At today's meeting, the commissioners voted 5-2 to approve Forest Hill Energy's application.
We'd like to offer a sincere thank you to Kam Washburn and Adam Stacey for voting no. Thank you so much for listening to us, educating yourself, and accurately representing the public.
Dave Pohl, Bruce DeLong, Jack Enderle, Robert Showers, and Eileen Heideman all voted to approve the turbines coming into our county. They apparently didn't listen to us, didn't educate themselves on wind turbines, and don't care that the application doesn't meet the ordinance.
Forest Hill Energy will now go to the townships.
To stay informed, please write your address in the 'FOLLOW BY EMAIL' box on the right hand side of the page. The blog posts will be automatically emailed to you.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Meeting tomorrow
Just a reminder: the Clinton County Board of Commissioners is meeting tomorrow - Tuesday, Jan 29 at 9:00 a.m. They will be in the Clinton County Board of Commissioner's Room, Courthouse, 2nd Floor, 100 E. State Street, St. Johns.
The resolution to approve Forest Hill's special land use and site plan is online here.
An excerpt of the online resolution:
"The Community Development Department shall verify compliance with all standards set forth in the Zoning Ordinance (specifically Sections 715 & 1341) prior to issuing any permits, including construction or occupancy permits. Kolano & Saha Engineers, Inc., was retained to assess compliance of the project with the audible sound limitations of the Ordinance and has substantiated that the maximum audible sound limitations from nonparticipating single-family residences has the potential to exceed the requirement less than 1% of the operational time. (See Kolano & Saha Engineers, Inc., letters attached). The Planning Commission and now the Board of Commissioners have determined that the potential to exceed the maximum audible sound limitation less than 1% of the operational time constitutes a short-term event as permitted by the Zoning Ordinance. Maximum audible noise requirements from non-participating property lines are determined to be in compliance."
That's us - the non-participators. We'll see tomorrow if the county will protect us or let us be harmed by this wind turbine company.
Please attend if you are able. If you cannot attend, please contact your commissioner before the meeting. Their contact information is on our site's previous post.
Thank you.
The resolution to approve Forest Hill's special land use and site plan is online here.
An excerpt of the online resolution:
"The Community Development Department shall verify compliance with all standards set forth in the Zoning Ordinance (specifically Sections 715 & 1341) prior to issuing any permits, including construction or occupancy permits. Kolano & Saha Engineers, Inc., was retained to assess compliance of the project with the audible sound limitations of the Ordinance and has substantiated that the maximum audible sound limitations from nonparticipating single-family residences has the potential to exceed the requirement less than 1% of the operational time. (See Kolano & Saha Engineers, Inc., letters attached). The Planning Commission and now the Board of Commissioners have determined that the potential to exceed the maximum audible sound limitation less than 1% of the operational time constitutes a short-term event as permitted by the Zoning Ordinance. Maximum audible noise requirements from non-participating property lines are determined to be in compliance."
That's us - the non-participators. We'll see tomorrow if the county will protect us or let us be harmed by this wind turbine company.
Please attend if you are able. If you cannot attend, please contact your commissioner before the meeting. Their contact information is on our site's previous post.
Thank you.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Contact your commissioner today
Attention Essex, Dallas, and Bengal Townships:
The Clinton County Board of Commissioners is going to have a meeting Tuesday, Jan 29 on the Forest Hill Energy application. It's at 9:00 a.m. - a time most of us will obviously be unable to attend.
Please take the time today to contact your commissioner. Kam Washburn is a new representative to Essex Township. He doesn't know what we think about the turbines. Please take the time to email him or call him. When you do email, feel free to send one to us as well and we'll post it here.
Dave Pohl's number and email (Dallas and Bengal) are also listed below.
So far, the Clinton County representatives have completely ignored the townships. Don't let them ignore us any longer.
District No. 1
Lebanon, Essex, Greenbush, Duplain and Ovid Townships (Population 10,872)
Kam J. Washburn (R), 5201 E. French Road, Elsie, MI 48831
Ph: (989) 862-5565 Term Exps: 12/31/2014
Email: wash@mutualdata.com
District No. 2
Dallas, Bengal, Westphalia, Riley, Eagle Townships and that part of City of Grand Ledge (Population 10,619)
David W. Pohl (R), 1180 S. Hinman Road, Fowler 48835
PH. (989) 593-2688 Term Exps: 12/31/2014
Email: dwpohl@yahoo.com
The Clinton County Board of Commissioners is going to have a meeting Tuesday, Jan 29 on the Forest Hill Energy application. It's at 9:00 a.m. - a time most of us will obviously be unable to attend.
