Whisper of the wind - not so says Wind Concerns Ontario

A couple residing on the shore of Lake Superior in the heart of what could soon become wind turbine territory called SooToday.com this morning.

They want to draw our readers' attention to a document recently obtained from the Ontario government through a Freedom of Information Act.

This document says that noise from wind turbines in large wind farms may be more harmful than the Ontario government would like people to believe.

"A report by Cameron Hall, a Senior Environmental Officer with the Ministry of Environment in the Guelph District Office, exposes several serious deficiencies in Ontario’s legislated noise limits for wind turbines at 40 decibels," says the Wind Concerns Ontario website. "Hall describes the noise from wind turbines as ‘sound contamination discharged into the natural environment…’"

In the memorandum Hall concludes, "It appears compliance with the minimum setbacks and the noise study approach currently being used to approve the siting of WTGs will result or likely result in adverse effects contrary to subsection 14(1) of the EPA."

He goes on to recommend that proponents prove that placing a wind turbine closer than the recommended setbacks will not cause exceedances of the applicable sound level limits, a quantifiable limit.

The current wording says proponents need to prove that placing a wind turbine closer than recommended setbacks allow will not cause harm, a subjective evaluation.

To read the memorandum in full, please click here.