Impacts of Wind Turbine Installations
There are three potential impacts that have raised concern and been brought forth in discussions held by the Jackson Planning Board:
- View
- Noise
- Wildlife
View
Many Jacksonites put ÒViewÓ at the top of the list when locating & maintaining their properties. The siting of a wind turbine must take place in consultation with those who feel their view will be impacted. With tower heights exceeding the local tree canopy height and with rotor diameters that can range from 12 feet to 70 feet, the installations will be visible. Some people feel such towers are a work of art, others use the term Òvisual pollutionÓ and place such disturbances in the same category as the utility poles and the plethora of electrical and communication cabling strung throughout the village.
Wind Turbine Artwork – Click to Enlarge
Adverse impact on view has been a very issue with which to deal. The Nantucket Sound Wind Farm Project (Cape Cod) continues to make national news due to the objection of many citizens to what they consider visual pollution. Some very prominent and politically-well–connected families continue to fight the project – see the Cape Cod Times web site for extensive coverage.
Even the industry lobbying organization, ASEA (American Wind Energy Association) acknowledges the difficulties. Although their desired position is:
Visual
assimilation of the new turbine is similar to neighbors becoming accustomed to
a new building addition, landscaping project, or the removal of a prominent
tree,
ASEA recognizes in their Guide for State and Local Governments that:
É the aesthetic
impact of wind turbines may be unacceptable in areas with historic significance
where aesthetics play an important role in a district's long-established
character. Opponents say that their height and movement are a distractive and
unpleasant sight and visually intrude on their rights as property owners.
[Such] views are based on emotion, however, not fact. As such, aesthetics are
often a very sensitive issue and policymakers should take care to address any
concerns fairly.
So we in Jackson must deal with this issue based on the majority opinion of our citizens. (See Send Your Comments.) How can it be determined who will be impacted by a wind turbine installation? The smallest of the turbine/towers will be of concern to close-by neighbors, but the very large turbines, with rotor diameters twice the height of a two-story house, will be visible to everyone.
It has been suggested that any ordinance enacted regarding permitting of an installation include a means of identifying the scope of the visual disruption. Floating balloons at the site or erecting a temporary Ôgin poleÕ with streamers of a dimension equal to rotor blade length have been discussed.
The state of Vermont, always more pro-active with respect to preserving the scenic environment than New Hampshire, has proposed a method for numerically scoring the impact of turbine installations.
Click to learn
about the suggested Vermont scoring system.
The Planning Board continues to consider this subject.
Noise
The governing State of New Hampshire regulation prevents Jackson, or any other town, from requiring that the noise level produced by the turbine be less than 55 decibels. How loud is 55 dB? It has been noted that if you are next to the Jackson Falls, you will not hear a 55 db noise. On the other hand, if you are at your mountain retreat where only the sound of blowing leaves are now heard, the constant whine of a turbine will be perceived. It has been reported that at an existing installation, the drone can be heard even inside an abutterÕs house in the winter time.
Below is a chart relating decibel level to human response. It puts 55 dB between light auto traffic and an air conditioner. Others equate it to the sound or a refrigerator. If you would like to get into this more deeply, the website maintained by Acoustical Solutions of Richmond, VA. is a good place to visit.
For sources, see Sound
Levels by Frederico Miyara
Only a change in the law passed through the NH state government can reduce the allowable noise level. The good news is that the industry is working diligently on improved designs which will generate less noise.
We all know that the noise produced by machinery can increase as the hardware ages. Would it not be advisable to have incorporate a process for requiring the operator to maintain the noise level at 55 dB or lower throughout the life of the system? Such a process could be instituted by requiring an operator to annually procure an operating permit.
Wildlife
The threat to bird life of blades rotating at tree canopy height is obvious. The industryÕs position is that the hazard is minimal – there is really nothing that the industry can do to mitigate this issue – although there has been some discussion that blade coloring could have a beneficial effect.
A recent study published by Robert Bryce predicts that 300,000 birds will be killed annually by wind turbines when the government wind-turbine energy goals are met.
Updated
Sept 14, 2009