Please take the time today to contact your commissioner. Kam Washburn is a new representative to Essex Township. He doesn't know what we think about the turbines. Please take the time to email him or call him. When you do email, feel free to send one to us as well and we'll post it here.
Dave Pohl's number and email (Dallas and Bengal) are also listed below.
So far, the Clinton County representatives have completely ignored the townships. Don't let them ignore us any longer.
District No. 1
Lebanon, Essex, Greenbush, Duplain and Ovid Townships (Population 10,872)
Kam J. Washburn (R), 5201 E. French Road, Elsie, MI 48831
Ph: (989) 862-5565 Term Exps: 12/31/2014
Email: wash@mutualdata.com
District No. 2
Dallas, Bengal, Westphalia, Riley, Eagle Townships and that part of City of Grand Ledge (Population 10,619)
David W. Pohl (R), 1180 S. Hinman Road, Fowler 48835
PH. (989) 593-2688 Term Exps: 12/31/2014
Email: dwpohl@yahoo.com
Curt Devlin: 'Blaming the Victims of Big Wind'
Curt Devlin wrote an article called, 'Blaming the Victims of Big Wind'. You can read the article here. He writes:
During my years at Boston College, I had the good fortune to study with Dr. William Ryan, then Professor of Social Psychology and author of the acclaimed book, “Blaming the Victim.” At the time of its writing, Dr. Ryan focused attention on pressing social issues of the day, such as poverty and racism.
He contended, for example, that we blame the poor for poverty and that we blame minorities for their own disfranchisement. We fault victims for somehow inviting the social inequities they endure. In effect, we hide behind an ideological façade rather than face our responsibilities to redress these injustices.
Lately, I have been struck by how Dr. Ryan’s description of this phenomenon applies to the victims of Big Wind—to those who have become ill or were forced to flee their homes to escape the toxic effects of industrial wind turbines sited in close proximity to them.
Just as we blame the poor for their poverty, we seem compelled to blame the victims of Big Wind for their own illness. Apostles of the wind industry, like Dr. Dora Mills, Dr. Robert McCunney, and Australia’s Professor Simon Chapman, are only too happy to furnish the tacit explanations needed to justify blaming these victims for their own plight. These typically include psychosomatic causes, hypochondria, delusions, and other forms of mental illness. Interestingly, these “diagnoses” are always arrived at without benefit of examining a single patient, conducting an independent study, or even speaking with those suffering adverse health effects.
It is guilt is by reason of insanity. In this inverted logic, the victims are to blame, not the turbines.
In some cases, we are told the illness associated with these toxic monsters is actually caused merely by the negative perceptions created when someone is ill-disposed to renewable energy—as though anyone could be against such an idea in principle.
The justification for blame is particularly absurd and reprehensible because it flies in the face of a simple fact. Most of the people who become ill were actually in favor of wind energy; that is, until they gained firsthand experience of turbines spinning near their homes.
Why are so many ready to blame the victims of wind? Why so willing to receive these explanations without skepticism, without demanding the same scientific rigor demanded of wind critics? Dr. Ryan’s work is especially useful on this question. The answer is simple; it is a convenient form of social denial. People prefer blaming victims over taking responsibility for confronting the real issue. It is much easier, for example, to blame someone in poverty for laziness, than to accept responsibility to find the true causes of economic inequities, much less take action to correct them.
This pitfall is easier to fall into than one might think. It is easy to believe that if we feed the hungry, we risk rewarding them for being hungry. It’s much harder to make sure they find ways to help them feed themselves. Accepting personal or social responsibility requires change, action, or personal sacrifice to effect positive change or prevent harm. It forces people to confront the contradictions and absurdities in their dogmas and replace them with facts, to reject social delusions and face inconvenient truths.
In short, it is much, much easier to blame the victims—than ourselves.
The overwhelming body of medical and scientific evidence demonstrates that infrasound, low frequency noise, and vibration of the kind produced by industrial wind turbines cause serious adverse health effects. The evidence has mounted steadily for more than 30 years. It shows compellingly that the symptoms and illnesses called Wind Turbine Syndrome and Vibro-Acoustic Disease are caused by exposure to this toxic form of sound energy. Despite the vocal denials of the wind industry, there are no independent studies of merit to contradict this finding. There are only the groundless, though profuse, assertions and rhetoric of the windy industry assuring us that their denial of the real dangers is well founded.
