Health Canada study having no effect yet on wind farms

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July 26, 2012

By WES KELLER

Freelance Reporter

In the face of calls for a moratorium on wind turbines pending the outcome of Health Canada’s study of alleged human health issues, Quebec has announced a fourth call for tenders for the commissioning of a new 700-megawatt wind energy block.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) says the federal health study is unwarranted “because the balance of scientific and medical evidence to date clearly concludes that sound from wind turbines does not adversely impact human health.”

CanWEA says Québec Premier Jean Charest has reaffirmed “his government’s commitment to renewable energy by seeking to attain the 4,000-MW objective set in its 2006-2015 energy strategy.”

“The vast majority of Canadians choose wind energy as a top source for clean and safe new electricity,” CanWEA said in a news release on the health issues. “When discussing an issue as important as our energy future we must look at the facts.

“It is clear that the balance of research and experience to date – including hundreds of thousands of people living and working near wind turbines in 89 countries around the world – concludes that wind energy does not adversely impact human health,” said Chris Forrest, vice-president of Communications.

It cites reports by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, the National Public Health Institute in Quebec, and most recently by an expert panel report to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Department of the Environment, as evidence of no health impacts.

“An Oracle Research poll conducted this year found that 78 per cent of Ontarians believe that wind energy is one of the safest forms of electricity generation. According to Dr.

Robert Oliphant, President and CEO of the Asthma Society of Canada, ‘In all forms, renewable energy is a safe and healthy alternative to fossil fuels’.”

But critics, such as the Melancthon residents opposing a Dufferin Wind Power (DWP) project, remain unconvinced of the reliability of studies to date.

At a Horning’s Mills information session Tuesday, a DWP panelist was chided for citing only positive findings of studies on turbines and health. His response was that the studies he had named had already reviewed the published negative materials.

There, the main thrust of questions on health could be expressed as, “if turbines don’t affect health, why are people getting sick after they are in operation?”

Jeff Hammond of DWP reiterated that causation hadn’t been proven. He said DWP “has to build a safe wind farm. We’ll follow the rules.”

Apart from health, there was an accusation that DWP wants to buy the former CP Rail corridor, and that it has an agreement with The Highland Companies.

Both allegations were denied. DWP, said Mr. Hammond, is simply negotiating an easement beside the rail bed. He said there has been no corporate contact with Highland.

Someone asked why the county is taking over the Melancthon landfill. Mayor Bill Hill, who was in the audience, was called on to respond that the county is not taking over any dumps but merely the collection of waste. He said he had no idea where the allegation had originated.

What happens when a turbine catches fire? Other than using the automatic internal extinguishers, you just let it burn itself out.

A frequently asked question centres on decommissioning at the end of the 20-year contract.

The meeting was told that if decommissioning should occur, the turbines, towers and some underground cables would be removed and the base cut away below grade. This would all be funded through securities DWP is posting.

But Mr. Hammond said it is more likely that the turbines would be replaced with newer, more efficient ones, and the contract renewed.

Wind turbine health study starting up

The long awaited wind turbine health study is starting up in Bruce County.  The story repeated below can be found here.  


Strangely, Wind Concerns Ontario (WCO) has advised its members not to participate in the study.  Ian Hanna, Chairman of WCO (as of last year), had this to say:

"Wind Concerns Ontario has become aware that Siva Sivoththaman PhD, the Research Chair tasked with the assignment of researching the potential adverse health effects of renewable energy mainly wind turbines, and members of his team have begun trying to survey rural Ontario residents and conduct noise measurement studies.  WCO strongly recommends that you do not participate in these activities." 

The post was removed from the Ontario Wind Resistance (OWR) website but can still be found at the Haldimand Wind Concerns website, unless they decide to remove it as well.

It makes you wonder what WCO are afraid of.

Owen Sound Sun Times
March 5, 2012
Tracey Richardson

Bruce County residents living near wind turbines can expect to hear soon from a team studying the health effects of the massive wind-powered generators.

University students will be fanning out across the area over the next month putting surveys in hundreds of mailboxes. It’s one of the first steps in a five-year, $1.5-million study being conducted by the Ontario Research Chair in Renewable Energy Technology and Health, which is based out of the University of Waterloo.

Along with the surveys, the study team will also target people living near the turbines for more extensive testing, said Waterloo professor Philip Bigelow, who is one of the study’s investigators.

The team wants to measure noise levels, both audible and low frequency, at the houses near turbines. As well, the team wants a few dozen participants who will agree to have their sleep habits monitored. That entails the participant wearing a device on their wrist that detects movement while they’re sleeping to show if their sleep is being disturbed, Bigelow said.

