wind Turbine