There is also incontrovertible evidence that industrial wind turbines produce excessive quantities of this dangerous form of sound and vibration. Recently, the wind industry itself is being forced to gradually admit this fact. But even if the underlying causal connection were a complete mystery, the simple empirical evidence that many, many people become ill when they are near turbines is undeniable to anyone with eyes, ears, or one iota of common sense. Of equal importance, the same people who become ill near turbines, feel better when they get away from them. This simple form of evidence, referred to as case-crossover data by epidemiologists, matches common sense. It furnishes irrefutable proof that, in fact, the turbines are to blame, not the victims.
Wind turbines cannot eliminate our dependency on fossil fuels. They will not reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, nor save us from climate change. Wind turbines are not safe, they are not clean, and they have proven to be economically unsustainable—time and time again. Wind power will not prevent irreparable harms to people as well as the environment caused by our own insatiable appetite for energy. Wind cannot alleviate our obligation to one another to use energy wisely and conservatively.
There is virtually no benefit to justify the harm caused to victims. Even if such benefits existed, they could hardly outweigh the harm being done to people. If we continue blaming the victims and denying this truth, we will soon become victims of our own devices. This ironic little reversal of fate is what Hegel referred to as dialectic, and it is inevitable. We will become the victims of our own blindness and we will be blamed for it—though perhaps only by history.
This last thought is cold comfort to those who must face the steady erosion of their health, their families’ and financial reserves, and the destruction of their very livelihoods that is created by living too close to turbines. The victims of Big Wind are like so many canaries in the mine shaft, who flee or fall in the face of this industrial toxin. Those who blame them are like unwitting miners who stand staring dumbfounded at the obvious, wondering what these canaries have done to bring this catastrophe upon themselves—and then continue along their merry way down the mine shaft, oblivious to the clear and present danger as though they are immune to it. Until it is too late.
***
There are many reasons why people don't want turbines here. Wildlife harm, human health effects, lowered property values, safety, aesthetics ... Clinton County, are you listening?
During my years at Boston College, I had the good fortune to study with Dr. William Ryan, then Professor of Social Psychology and author of the acclaimed book, “Blaming the Victim.” At the time of its writing, Dr. Ryan focused attention on pressing social issues of the day, such as poverty and racism.
He contended, for example, that we blame the poor for poverty and that we blame minorities for their own disfranchisement. We fault victims for somehow inviting the social inequities they endure. In effect, we hide behind an ideological façade rather than face our responsibilities to redress these injustices.
Lately, I have been struck by how Dr. Ryan’s description of this phenomenon applies to the victims of Big Wind—to those who have become ill or were forced to flee their homes to escape the toxic effects of industrial wind turbines sited in close proximity to them.
Just as we blame the poor for their poverty, we seem compelled to blame the victims of Big Wind for their own illness. Apostles of the wind industry, like Dr. Dora Mills, Dr. Robert McCunney, and Australia’s Professor Simon Chapman, are only too happy to furnish the tacit explanations needed to justify blaming these victims for their own plight. These typically include psychosomatic causes, hypochondria, delusions, and other forms of mental illness. Interestingly, these “diagnoses” are always arrived at without benefit of examining a single patient, conducting an independent study, or even speaking with those suffering adverse health effects.
It is guilt is by reason of insanity. In this inverted logic, the victims are to blame, not the turbines.
In some cases, we are told the illness associated with these toxic monsters is actually caused merely by the negative perceptions created when someone is ill-disposed to renewable energy—as though anyone could be against such an idea in principle.
The justification for blame is particularly absurd and reprehensible because it flies in the face of a simple fact. Most of the people who become ill were actually in favor of wind energy; that is, until they gained firsthand experience of turbines spinning near their homes.
Why are so many ready to blame the victims of wind? Why so willing to receive these explanations without skepticism, without demanding the same scientific rigor demanded of wind critics? Dr. Ryan’s work is especially useful on this question. The answer is simple; it is a convenient form of social denial. People prefer blaming victims over taking responsibility for confronting the real issue. It is much easier, for example, to blame someone in poverty for laziness, than to accept responsibility to find the true causes of economic inequities, much less take action to correct them.
