Click on this link for a transcript of a radio interview conducted in March 2008 with some concerned local citizens about life with the wind turbines in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. Here in Champaign County, we can stop these wind farm projects if we take seriously the suffering of people currently living next to these giant turbines and stand up for our rights! Tell your neighbors and friends and family to write and call Gov. Strickland, the County Commissioners, Zoning Boards, Township Trustees, state and federal representatives and senators - anyone with any decision-making ability and let them know that we need their help! The electoral cost will be huge if our officials give away Champaign County to global profiteers. And don't forget to write the Ohio Power Siting Board - let them know where you stand!
Safe setbacks: How far should wind turbines be from homes? Let's start with what one manufacturer considers to be safe for its workers. The safety regulations for the Vestas V90, with a 300-ft rotor span and a total height of 410 feet, tell operators and technicians to stay 1,300 feet from an operating turbine -- over 3 times its total height -- unless absolutely necessary. That already is a much greater distance than many regulations currently require as a minimum distance between wind turbines and homes, and it is concerned only with safety, not with noise, shadow flicker, or visual intrusion. In February 2008, a 10-year-old Vestas turbine with a total height of less than 200 feet broke apart in a storm. Large pieces of the blades flew as far as 500 meters (1,640 feet) -- more than 8 times its total height. The Fuhrländer turbine planned for Barrington, R.I., is 328 feet tall with a rotor diameter of 77 meters, or just over 250 feet (sweeping more than an acre of vertical air spa...