Donna Gates

I attended the village board meeting at which residents could ask questions and learn about the proposed wind turbine. I had done some research and had concerns about the proximity to our homes and potential effects upon our health and comfort. A number of residents were there and had questions and concerns. The concerns I presented were these:

(a) the proximity to residents' property lines since WHO and others who have studied turbines and their effects recommend at least a mile distance due to the health effects of noise and varying frequencies on a significant percentage of people in the population;
(b) the potential for shadow flicker to affect neighbors and/or traffic; and
(c) the 60db level at which the turbine could operate significantly exceeds the 40db level recommended by OSHA.

The response to these concerns was to reassure us that this was a smaller turbine and that the mile distance refers to windfarms, that the shadow flicker had been considered and would totally fall on Aldridge Electric's property only, that non-reflective paint would be used to avoid any sun glint, and that 60db was the limit set by the village of Libertyville and that the sound level of the turbine from my property (across the street from the homes abutting Aldridge Electric) would be comparable to someone talking in their yard across the street. It seemed that they had done their research and had considered the needs of residents.

Once the turbine was in, however, we learned that it had been moved even closer to the residential homes (only 250 ft away, about 200 ft closer that we had been told) and the sound was loud when we were outside the house or had windows open. When I would work at home, even in my back room that's farthest away from the turbine, with windows open on a breezy day, I found that i had difficulty concentrating and would have to shut my windows. When I took care of my daughter's small dog for a week, I walked him three blocks west of my street and still could hear the turbine clearly over any other neighborhood sounds. The dog also seemed much more agitated and nervous than I have ever seen him when the wind would be higher and the turbine noisier. Obviously, this level of noise is not comparable to a neighbor talking in their yard unless the neighbor screams
24 hours a day.

Although I have not personally experienced the shadow flicker effect as yet, I see no way that it would be contained within Aldridge Electric's property, as I and others were reassured, since the turbine was moved 200 feet closer to us than the originally presented position. I am quite dismayed to have done enough research (though I am not a computer savvy
person) to understand the concerns about wind turbine effects on health and well-being and to ask the appropriate questions only to later discover that all the reassurances given to us were untrue.

I would like to know that I can be in my yard or open my windows without perpetual noise that disrupts either sleep at night or concentration when I am working at home.