This pitfall is easier to fall into than one might think. It is easy to believe that if we feed the hungry, we risk rewarding them for being hungry. It’s much harder to make sure they find ways to help them feed themselves. Accepting personal or social responsibility requires change, action, or personal sacrifice to effect positive change or prevent harm. It forces people to confront the contradictions and absurdities in their dogmas and replace them with facts, to reject social delusions and face inconvenient truths.
In short, it is much, much easier to blame the victims—than ourselves.
The overwhelming body of medical and scientific evidence demonstrates that infrasound, low frequency noise, and vibration of the kind produced by industrial wind turbines cause serious adverse health effects. The evidence has mounted steadily for more than 30 years. It shows compellingly that the symptoms and illnesses called Wind Turbine Syndrome and Vibro-Acoustic Disease are caused by exposure to this toxic form of sound energy. Despite the vocal denials of the wind industry, there are no independent studies of merit to contradict this finding. There are only the groundless, though profuse, assertions and rhetoric of the windy industry assuring us that their denial of the real dangers is well founded.
There is also incontrovertible evidence that industrial wind turbines produce excessive quantities of this dangerous form of sound and vibration. Recently, the wind industry itself is being forced to gradually admit this fact. But even if the underlying causal connection were a complete mystery, the simple empirical evidence that many, many people become ill when they are near turbines is undeniable to anyone with eyes, ears, or one iota of common sense. Of equal importance, the same people who become ill near turbines, feel better when they get away from them. This simple form of evidence, referred to as case-crossover data by epidemiologists, matches common sense. It furnishes irrefutable proof that, in fact, the turbines are to blame, not the victims.
Wind turbines cannot eliminate our dependency on fossil fuels. They will not reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, nor save us from climate change. Wind turbines are not safe, they are not clean, and they have proven to be economically unsustainable—time and time again. Wind power will not prevent irreparable harms to people as well as the environment caused by our own insatiable appetite for energy. Wind cannot alleviate our obligation to one another to use energy wisely and conservatively.
There is virtually no benefit to justify the harm caused to victims. Even if such benefits existed, they could hardly outweigh the harm being done to people. If we continue blaming the victims and denying this truth, we will soon become victims of our own devices. This ironic little reversal of fate is what Hegel referred to as dialectic, and it is inevitable. We will become the victims of our own blindness and we will be blamed for it—though perhaps only by history.
This last thought is cold comfort to those who must face the steady erosion of their health, their families’ and financial reserves, and the destruction of their very livelihoods that is created by living too close to turbines. The victims of Big Wind are like so many canaries in the mine shaft, who flee or fall in the face of this industrial toxin. Those who blame them are like unwitting miners who stand staring dumbfounded at the obvious, wondering what these canaries have done to bring this catastrophe upon themselves—and then continue along their merry way down the mine shaft, oblivious to the clear and present danger as though they are immune to it. Until it is too late.
***
There are many reasons why people don't want turbines here. Wildlife harm, human health effects, lowered property values, safety, aesthetics ... Clinton County, are you listening?
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Townships will not forget
January 16, 2013
Clinton County Planning Commission
St Johns MI 48879
Commission Members:
I am sure I speak for most of the people who attended your January 10 meeting when I say I have never left a meeting more dismayed, disappointed, and stunned. It was apparent that nothing the citizens had to say was going to make any difference in your actions. Word is now out in the community that the County Board of Commissioners feels the same way and will approve Forest Hill Energy’s permit to build wind turbines. Why do the people even bother?
These are not the words you spoke at the meeting, but this is what your action said:
We know your property values will plummet; we don’t care. We don’t live in your townships.
We know some of you will suffer adverse health effects. We don’t care. We don’t live close by.
We know you don’t want to hear or see the windmills in your backyards. It doesn’t matter.
We know you have presented facts and figures and studies. It doesn’t matter. We hold all the power
and you have no say.
We know wind energy is not efficient and your electricity costs will eventually skyrocket. We don’t care.
We know you are passionate about what happens to your beloved community. It doesn’t affect us.
We know many of you have just recently learned about the wind turbine project and the opposition
movement is growing daily. We don’t care. We’ve worked on it for years and we are sick of it and want to move on.
We hear the stories from people who live in communities that already have turbines. We hear how old ladies with arthritis are forced to sleep on their basement floor to try to escape the vibrations. We don’t care.
