DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN: Canadian Council of Academies (CCA) turbines and health effects study’s deficiencies mirror image of recent Health Canada wind turbine and health studies.
by Sherri Lange
• “It is finally clear that noise is a significant hazard to public health. Truly, noise is more than just an annoyance.” (From Dr. Arline Bronzaft’s 1978 pamphlet: “Noise: A Health Problem.”)
• “Neighbors are far better acoustic analyzers for determining the quality of their lives versus any acoustic instrument left unattended by an expert.” (Stephen Ambrose, Environmental Sound and Industrial Noise expert.)
• “Is noise the most neglected green issue of our age?” (Bronzaft in promotional material for book Why Noise Matters: A Worldwide Perspective )
With a repetitive patter now, study after study, and review after review from Canada and beyond, repeats the messages of inconclusive negative health effects, and more testing required, with one admission: that proximity to wind turbines causes “annoyance. Please note that we have had this acknowledgement since 1978.
We have also had the benchmark of denial from the North American wind industry: AWEA and CanWEA in 2009 commissioned a scientific advisory panel to review the current literature on the issue of “perceived” health effects. Reporting directly to the wind energy industry itself, the result was palpably expected:
“There is no evidence that the audible or sub-audible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effects.”
They also say, “The ground-borne vibrations from wind turbines are too weak to be detected by, or to affect, humans.”
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