While the study of wind turbines is new, the protocol and technology are not, said Bigelow. Noise studies have been done for years around airports and highways. But the turbines are different because they emit a continuous noise, Bigelow said.

“This one is actually a little different because you have this continuous noise and you have the wind changing, of course, but you have this continuous thumping and swishing, and that’s really irritating to people.”

Bigelow said noise is more annoying at certain continuous sound pressure levels, and “when you average it all out, wind turbines are going to be worse than traffic noise for annoyance, and that’s already been well established because of the character of it.”

To balance the study, a group of people who don’t live anywhere near turbines will be included. Bigelow said the team ideally hopes to study people in areas where turbines are planned, then follow up with them after the turbines are up and running. “Those people we really want to follow up with.”

A couple of dozen researchers in total are working on the study. One of the study’s components uses geographic information systems, which involves exact locations and distances of homes in relation to turbines. Another area involves connecting microphones to detect low frequency noise in various places and linking them to the speed of the turbines, Bigelow said. “It’s very fancy stuff.”

Another researcher is working on a model that tracks and predicts noise exposure using a software program called Wind Pro.

“You can actually do this modeling of what a bedroom would be like given if the turbine was this far away and it’s got this sound power level,” Bigelow said.

Bigelow said the study is considering “whole body effects” from the turbines and not just specific health issues, like vestibular effects such as dizziness. “We’re really looking at the broader implications of these things.”

The study is looking at other types of renewable energy as well, but most of the resources are going into wind turbines, Bigelow said, “because it’s an issue more than the other ones are.”

Hundreds of wind turbines have popped up across the province over the last half dozen years, and opposition has been steadily growing. Several anti-wind lobby groups have sprouted, the biggest being Wind Concerns Ontario. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture, which represents about 37,000 farm families, has lent its political weight to the anti-turbine movement as well.

Dozens of municipalities have called on the government to halt further turbine development until more is known about their health effects. Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson has a bill before the legislature calling on a moratorium on wind turbines; it’s to be voted on this week.

Bigelow said he’s aware it’s a political hot button issue. “I’m aware of the political landscape, that’s for sure. We get out there and talk to people and get lots of calls . . . so yeah, we’re very aware of it.”

He wants participants who don’t have an agenda, he said. As well, he said the researchers are objective and have no personal interest in whether the study shows any negative health effects or not.

“For us it doesn’t matter one way or the other. We want to enough statistical power to be able to see some health differences in people with exposure to these wind turbines versus not exposed to turbines,” he said. “And that is our issue we need to deal with, and to do that we need enough people to participate, we need the right measurement tools that we use in the field, and also we need people to fill out the surveys as properly as the can.”

Bigelow said once the study is completed, he expects it to be a tool policy makers will use in making future decisions about turbines. “I’m sure it will go into the mix of how they’re going to make decisions in the future.”

In 2009, the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) issued a call for proposals to all universities in the province for the establishment of the research chair on renewable energy, with funding provided by the Ministry of Environment. The chair was awarded to the University of Waterloo, with Dr. Siva Sivoththaman as the chair holder.

The study began in late 2010 but the first year was spent assembling the research team.

Health effects and windturbines

Simcoe Reformer
January 31, 2012, Page:4
Chris Ollson & Loren Knopper

There is considerable debate about the relationship between windturbines and reported human health effects.

Despite the fact that many studies have been conducted worldwide to examine this relationship, the debate here at home is filled with misinformation. This makes it difficult for the public to determine which claims can be validated by scientific evidence and which cannot.

We have recently published a peer-reviewed paper Health effects and windturbines: A review of the literature, the purpose of which was an in-depth review of the scientific and popular literature on the issue.

While we concluded that noise from windturbines can be annoying to some, we found no research to date that demonstrates a causal relationship between windturbine noise and health effects.

In fact, variables like personal attitude and what someone sees (i. e. if they can see a turbine from their home) are more related to annoyance than noise from turbines.

In other words, it appears that it is the change in the environment that is associated with reported health effects and not a turbine-specific variable like noise.

Overall, health and medical agencies agree (including Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health) that sound from windturbines is not loud enough to cause hearing impairment and is not causally related to adverse effects.

Based on these findings, we encourage the public to make up their own mind on wind energy based on reputable and validated studies.

Please go to: www.ehjournal.net/content/10/1/78to see the paper in its entirety.

Chris Ollson, Ph. D. and Loren Knopper, Ph. D. Intrinsik Environmental Sciences