We know that we are here to serve the citizens of the county. We choose Forest Hill Energy. You don’t matter.
We hear you speak, plead, and urge us to deny the permit. It doesn’t matter. The almighty dollar
speaks louder than you.
The residents of Bengal, Dallas and Essex Townships are not going to forget how have been treated. We did learn something, however. It does no good to take the time to attend meetings and present our
case. Sadly, our words fall on deaf ears.
Cherie Anderson
Clinton County Planning Commission
St Johns MI 48879
Commission Members:
I am sure I speak for most of the people who attended your January 10 meeting when I say I have never left a meeting more dismayed, disappointed, and stunned. It was apparent that nothing the citizens had to say was going to make any difference in your actions. Word is now out in the community that the County Board of Commissioners feels the same way and will approve Forest Hill Energy’s permit to build wind turbines. Why do the people even bother?
These are not the words you spoke at the meeting, but this is what your action said:
We know your property values will plummet; we don’t care. We don’t live in your townships.
We know some of you will suffer adverse health effects. We don’t care. We don’t live close by.
We know you don’t want to hear or see the windmills in your backyards. It doesn’t matter.
We know you have presented facts and figures and studies. It doesn’t matter. We hold all the power
and you have no say.
We know wind energy is not efficient and your electricity costs will eventually skyrocket. We don’t care.
We know you are passionate about what happens to your beloved community. It doesn’t affect us.
We know many of you have just recently learned about the wind turbine project and the opposition
movement is growing daily. We don’t care. We’ve worked on it for years and we are sick of it and want to move on.
We hear the stories from people who live in communities that already have turbines. We hear how old ladies with arthritis are forced to sleep on their basement floor to try to escape the vibrations. We don’t care.
We know that we are here to serve the citizens of the county. We choose Forest Hill Energy. You don’t matter.
We hear you speak, plead, and urge us to deny the permit. It doesn’t matter. The almighty dollar
speaks louder than you.
The residents of Bengal, Dallas and Essex Townships are not going to forget how have been treated. We did learn something, however. It does no good to take the time to attend meetings and present our
case. Sadly, our words fall on deaf ears.
Cherie Anderson
Cary Shineldecker and the horror of his turbine-filled landscape
Wind Wise Radio interviewed Cary Shineldecker of Ludington, Michigan on their January 20, 2013 show.
Cary said, "I am a resident caught in the middle of a wind development. Not only do these ruin our lives, but they ruin everything in nature we hold sacred. Wildlife, scenery, and the value of quiet places for generations to come. Put an end to this madness. Turbines cannot even create enough energy to pay for themselves. Stop development now."
Cary was kind enough to attend the Clinton County Planning & Zoning meeting and spoke about how negatively the turbines have affected his county. (Unfortunately, the commission members ignored him and voted to foist these on our community as well.)
Cary begins speaking at the 5:00 minute mark. He lives three miles from Lake Michigan in a quiet, rural area, with rolling hills filled with orchards. They had abundant wildlife - bobcats, eagles, ducks, deer, etc.
Now everything has changed. He is surrounded. He can see 18 turbines from his living room, and 29 from his front porch. He has 5 within a half mile, 13 within a mile, and 26 within a mile and a half. He doesn't hear anything natural anymore. Just mechanical noises. He said it has completely changed his world.
He said one thing he never knew is that even when the turbines aren't running, they make noise. Heaters, coolers, and fans inside the towers are the loudest sound outside all the time. He said it's constant and in every direction.
His son can't sleep due to pressure and headaches. He and his wife have developed constant headaches and ear pressure. Everyone wakes up. On gusty nights he and his wife sleep on an air mattress in the basement to try and get away from the noise and vibration.
Cary said he has a sound measuring instrument. When it's the loudest he routinely measures the sound at over 45 and in the low 50s. He's put in several complaints. With every complaint, they tell him it's not applicable. The company has a year to perform their own students, so the company has a year to run the turbines at full power, in any direction, however they want, without having to worry about compliance. He has made complaints on other factors too, and their response is 'Not Applicable.'
He said it's a big fight he didn't ask for. But for two and a half years, he's been fighting it every day of his life. He said he's not going to back down.
He ended with these words: "My community is filled with gracious, good, hardworking people who were born here, lived here, loved it here, and wanted to die here. And now they want nothing more than to leave."
