How much noise do windmills make

By TOM ZELLER Jr. That was before they were turned on.

They were so loud. They are among a small but growing number of families and homeowners across the country who say they have learned the hard way that wind power — a clean alternative to electricity from fossil fuels — is not without emissions of its own. Lawsuits and complaints about turbine noise, vibrations and subsequent lost property value have cropped up in Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Massachusetts, among other states.

In one case in DeKalb County, Ill. A judge rejected a motion to dismiss the case in June. Like the Lindgrens, many of the people complaining the loudest are reluctant converts to the antiwind movement. The wind industry has long been dogged by a vocal minority bearing all manner of complaints about turbines, from routine claims that they ruin the look of pastoral landscapes to more elaborate allegations that they have direct physiological impacts like rapid heart beat, nausea and blurred vision caused by the ultra-low-frequency sound and vibrations from the machines.

For the most extreme claims, there is little independent backing. Last year, the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group, along with its Canadian counterpart, assembled a panel of doctors and acoustical professionals to examine the potential health impacts of wind turbine noise. A separate study financed by the Energy Department concluded late last year that, in aggregate, property values were unaffected by nearby wind turbines.

Numerous studies also suggest that not everyone will be bothered by turbine noise, and that much depends on the context into which the noise is introduced.

A previously quiet setting like Vinalhaven is more likely to produce irritated neighbors than, say, a mixed-use suburban setting where ambient noise is already the norm. Of the new wind farms that have come online in the United States over the last two years, about dozen or so have generated significant noise complaints, according to Jim Cummings, the founder of the Acoustic Ecology Institute , an online clearinghouse for information on sound-related environmental issues.

In the Vinalhaven case, an audio consultant hired by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection determined last month that the 4.

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The developer of the project, Fox Island Wind , has contested that finding, and negotiations with state regulators are continuing. Lindgren, a retired software engineer, clenched a small flashlight between his teeth and wrestled with a tangle of cables and audio recording equipment he uses to collect sound samples for filing complaints. View all New York Times newsletters. At times, the rustle of leaves was all that could be heard. But when the surface wind settled, a throbbing, vaguely jetlike sound cut through the nighttime air.

Maine, along with many other states, puts a general limit on nighttime noise at 45 decibels — roughly equivalent to the sound of a humming refrigerator. A normal conversation is in the range of 50 to 60 decibels. In almost all cases, it is not mechanical noise arising from the central gear box or nacelle of a turbine that residents react to, but rather the sound of the blades, which in modern turbines are mammoth appendages well over feet long, as they slice through the air.

Turbine noise can be controlled by reducing the rotational speed of the blades. But the turbines on Vinalhaven already operate that way after 7 p.

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A common refrain among homeowners grappling with sound issues, however, is that they were not accurately informed about the noise ahead of time. Similar conflicts are arising in Canada, Britain and other countries. An appeals court in Rennes, France, recently ordered an eight-turbine wind farm to shut down between 10 p. James, an acoustic expert hired by residents of Vinalhaven to help them quantify the noise problem, said there was a simpler solution: James, the principal consultant with E-Coustic Solutions , based in Michigan.

But that is cold comfort for Mrs.

Noisy Wind Turbines Attract Complaints - The New York Times

Lindgren and her neighbors, who say their corner of the island will never be the same. I grieve for the past. An article on Wednesday about the noise of wind turbines misstated the material of which turbine blades are made.

They are typically made of fiberglass or plastic reinforced with carbon fiber, not steel.

A version of this article appears in print on October 6, , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: For Those Living Nearby, That Miserable Hum of Clean Energy. Order Reprints Today's Paper Subscribe.

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Airfoils for Windmills

You are already subscribed to this email. October 7, An article on Wednesday about the noise of wind turbines misstated the material of which turbine blades are made. Related Coverage TIMES TOPIC Wind Power. The Fight Over Wind Power in Vinalhaven OCT. TIMES TOPIC Wind Power.

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