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 Waubra wind farm: Turbine noise `no louder than traffic' 

Waubra wind farm: Turbine noise `no louder than traffic'

01 Nov, 2009 12:26 AM
AUDIBLE noise emitted by turbines at Waubra wind farm rises no louder than street traffic, a Ballarat scientist said this week.

But University of Ballarat engineering lecturer Graeme Hood said the Victorian Government should commission a comprehensive independent investigation to determine exact levels of inaudible sound produced, after his own study proved inconclusive.

Mr Hood commenced the research last month in response to complaints from a number of Waubra residents who reported experiencing nausea, headaches and sleep deprivation after the turbines were switched on in June.

Anti-wind farm campaigners have touted infrasound as a possible cause of health complaints.

"There really needs to be a complete survey done, this was fairly small, but it shows there is some doubt there," he said.

"We are trying to get these questions answered and have the study done properly before any more are built."

Mr Hood said his research found that an audible swishing noise emitted by the turbines ranged between 60dB, or the equivalent of conversational speech, and 80dB, or the equivalent of average street traffic.

"If you lived in a city street you would be living something comparable to it," he said.

"The sounds are more audible in the city but would be less constant. As far as the sound goes, there are some loudish noises but certainly no sounds so loud they would knock your socks off."

But while tests of the levels of audible noise produced by the turbines proved conclusive, the measurement of infrasound needs further investigation, he said.

"There is definitely infrasound and the dominant frequencies are between 2Hz and 8Hz," he said.

Infrasound is sound undetectable by the human ear that measures less than 20Hz.

"We did get peaks but you can get that anywhere too," Mr Hood said.

"What we have got certainly shows (low frequency) noise but I don't think it's overly loud.

"But whether it causes problems or not, we don't know.

A spokesman for Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said no investigation was planned.

"The chief health officer is of the view a considerable amount of international research exists and the conclusions of the validated and peer reviewed research consistently demonstrates that health issues associated with wind farms are negligible," he said.

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Date: Newest first | Oldest first
Doesnt the government owe the people of waubra a proper investigation? Infrasound is obviously prevalant here, exposure to this will make you ill. The government claim there has been international studies done, could they please produce these? i dont think they exist!
Posted by haz, 2/11/2009 7:07:02 AM
Another dodgy attempt at the Courier trying to catch up with a hot issue. But once again lack of research shows through, especially given the So-Called Ballarat Scientist doesn't even reveal who they are!!!
Posted by Ivan McCraken, 2/11/2009 10:50:58 AM
Haz, please produce the studies that support your claim that infrasound will make anyone ill. I don't think they exist! And, for the record, infrasound is obviously prevalent *everywhere*. You just can't hear it, which is why it is called INFRAsound. Courier - please explain how far away this 60 - 80 dB reading was recorded.
Posted by WinDsider, 2/11/2009 11:26:48 AM
Guidelines require the noise levels from turbines to be no higher than 40dB(A) or 5db(A) over background noise levels. Results of 60-80dB for audible noise appear excessive. Traffic noise reduces at night, turbines are often loudest when people are trying to sleep. The government needs to lauch an immediate investigation into Waubra wind farm and cease construction on all other wind farms until this investigation is completed.
Posted by Bel, 2/11/2009 1:16:43 PM
Independent studies have to be done! People are terrified at Waubra to speak out about this - there have been threats and intimidation. It is just awful. Residents are damned if they speak out and damned if they don't. PLEASE do some proper studies figure it out before we all go looney.
Posted by Scared, 2/11/2009 1:28:45 PM
There are many hundreds of studies on the effects of infrasound, almost all come to the conclusion that constant exposure to it is dangerous. The original poster is correct that there appears to be no reports done on infrasound levels and windfarms. You are correct that infrasound is everywhere, but fans are said to be the number one cause. Just because its a windfarm some people seem to go weak at the knees, i bet if it were a coal powered station they would be all jumping up and down trying to get it closed, but the greenies dont care about the rural residents that are effected, more interested in gaining financially from the windfarm.
Posted by phil, 2/11/2009 1:42:09 PM
Bugger off Acciona we don't want your turbines at Evansford.
Posted by Jessica, 2/11/2009 3:16:31 PM
In the UK we have noise guidance for wind turbine arrays that has been fixed for the convenience of the wind industry. But it would regard anything over c. 45dB(a) for a receptor at night (not dB(c) which also measures low frequency sound) as likely to cause problems. Under the UK Noise Act, you can get an environmental health officer to act if you have noisy neighbours making more than 35dB(a) noise nuisance. Doesn't apply to turbines of course! The world Health Organisation also recognises that anything over 30dB(a) can be sufficient to prevent people from sleeping and can cause serious health problems, including hypertension. See Nina Pierpoint's resaearch into 'wind turbine syndrome' - http://www.windturbinesyndrome.co m/ And : ‘Sleep disturbance and wind turbine noise’ , by Dr Christopher Hanning, BSc, MB, BS, MRCS, LRCP, FRCA, MD, Honorary Consultant in Sleep Disorders Medicine to the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust : http://www.algonquinadventures.co m/waywardwind/docs/Hanning-sleep- disturbance-wind-turbine-noise.pd f
Posted by Windwhaup, 3/11/2009 4:41:14 AM

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