Laura Ritger’s article for the Fond du Lac Reporter published last Friday provided an outline of the continued debate over the impact of wind turbines on human health. Demonstrating the misinformation frequently used to attack wind farms, Barbara Vanden Boogart of the Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy anti wind group incorrectly reported to Ms. Ritger that a health study had been conducted to assess the risk for cancer in Brown County residents near a local wind farm. Wisconsin’s renewable energy community was quick to identify and correct the misinformation used by Ms. Boogart’s group with wind energy expert Mike Barnard responding in Barnard on Wind and RENEW’s Michael Vickerman writing the following response to the Fond du Lac Reporter.
By Michael Vickerman
Dear Ms. Ritger:
You
recently wrote an article describing an effort on the part of certain
Fond du Lac County residents to advocate for a state-funded health study
analyzing impacts of utility-scale wind generators
on neighboring residents. Your article contained the following
sentence:Barbara Vanden Boogart, representing Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy, spoke Wednesday
about health issues. She referred to a study
that measured increased cancer risk for people living in Brown County
homes near turbines and how some residents were compelled to leave their
homes.The
highlighted statement is completely false.Yes, a team of acoustical
engineers took measurements of infrasound and low-frequency sound levels
at three houses near the
Shirley wind farm. The results were recorded and written up in a report
titled “ACooperative Measurement Survey and Analysis of Low Frequency and
While
Infrasound at the Shirley Wind Farm in Brown County, Wisconsin.”
these acoustical engineers are experts in their field,
their expertise does not extend into medical science. They took sound
readings, nothing more. Moreover, they were unable to persuade the owner
of the Shirley Wind Farm to shut down the turbines at any time during
the testing. Without a baseline sound reading,
it is impossible to determine to what extent, if any, the Shirley wind
turbines are responsible for any sounds recorded by this team. That
being the case, the statement is in error on two grounds:1. This was an acoustical inquiry, not a medical inquiry.2.
The measurements taken neither implicate or exonerate the Shirley wind
turbines for any readings taken, because they were always operating
during the testing.It’s
quite a leap to interpret the data and conclude, as Ms. Vanden Boogart
did, that living near wind turbines increases the risk of contracting
cancer. No peer-reviewed
medical study I’m aware of connects wind generation to any illness or
disease recognized by the medical profession. Moreover, every reporter
who covers this issue ought to know that Wind Turbine Syndrome is not a
medically recognized phenomenon.I
would ask that your newspaper issue a correction on this point. Ms.
Vanden Boogart completely misrepresented the report in question, and her
quote suggests that there
is a risk from wind generators when in fact none has been determined to
date by many researchers working around the world.For
a balanced presentation of the Shirley report, please review the latest
post on Barnard on Wind, which sets the record straight on what the
Shirley infrasound report says and does not say.