WHO Also Wrong On Wind Turbine Noise

The World Health Organization in 2014 appeared to be slow to react to the Ebola epidemic that tore up three West African countries, killing more than 11,000 plus lives by the time it ended in 2016.

By the same token WHO officials visiting China in January to discuss ways of containing the outbreak failed to declare the emergency. Officials have in retrospect admitted an error in the assessment of the Wuhan Corona virus risk.

The World Health Organization has also been slowly dragging its feet on wind turbine noise recommendations in the United States.

The new 2018 WHO Guidelines suggest there is insufficient evidence to prescribe or suggest acceptable night time noise levels for wind turbines. Why not ask the millions of people worldwide who complain of sleep disruption?

This Guideline recognizes that “noise” is more than an annoyance. Chronic noise contributes to cardiovascular disease; lack of sleep, hearing loss, tinnitus and stress; and increased changes in blood pressure and heart health.

These negative wind turbine noise impacts have, also, been for tens of years slow to be recognized at levels such as the WHO.

The Town of Falmouth wind turbine noise and twenty-one Massachusetts communities are of course well-known impacts to communities and professionals worldwide.

In 2010, the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts constructed a pair of Danish made V82 type 1.65 MW wind turbines on their wastewater treatment plant. The town was warned in writing and by email, prior to construction, the turbines generate 110 decibels each totaling 113 decibels of noise.

After the first wind turbine became operational, up to 200 nearby residents started complaining about the noise. There are a few interesting circumstances related to the wind turbines in Falmouth. Despite the complaints and noise warnings, the town went forward building a second foreign-made wind turbine in 2012.

The closest home is 1100 feet from the wind turbines far too close.

The turbines were originally intended for another location. They were purchased by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative a state agency know today as the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The state of Massachusetts the original owners of the turbines had all the noise specifications and warnings but were ignored for a political agenda.

Massachusetts and Falmouth combined have provisions in their noise guidelines and statutes:

Falmouth required that wind farms meet the 40 decibels limit which is in agreement with World Health Organization guidance for environmental noise of an annual average of 40 dBA outside homes.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) brokered an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loan on Falmouth wind turbine number two in which case their noise guidelines require that there be no more than a 10 dBA increase in a specific standard of averaged noise and that there be no conditions which cause specific spikes in specific frequencies which are disruptive.

Noise modeling projections after the first turbine was constructed found that under certain circumstances it will occasionally exceed the 10 dBA increase limit at homes on the other side of a highway.

In May 2012, additional sound testing was performed by the same Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection that provided the loan agreement on the second town-owned wind turbine.

MassDEP determined that the wind turbines did exceed the 10 dBA threshold but took no action as the MassDEP loan agreement required that the Falmouth Wind II turbine remain energy efficient or else the Green Energy loan had to be paid back to the State Revolving Fund for other energy efficient projects ending the land based wind turbine agenda!

MassDEP is in "Regulatory Capture" working for the wind turbine industry ignoring its own health and noise guidelines.

Wind turbine advocates including state and town officials then fell back on WHO guideline documents, if maximum noise inside a bedroom exceeds 45 dBA maximum more than 10-15 times in a night, sleep can be sufficiently disrupted to cause concern.

The wind advocates said WHO guidelines point out that partially closing windows can reduce noise inside bedrooms by 10-15 dBA. Many Falmouth residents as a result were living in their basements for years or had to leave their homes when the turbines spun.

The worst noise identified by neighbors was around 50 dBA outside of homes.

After multiple lawsuits In 2013, the town of Falmouth reduced the turbine operating hours to 12 hours per day, eliminating noise from the turbines at night.

By 2015 a study found that the wind turbine(s) produce acoustic emissions that are "acoustically trespassing" into homes. The first Falmouth wind turbine was shut down.

By 2017 the Massachusetts courts shut down both wind turbines as they are a nuisance.

Acousticians, experts in the branch of physics concerned with the properties of sound state almost 3000 feet is needed for a setback from one Falmouth wind turbine.

The Cape Cod Commission passed a model bylaw that requires a turbine the size of one Falmouth wind turbine requires ten times the diameter of the blades or 3000 feet.

The turbines operated within World Health Organization guidelines for community noise requirements never used wind turbines that considered the decibel output of a single wind turbine only that they were perceived to be noisy only under certain wind conditions.

The World Health Organization Geneva-based UN agency never simply considered the residential setback for a single wind turbine generating 110 decibels of noise.

The WHO Guidelines only recognizes that the “noise” is more than an annoyance.

Sadly, these same officials may have to again in retrospect like the COVID 19 fiasco admit an error in the assessment.

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