Listen to Cary's testimony here.
Cary said, "I am a resident caught in the middle of a wind development. Not only do these ruin our lives, but they ruin everything in nature we hold sacred. Wildlife, scenery, and the value of quiet places for generations to come. Put an end to this madness. Turbines cannot even create enough energy to pay for themselves. Stop development now."
Cary was kind enough to attend the Clinton County Planning & Zoning meeting and spoke about how negatively the turbines have affected his county. (Unfortunately, the commission members ignored him and voted to foist these on our community as well.)
Cary begins speaking at the 5:00 minute mark. He lives three miles from Lake Michigan in a quiet, rural area, with rolling hills filled with orchards. They had abundant wildlife - bobcats, eagles, ducks, deer, etc.
Now everything has changed. He is surrounded. He can see 18 turbines from his living room, and 29 from his front porch. He has 5 within a half mile, 13 within a mile, and 26 within a mile and a half. He doesn't hear anything natural anymore. Just mechanical noises. He said it has completely changed his world.
He said one thing he never knew is that even when the turbines aren't running, they make noise. Heaters, coolers, and fans inside the towers are the loudest sound outside all the time. He said it's constant and in every direction.
His son can't sleep due to pressure and headaches. He and his wife have developed constant headaches and ear pressure. Everyone wakes up. On gusty nights he and his wife sleep on an air mattress in the basement to try and get away from the noise and vibration.
Cary said he has a sound measuring instrument. When it's the loudest he routinely measures the sound at over 45 and in the low 50s. He's put in several complaints. With every complaint, they tell him it's not applicable. The company has a year to perform their own students, so the company has a year to run the turbines at full power, in any direction, however they want, without having to worry about compliance. He has made complaints on other factors too, and their response is 'Not Applicable.'
He said it's a big fight he didn't ask for. But for two and a half years, he's been fighting it every day of his life. He said he's not going to back down.
He ended with these words: "My community is filled with gracious, good, hardworking people who were born here, lived here, loved it here, and wanted to die here. And now they want nothing more than to leave."
Listen to Cary's testimony here.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Planning Commission ignores our pleas, approves application
The commission took public comments. The scene was now familiar - a full room, a community coming together, and the public pleading, imploring, and begging the county to protect us from wind turbines.
Science, application violations, physical problems, healthy, safety - it was all mentioned.
Pete Preston, Community Planner, talked about the application. The commission asked the Forest Hill Energy representatives a few questions. The commission members expressed a lot of suspicion and outright disbelief in their answers. (I became hopeful.)
Earl Barks spoke and said that he, personally, didn't like turbines. He said he'd never seen an issue tear a community apart like this one. He said he knew there were lots of people who didn't like them, and he would never want one where he lived. He then said that as a board member, he didn't see how he could say no to the application and moved to approve it. (Hope was crushed.)
Shannon Schlegel, Mark Simon, Bob Kudwa, and Earl Barks all voted yes. Adam Stacey voted no.
Shannon Schlegel said she wanted to thank the public for their remarks.
The man sitting next to me said out loud, "But you didn't care."
Adam Stacey aside, the idea that these people can sit in front of us and completely ignore us, fills me with hopelessness, and yes - rage.
They don't owe Forest Hill Energy. The commission members live here. With us. And they simply do not care. Earl Barks said he didn't want one in his yard - but my yard? That's a different story.
Clinton County has sold out its residents.
Science, application violations, physical problems, healthy, safety - it was all mentioned.
Pete Preston, Community Planner, talked about the application. The commission asked the Forest Hill Energy representatives a few questions. The commission members expressed a lot of suspicion and outright disbelief in their answers. (I became hopeful.)
Earl Barks spoke and said that he, personally, didn't like turbines. He said he'd never seen an issue tear a community apart like this one. He said he knew there were lots of people who didn't like them, and he would never want one where he lived. He then said that as a board member, he didn't see how he could say no to the application and moved to approve it. (Hope was crushed.)
Shannon Schlegel, Mark Simon, Bob Kudwa, and Earl Barks all voted yes. Adam Stacey voted no.
Shannon Schlegel said she wanted to thank the public for their remarks.
The man sitting next to me said out loud, "But you didn't care."
Adam Stacey aside, the idea that these people can sit in front of us and completely ignore us, fills me with hopelessness, and yes - rage.
