Photo credit: publicphoto.org
A noisy wind turbine has been shut down in Massachusetts after the state determined it was emitting noise at levels in violation of sound standards set by environmental regulators.
The turbine, one in a pair at a waste treatment plant in Falmouth, Mass., has long been a subject of controversy. Residents here have not only been irked by noise generated by the turbines, but some have also been wary of its affect on their health.
Some residents living near the turbines have complained of sleep disruption, headaches and nausea they attribute to “wind turbine syndrome.” The syndrome is a term coined and largely used by anti-wind farm groups to describe adverse health affects caused by noise pollution from wind turbines. However, an independent report conducted by an expert panel of scientists for the Massachusetts DEP found there is no evidence that “wind turbine syndrome” exists.
In 2010, the Town of Falmouth commissioned a consultant group to conduct a sound study similar to the one released this month by the Massachusetts DEP. The study found one of the turbines at the site was emitting noise approaching — but not in violation of — state sound standards for wind turbines.
The state-led test that spurred the shutdown of one of the turbines, however, ruled that the turbine increased noise levels by about 10 decibels at a nearby residence. The other turbine in the pair has been reduced to daytime operation.
Elsewhere in the Bay State, wind power is getting a boost. With a price tag of nearly $2.5 billion, the much-maligned Cape Wind Project in Nantucket Sound should start producing clean energy by 2015. New studies from analysts are now saying that the project could significantly reduce electricity rates for residents of New England.