Windmills in Ore. generating complaints about noise, possible health effects

BOARDMAN, Ore. — Wind turbines may supply power without pollution but they are also generating complaints about noise and even possible health effects for people who live near them.

Dan Williams says the 240-foot-tall turbines he can see from his hilltop home near Boardman in Eastern Oregon make so much noise they keep him awake at night.

Williams is among neighbors along Highway 74 demanding that Morrow County enforce state noise regulations on the Willow Creek Wind Energy Project or revoke its land-use permit.

The 40-year-old construction contractor told The Oregonian newspaper in Portland that wind-energy companies downplay the noise.

"They said this is going to be about as loud as your refrigerator in your house, which is a crock," he said.

With Oregon on track to triple its wind-energy production in coming years, concerns are likely to increase.

Oregon wind farms already generate 1,000 megawatts, enough to power as many as 300,000 homes, said Lou Torres, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Energy.

Wind farms to produce an additional 2,000 megawatts are in the works, he said, giving the state a total of about 2,000 turbines, many taller than the Statue of Liberty when blades are pointed up.

"When that (work) is completed in the next couple of years, we will probably be fourth or fifth in the country on wind energy," Torres told The Oregonian.

Many are planned for Columbia Plateau in Morrow, Sherman, Gilliam, Wasco and Umatilla counties.

The Oregon Facilities Siting Council last July approved a 909-megawatt farm with 305 turbines spread over 32,000 acres in Gilliam and Morrow counties, being developed by Caithness Energy of Chicago.

But the backlash is getting some attention.

In January, a Massachusetts company yanked plans for a wind farm outside The Dalles after opponents complained that it would be too close to homes, ruin spectacular Columbia River Gorge vistas and put wildlife at risk.

Other critics, including some in Oregon, cite work by a New York doctor who coined the term "wind turbine syndrome" to describe effects such as headaches, dizziness and memory loss of living near the machines.

"This thing is not rare," Dr. Nina Pierpont of Malone, N.Y., said of the syndrome.

Industry representatives dismiss such talk.

Shawna Seldon, spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association in Washington, D.C., said her group is unaware of any peer-reviewed research linking wind turbines and negative health effects.

Likewise, Mike Logsdon of Invenergy, the 6-year-old Chicago company that built the Willow Creek farm, also said there is no evidence suggesting the turbines cause health problems.

Still, another resident of the area, Mike Eaton, agrees with Williams and other neighbors who complain about the noise and vibrations from the turbines.

The retired 61-year-old furniture maker said the turbines give him nausea by aggravating inner-ear and balance problems he's had since a 1966-67 tour in Vietnam subjected him to the constant pounding of an Army 155-mm artillery piece.

"I cannot live where I'm living now with these decibels and vibrations," he said.

Carla McLane, Morrow County planning director, said health issues never came up during planning for the 72-megawatt Willow Creek project. The county approved the farm in 2005, and turbines began operating this past December.

But Ryan Swinburnson, an attorney for Morrow County, said officials take the complaints seriously.

"The county's position is if there is a violation, the violating party needs to correct it," he said.