They don't owe Forest Hill Energy. The commission members live here. With us. And they simply do not care. Earl Barks said he didn't want one in his yard - but my yard? That's a different story.
Clinton County has sold out its residents.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Important meeting - Jan 10, 7:00 p.m.
The Clinton County Planning Commission & Zoning Board of Appeals will be
discussing the Forest Hill Energy special land use permit Thursday, January 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Board of Commissioners Room, Suite 1300, Courthouse, 100 E. State Street, St Johns.
Clinton County residents, please attend. This is probably our last chance to tell the board our opinions. Please, let's fill the room and try to persuade the board.
We hope to see you on Thursday.
You can see the Planning & Zoning web site here.
Clinton County residents, please attend. This is probably our last chance to tell the board our opinions. Please, let's fill the room and try to persuade the board.
We hope to see you on Thursday.
You can see the Planning & Zoning web site here.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Shirley Wind study generates much publicity, Rep. Jacque calls for permit suspension
The Shirley Wind study is generating a lot of news. The Green Bay Press Gazette published this article: Jacque: Study finds 'dangerous levels' of noise from turbines - State legislator calls for end to permitting of wind projects.
An excerpt:
A Public Service Commission study has found what one Wisconsin lawmaker classifies as “dangerous levels” of wind turbine-generated low frequency noise or infrasound at the Shirley Wind Project.
Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, has called on the Public Service Commission to issue an emergency rule to immediately suspend the permitting process for wind projects.
The testing was conducted in early December by Clean Wisconsin, an environmental group that advocates clean energy, and primarily funded by the Public Service Commission, found that one woman and her child living in a residence near the turbines suffered from an “extremely adverse” as a result of the turbines.
“I am very appreciative of the Public Service Commission’s willingness to investigate the incidence of debilitating low frequency noise,” Jacque said in a statement. “These results compel them to act immediately to keep this nightmare from spreading.”
Jacque said the study, which was released Friday, established the existence of “dangerous levels” of wind turbine-generated/infrasound in the Shirley Wind Farm in Glenmore.
The study recommended further testing to further study the effects of the turbines at the Shirley Wind Farm.
The infra and low-frequency sound is a primary characteristic of wind turbine acoustic emissions and discredited the wind industry argument that infrasound produced by modern upwind wind turbines do not have sufficient amplitude to reach the threshold of hearing, Jacque said.
Glenmore families living or previously living in or near the wind turbines complained of ear infections, heart palpitations, muscle and joint pain malaise and other symptoms. The Brown County Board of Health recommended low-frequency noise testing near the project in November.
You can read the rest of the article here.
Let's hope the Clinton County Planning & Zoning Commission is taking note of this study as well.
An excerpt:
A Public Service Commission study has found what one Wisconsin lawmaker classifies as “dangerous levels” of wind turbine-generated low frequency noise or infrasound at the Shirley Wind Project.
Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, has called on the Public Service Commission to issue an emergency rule to immediately suspend the permitting process for wind projects.
The testing was conducted in early December by Clean Wisconsin, an environmental group that advocates clean energy, and primarily funded by the Public Service Commission, found that one woman and her child living in a residence near the turbines suffered from an “extremely adverse” as a result of the turbines.
“I am very appreciative of the Public Service Commission’s willingness to investigate the incidence of debilitating low frequency noise,” Jacque said in a statement. “These results compel them to act immediately to keep this nightmare from spreading.”
Jacque said the study, which was released Friday, established the existence of “dangerous levels” of wind turbine-generated/infrasound in the Shirley Wind Farm in Glenmore.
The study recommended further testing to further study the effects of the turbines at the Shirley Wind Farm.
The infra and low-frequency sound is a primary characteristic of wind turbine acoustic emissions and discredited the wind industry argument that infrasound produced by modern upwind wind turbines do not have sufficient amplitude to reach the threshold of hearing, Jacque said.
Glenmore families living or previously living in or near the wind turbines complained of ear infections, heart palpitations, muscle and joint pain malaise and other symptoms. The Brown County Board of Health recommended low-frequency noise testing near the project in November.
You can read the rest of the article here.
Let's hope the Clinton County Planning & Zoning Commission is taking note of this study as well.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Essex Township special meeting notice
The Essex Township board will hold a special meeting Monday, January 7 at 7:00 p.m.
It will not be in Maple Rapids - instead, it will be at the Bengal Township Hall at 6586 W M-21 in St Johns. (The Maple Rapids Community Center was unavailable.)
