SUMMERSIDE - Opponents of a proposed four-turbine wind farm in North St. Eleanors have received the support of the Medical Society of Prince Edward Island to delay the project pending a health investigation.
In a letter to the city's mayor and council, long-time Summerside physician Paul Kelly made formal application to city officials that they delay the project calling for four wind turbines on the former landfill site in St. Eleanors.
"Residents of the community have expressed their concerns regarding potentially negative health impacts," Kelly said in reference to the wind farm development.
"The Medical Society of Prince Edward Island has been asked to address the issue of setback distances associated with wind turbines," he said.
"To my knowledge the medical community has not been consulted with respect to these industrial developments. I am requesting that mayor and council do not proceed with this project until the Medical Society has had the opportunity to review the matter."
Kelly's request was received by councillors on Monday, many of whom had not seen the letter prior to Monday night's city council meeting and their vote to move ahead with the wind farm proposal by rezoning the land.
While the Medical Society's participation is welcomed by city council, it did little to prevent civic officials from voting unanimously to approve the rezoning and move the wind farm project to the next level.
Coun. Brent Gallant did not vote due to a possible conflict of interest.
Coun. Ron Dowling, chairman of the city's technical services committee, said council will be reviewing reams of information before making a final decision on the project and that will only happen if the proposal meets provincial expectations.
He said should the Environmental Impact Assessment studies fall short, the project is done.
"The Medical Society is certainly in a position forward information to us in a timely manner," Dowling said.
"We're not talking about delaying the project a couple of years. There's other medical resources we can access and evaluate. But certainly if they are in a position in a timely fashion to put information forward to us we would definitely be interested in hearing what they have to say."
Medical Society seeks delay in wind farm for health investigation
- Published on November 19th, 2008
- Published on June 15th, 2010
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Mike Carson
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Comments
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- k
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:32:51
(Chris from PEI), please provide back up data and research resources to prove to us that the the turbines do not affect health.
As well, the information you provided about pacemakers is incorrect, pls provide objective data to back up your statements.
With out the proper research articles& resources your information is subjective, and not admissable. -
- Warner
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:26:46
A moratorium is needed on all these major wind farms until there is full and complete public consultation and support. These initiatives are far to important to be rushed into place willy-nilly. Present efforts to do so are frought with folly.
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- k
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:24:37
To Chris from PEI ..I quote
Perhaps next time I make an informed comment on a newspaper article I will include a works cited list .
Good for you!! you were listening. -
- Chris
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:19:37
No Major medical association in the world accepts Wind Turbine Syndrome as a real medical condition because there is absolutly no proof that it exsists. It is the brainchild of 1 doctor who just wants her name on something and wishes to sell a few books. Fear is a big seller!
I could respect the argument if someone said they are an Eye-sore ( I think they are a beautiful symbol of Mans Achievement , of harnessing the Earth) , I could respect the argument If people worried about property values, I could respect the argument if people worried about community benefits, foreign intrests, exportation of the power and sustainability of the projects. But trying to make a scientific argument for health concerns when there just aren't any is a waste of council time , a waste of tax-payer money and shows the level of ignorance people are willing to hold up in the pursuit of their goal. Trying to fear monger people with anecdotal evidence and stories of headaches and Tinnitus wont win you any support from the logical onlookers. -
- tony
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:03:43
The only people that think turbines are
wonderful are people who are making money from them and councils and Govs who are too lazy to exercise due diligence-it is easy to appear to be doing something positive in the fight against climate change when the general populous is naive and gullible.
The realities of wind turbines is they are not a reliable,efficient,affordable source of power and they cannot replace ANY source
of conventional power despite their claims
therefore do little if anything in reducing pollution of any form.
They do make people sick,reduce property values and are noisy and they make lots of
money(yours) for the owners.
Get educated people -especially Chris -
- Chris
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:58:38
Hey Tony , lets not go putting words in my mouth. I never even addressed Wind Power as a reliable , efficient or affordable source of power. The only thing I ever commented on is that the people complaining are waiving the bad health banner around like its an established fact and that makes their argument hard to respect since no major medical association recognizes that any harm is caused by wind farms. However I can infer that we agree on some things: you want the government to ensure the projects are effective and reliable? So do I, but when your dealing with the falsities that are being thrown around you tend to get off track...
You want people to be compensated for lowering of property value? I know I do, Its not fair to have that kind of thing happen to people , at the very least the private interests who will profit from the machines should be liable to pay part of the difference between the former market price of the home and the new market price after the installation , part of the problem however is determining how much can be attributed to the turbines and how much can be attributed to the general downturn in housing markets.
