Dear PSC,
Since the wind towers were put into operation I have experienced several problems. For starters I have had problems with my TV reception, for example the screen locks up while you are watching a program and the sound does not match the picture on the screen. They have come out and replaced the dish itself twice and the receiver 3 times each time the problems are not resolved. With the old antenna I had no problems and was able to receive local weather stations during severe weather situations. The current dish does not receive these local stations and does not work in the severe weather in order to keep myself up to date during severe weather conditions all I get during bad weather is a blue screen saying lost signal.
I also have concerns about my radio reception. I am not able to get the station in that I normally listen to and the ones that I do get cut in and out when the turbine is in operation. I can no longer sit in my shop and listen to the music and reports that I normally would because of the bad reception. The wind tower company came out and gave me a radio that they claim is the best on the market and yet I still have the same problems. They later came along with a satellite radio witch works but I am only allowed to have one radio when I currently have several. I am told to move the radio from spot to spot just so I can listen to uninterrupted radio. Why should I be expected to only have one good radio when every one that does not live with turbines can by an average radio to listen to and if I want to have several radios I have to by an expensive radio and a satellite package just to use it!!
I currently have a cell phone witch I use as my primary phone. There were no problems using these phones in this area before the windmills were put up and now the signal will cut in and out on given days. How is a person supposed to carry on a simple conversation or even in a life threatening situation call out for help?
Flicker form the blades of a windmill are also very disturbing. If the flicker is happening early in the morning the effects will act like a strobe light in your room and wake a person from sleep. Their fix to this problem is to put up blinds threw out a person`s house. I do not care for this fix at all. Why should I cover up my windows? If I did not want to look out of my windows why even pay to have them installed in the first place. I have also raised chickens for the last 20 year from witch I collect eggs to eat and hatch baby chicks from. During the past winter I noticed that my birds stopped egg production and went into a molt during the middle of the winter witch is not normal. Normally the bird will not molt until spring or fall. I discovered that the flicker form the windmill was happening while I was at work. Stress like this will force a bird to go into a molt witch is what happened in my case and will happen for years to come.
Another problem with the windmills is the sound that is made by the blades passing by the main tower. This is very annoying while a person is trying to sleep. During the summer I would normally open the windows on a warm day and allow the wind to blow threw the house and keep it comfortable. Now I can not fall asleep because of the noise and forced to close the windows and turn on the A/C. Also Even if I wanted to leave the windows open the blinds have to be pulled so I am not bothered by the shadow flicker. In return the room darkening blinds they have installed will not allow air movement threw the blinds because of there construction!
I tried to sell my house in the last year with a realtor but was not able to even get a counter offer on the place. Instead I was told by the people that they were concerned about the wind turbines and did not hear back from them again. How can the turbine companies say that the property value in not affected it definitely is after all would you spend the money on a house after you listen to several people in the area talk about problems and read about the problems in the paper and internet?
Next there are the problems with my birds. Last year I was having problems with my birds dying in the summer. I sent in a couple of birds that had died in order to find out what the problems were and treat the birds. The birds were sent to Madison and were tested. They found that they had coccidia witch I tried to treat them for. I tried the medication that was recommended, but the birds did not get better. I later had the birds retested and they were still high with coccidia. I asked the vet but they had now ideas. I then sold several of the bird to a customer and took the some by my parent house to raise. The birds that were not to far along with the disease made a complete recovery and survived. During the first three days after the birds were move it was noticed that they sleep almost all day. I then watched the remaining birds and noticed that they were on edge most of the time and would rarely sleep. This is the reason that my birds were not able to get better it was because they were not able to sleep due to the noise. This spring I also once again had problems with my birds laying due to the shadow effects on the barn. I later moved the birds to the inside wall of the main barn behind a wall and was finally able to collect eggs for hatching. When I started to hatch the eggs I was startled to find that some of the birds were coming out with all kinds of weird birth defects. I had a variety of problems like missing eyes, eyes sticking out of their head, twisted beaks, deformed heads, and malformed legs. I later found a study that was done by the United States Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory on the Effects of Vibration and Amplitude on Developing Chicken Embryos. This study I found on the internet at HTTP://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ada288517 . This study goes into great depth and the procedure they used in the study of how the birds hatch rates were diminished from low frequency vibration. It also caused the same birth defects that I struggled with. I have raised several thousand birds over the years and have never experienced these problems. The local vets have never seen this type of problem and do not know what to do next. I was contacted by Ron Kien (Wisconsins Poultry Expert I am told) on the PSC`s behalf and went into discussion of the problems I was having and when I showed him this report I never heard back again. Dave Hanson at the department of trade a consumer protection agency also had Paul Dyke the area Ag rep contact me and have not heard back since.
The wild life that was once in our area has started to leave. I have not seen a barn swallow make a nest in the rafters of my house since they put up the wind mill. Before I could count up to 22 different nests around the house filled with little one now I see none.
At night I had horned barn owls flying around my building and landing on the barn roof since the turbines I have not seen a single owl around. The only wild life they have not scared of are these pesky mosquitoes witch the barn swallows would eat. I no longer have to worry about deer crossing in front of me since they have mostly disappeared into other areas around us. If this does not raise a few red flags what will?
I myself have had problems sleeping at night. I have been forced to take drugs and put ear plugs in just to fall asleep at nigh and get some rest. I still am not able to get a good nights rest. Last fall I was not able to hear out of my ears. I went to the doctor and was told that I had allergies. I took the medication but it took over a month to get over the problem and there for believe it was not allergies or the problem would have gone away right away. Why do I have to suffer with these problems after all I bought a house in the country to get away from the noise. I feel that my rights as a home owner have been greatly over looked just so that some large company with a lot of money can make even more money of my well being.
Why is the PSC even considering another wind farm when they have not cleaned up the mess from the last wind farm? When are they going to take care of my problems? When are they going to do some sound studies that are not created buy these wind giants that so many people believe are faulty. If the noise tests were accurate then why do they refuse to do another study with public involvement. The truth is there are problems and as long as they are not forced to be enfored by the PSC they will continue to scam people.
I have submitted several other concerns over the past two years yet no one has even come out to check on the problems. This proves that they are only in it for the money and are not concerned for the American citizens like me!!
Sincerely,
James Vollmer |