The following topics will be discussed:
1. Informative discussion regarding Essex Township wind turbines. Essex Township attorney, Mr. William Fehey, will be in attendance. The Dallas Township board and the Bengal Township board will be participating in the wind turbine discussion. Mr. David M. Revore, Attorney at Law will also be in attendance.
2. Discuss/possible action taken on the 2013 ambulance budget
3. Discuss/possible action taken on a motion to support the Clinton County Ambulance Authority's wish to purchase the buildings and land that the ambulance staff currently operate out of
Note - The Essex Township board is working with Dallas and Bengal since all three of the townships have PPOs. The Essex Township board is trying to prepare for what the ordinance requires.
This isn't a meeting that we all need to attend (like the January 10 one), since the boards are currently gathering information, but we wanted to let everyone know.
Thank you.
It will not be in Maple Rapids - instead, it will be at the Bengal Township Hall at 6586 W M-21 in St Johns. (The Maple Rapids Community Center was unavailable.)
The following topics will be discussed:
1. Informative discussion regarding Essex Township wind turbines. Essex Township attorney, Mr. William Fehey, will be in attendance. The Dallas Township board and the Bengal Township board will be participating in the wind turbine discussion. Mr. David M. Revore, Attorney at Law will also be in attendance.
2. Discuss/possible action taken on the 2013 ambulance budget
3. Discuss/possible action taken on a motion to support the Clinton County Ambulance Authority's wish to purchase the buildings and land that the ambulance staff currently operate out of
Note - The Essex Township board is working with Dallas and Bengal since all three of the townships have PPOs. The Essex Township board is trying to prepare for what the ordinance requires.
This isn't a meeting that we all need to attend (like the January 10 one), since the boards are currently gathering information, but we wanted to let everyone know.
Thank you.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Report for Jan 10 meeting
This letter and new report were sent to the Clinton County Planning & Zoning Commission today.
The cover letter explains the "new evidence [that] has come to light that confirms that significant defects remain in FHEFF’s Application which preclude the grant of a Special Use Permit in this matter."
Due to the completed study, which is explained, the letter also says:
"The argument about whether wind turbines produce infrasound and LFN sufficient to cause adverse health effects (as this study unequivocally demonstrates they do), has taken a big step forward with this study. This Report establishes that infra and low frequency sound is a primary characteristic of Wind turbine acoustic emissions. The wind industry and its supporters can no longer say that Wind turbines do not produce significant levels of infra and low frequency sound just because the sound
pressure levels do not rise to the thresholds of perception of audible sounds. The argument raised by the Wind industry that infrasound, produced by modern upwind Wind turbines, does not have sufficient amplitude to reach the threshold of hearing is now thoroughly discredited."
It continues:
"The Report from Shirley Wind demonstrates that we have now reached the point where the non-participating residents can no longer be used as "test subjects." Instead, it is clear that these non-participating residents are victims. Approval of the Fowler Farms Wind park would make Clinton County complicit in these actions."
Please read the interesting and valuable documents, as they will be discussed at the January 10 meeting. Thank you.
Read the letter
Read the Shirley Wind Report
The cover letter explains the "new evidence [that] has come to light that confirms that significant defects remain in FHEFF’s Application which preclude the grant of a Special Use Permit in this matter."
Due to the completed study, which is explained, the letter also says:
"The argument about whether wind turbines produce infrasound and LFN sufficient to cause adverse health effects (as this study unequivocally demonstrates they do), has taken a big step forward with this study. This Report establishes that infra and low frequency sound is a primary characteristic of Wind turbine acoustic emissions. The wind industry and its supporters can no longer say that Wind turbines do not produce significant levels of infra and low frequency sound just because the sound
pressure levels do not rise to the thresholds of perception of audible sounds. The argument raised by the Wind industry that infrasound, produced by modern upwind Wind turbines, does not have sufficient amplitude to reach the threshold of hearing is now thoroughly discredited."
It continues:
"The Report from Shirley Wind demonstrates that we have now reached the point where the non-participating residents can no longer be used as "test subjects." Instead, it is clear that these non-participating residents are victims. Approval of the Fowler Farms Wind park would make Clinton County complicit in these actions."
Please read the interesting and valuable documents, as they will be discussed at the January 10 meeting. Thank you.
Read the letter
Read the Shirley Wind Report
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