I am well aware that the current in use wind technology is more expensive than coal or natural gas , however it is also substantially cleaner , large amounts of research into wind farms indicate that 3-5 months and at the outside 9-12 months is all that is required for a windfarm to recoup its carbon sink from initial production. Personally I hope future energy production comes mostly from Nuclear Power , complimented by Wind , Solar and other alternate sources where locally available. Mostly due to large short term variability problems in the modern design of wind and solar do I rank them below Nuclear , we need reliable power first (just not reliable dirty power). I certainly agree with your sentiment , lets all get educated , and the best way to get educated is to remove all the noise and fluff from the arguments and stick to reliable, accepted and testable facts. -
- Chris
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:54:28
Hey K Mack , you got google? do your own research.
But to be polite might I suggest you
start with the wikipedia article on Wind Turbine Syndrome (check the bottom for sources, that should get you started)
Check almost any Pacemaker FAQ and website and you will get a list of Pacemaker issues , including the numbers I quoted in relation to high voltage lines/sources.
Last I checked I wasn't in a formal debate or writing a professional paper , which means that additional research is left to the reader. Perhaps next time I make an informed comment on a newspaper article I will include a works cited list to entertain the Sophmores. -
- tony
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:51:27
Hey Chris -the French Medical Academy recognizes the health effects of wind turbines on people So does Dr Maga Havas of Trent Univ.in Ont.contact her for a copy of the presentation she gave in Florence Ont.a couple of days ago. Dr Robt.McMurtry of Univ.of Western Ont stated on CTV news a couple of weeks ago that 30-50% of all wind farm residents are troubled healthwise.and there are others.
I personally know of at least a dozen people who have experienced health problems, some serious.I also know people who have abandoned their homes.I know people who will sell their homes for almost any price but no-one even will look.I was one of the lucky ones, I sold to a wind farm proponent and got the hell out before the rot set in. I also know one that appealed his property assessment and got it reduced 50% by a Gov.agency.
Yeah I know of a few that get of track but The falsities that are being thrown around
are by the proponents who have their hand in both of your pockets, bigtime.
In reality we have no option but to go nuclear,but clean coal is pretty good,geo-thermal holds some promise but solar is for hobbyists in Canada and there is hydrogen in the not too distant future.
I worked in generation stations of ALL types in three different continents for forty years and I have a pretty good understanding of the grid and what works and what doesn't.--wind doesn't, period.It is one sad, sick industry. -
- Bev
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:49:44
Note to head shaker. I think you have already did a major head shake to come out with a statement like that. Oh well there is one in every crowd.Chris what would you say if you knew of a person with a pacemaker who can not take a drive under these high voltage wires, or the family that had to move away from their home, because their child has been effected by the turbines. As soon as they where out of the area things where fine. There are many cases that are not made puplic because people are afraid of being ridaculed by people who have not expereinced these things.All we are asking for is a reasonable set back from homes to protect our family, our health, our investments in our properties. We still live in a free country where we are suppose to have basic human rights..
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- k
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:45:04
Chris from PEI...Good boy,glad I have encourage you to be more resourceful.
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- Head Shaker
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:42:28
What are they going to find that didn't come out for the folks in the Howlan-West Cape area?
I guess we see who deserves consideration here. After all, who cares if some country hicks have medical issues? It is Summerside that matters. -
- Chris
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:34:16
I would say Prove the child was affected by the turbines , you can't just say they were affected and that makes it so. If I told you that I took vitamin C for 3 weeks and my broken foot healed would you then go on to say the Vitamin C did it? Your example is equal to this, a fallacy, you infer the case for causation exsists when you have not proved it in the least.
Every major medical association rejects the idea that Wind turbines cause any problems what-so-ever. Why? because the claims don't stand up to scrutiny.
What you have are called anecdotes , stories designed to make unfair connections and stir up peoples emotions. Stick to facts.
Also you might want to brush up on your pacemaker knowledge , very little research told me that those with pacemakers are generally able to drive just fine even near power lines , but should avoid being within 7.5 meters of high voltage lines as it may temporarily mess with the rythem. Last I checked none of these Turbines were going to be placed within 25 ft of anyone let alone someone with a pacemaker.
Once again the only reasonable argument you present is the lowering of property value , mostly because that phenonminon isn't made up , all I ask is that you quite muddying the real issues with the fake ones. Unfortunatly for you people aren't too sympathetic over someone elses property value , so you beat the health scare drum over and over and over again.
