| Follow Up on WGEM Interview:
On February 3, 2010, I was interviewed
by Quincy News station WGEM. They used one quote which some may
want to know more about. I was making the case (using several
reasons--not just this one) that 1000 foot setbacks may not be adequate
to protect the health and safety of our citizens. One reason for
this concern is an article I found on the Internet about the Vestas
Safety Regulations for Operators and Technicians (Vestas is one
manufacturer of wind turbines). The safety regulations in that
manual called for workers to stay more than 1300 feet from a working
turbine, and cautioned not to get under the plane of the rotating
blades.
My point was that if maintenance
workers were cautioned not to stay within 1300 feet of that working
turbine, why is it o.k. for the foundation of a home, possibly with
children in the yard, to be only 1000 feet away from the base of that
turbine? And if there is special danger associated with being in
line with the revolving blades, the fact that turbines rotate to face
the wind means that at various times, the blades (which reach even
closer to the home than 1000 feet) are turning in direct line with that
home (or with the children playing in the yard).
Granted, this reference may not be
irrefutable proof, taken alone, that a setback distance of 1000 feet is
patently unsafe. After all, maybe the turbines that will be used
in Adams County are different than the Vestas V90 model of turbine, or
maybe the article I read was based off of an unfortunate misprint in
that safety manual (after wind opponents began to quote that portion of
the safety manual, it was later "updated" to omit the troublesome 1300
foot reference).
But, doesn't information like this
(see more under "safety & health") make it reasonable to ask questions
about the safety of a 1000 foot setback in our Adams County Wind
Ordinance?
Here is the link so you can check
it out yourself:
http://www.windaction.org/documents/16496
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