{"id":14580,"date":"2011-03-21T17:23:30","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T21:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/static\/?p=14580"},"modified":"2012-01-25T05:44:18","modified_gmt":"2012-01-25T10:44:18","slug":"a-disgrace-to-science-and-public-health-massachusetts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/2011\/a-disgrace-to-science-and-public-health-massachusetts\/","title":{"rendered":"A disgrace to science and public health (Massachusetts)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00b7<\/span>
\nEditor’s comment<\/em>: \u00a0Read the following news story of a recent meeting between a group of residents (Falmouth, MA) and the town Board of Health (BoH). \u00a0The former, quite reasonably, asked the BoH to intervene in the egregious matter of the wind turbine which is making these people ill. \u00a0They presented both their own illness and worldwide evidence for the same—global Wind Turbine Syndrome.<\/span><\/p>\n

We’re sorry, Misters Donald and Cool and Murphy and Ford, but our epidemiological metric tells us you’re not really sick. \u00a0You may think<\/em> you’re sick. \u00a0And it’s conceivable that with your obvious irritation and angst, you’re making yourselves sick<\/em>. \u00a0However, until we read an article in the New Eng. Jour. of Medicine letting us know this turbine is in fact making you ill\u2014well, frankly, we simply can’t believe you. <\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t take it personally, okay? <\/span><\/p>\n

To repeat, our metric, our science, our hocus pocus tells us we can’t believe you when you say it’s from that turbine next door. \u00a0Remember, we all have PhD’s in epidemiology and science and stuff. \u00a0This means we’re smart—certainly smarter than you are about what’s making you ill. <\/span><\/p>\n

Besides, it’s a political issue and source of revenue for the town. \u00a0We don’t get involved in that stuff.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>John B. Waterbury, PhD<\/a>
\nWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution<\/h6>\n

Dr. John B. Waterbury is a member of the Falmouth Board of Health. \u00a0He’s a specialist\u00a0in\u00a0the “purification, developmental patterns and properties of\u00a0some fresh water and marine cyanobacteria belonging to the\u00a0orders Chamaesiphonales and Pleurocapsales” (title of PhD thesis)—presumably gazillions of which are swimming around in those brightly colored beakers. <\/span><\/p>\n

But what expertise do Waterbury and his colleagues on the Board of Health have in old-fashioned, off-the-shelf, garden variety, plain vanilla, screamingly obvious common sense? \u00a0(You know, the kind of stuff you don’t have to measure in a beaker to know, “Hey John! \u00a0This shit is real!<\/em>“)<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyhow, read the article, below. \u00a0Then ask yourself why the good people of Falmouth tolerate these self-important fools. <\/span><\/p>\n

If WTS.com had an Alfred E. Neuman award, the Falmouth Board of Health<\/a> would win it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7<\/span>
\n\u2014Elise R. Hugus, Falmouth Enterprise, as submitted to National Wind Watch<\/a> (3\/15\/11)<\/p>\n

Falmouth Board of Health will request that health impacts from the town\u2019s wind turbines be studied by the state Department of Public Health, and that a complaint log based on science be established online for residents to report adverse effects from the turbines.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a meeting last night, the board heard a presentation from Ambleside Road resident J. Malcolm Donald on health effects from a 28-turbine wind farm in Mars Hill, Maine. The controlled study, conducted by Dr. Michael A. Nissenbaum, found that a large percentage of residents living within 1,100 meters of the turbines experienced symptoms, compared with residents who lived three miles away. According to Mr. Donald, the study found that 77 percent of abutters to the wind farm experienced feelings of anger, and over 50 percent felt feelings of stress, hopelessness, and depression. Over 80 percent reported sleep disturbances, compared with 4 percent in the control group, he said, and 41 percent of abutters experienced headaches.<\/span><\/p>\n

The study, which was completed in March 2009, has yet to be published in a creditable journal\u2014and, as several board members pointed out, has yet to stand up to the rigors of the scienti\ufb01c method, which include peer review and replication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Board member John B. Waterbury, a biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said he had carefully read the study and other documents sent by Mr. Donald over the weekend. \u201cAs a scientist, I look and see there isn\u2019t much peer-reviewed literature. Then there are people who are clearly impacted by this thing in a number of ways,\u201d he said. Fellow board member George R. Heufelder said he was not convinced that the physiological symptoms listed in the study are connected to the turbines. \u201cI can\u2019t dismiss your irritation and angst, but my analysis says, show me the facts. It takes someone to do a good, controlled study,\u201d he said. Mr. Donald cited the \u201cprecautionary principle,\u201d a legal term that allows policy makers to make decisions that are not based on scienti\ufb01c evidence. \u201cYou don\u2019t really need to know why something is happening. If we know it\u2019s happening, we need to take preventive mesures to stop it from happening,\u201d he said. Board member Jared V. Goldstone pointed out that although the principle has been adopted in the European Union, it is not law in the United States. \u201cThe legal underpinnings of [Dr. Nissenbaum\u2019s study] just aren\u2019t there. Right now it\u2019s a political issue,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

…………..<\/p>\n

Several residents of Blacksmith Shop Road, where the town-owned turbines are located, spoke about the health and quality-of-life impacts they started experiencing after the \ufb01rst turbine was erected last spring.<\/p>\n

John J. Ford, who said he lives 2,745 feet from the Notus Clean Energy turbine at Falmouth Technology Park and 3,740 feet from Wind 1 at the wastewater treatment facility, said he is currently trying to soundproof his bedroom in order to sleep at night. With an elevated heart rate and blood pressure, he said his experiences are similar to those in the Nissenbaum study. \u201cMy neighbors and myself would be enthralled, if the board of health took a more active role in this,\u201d Mr. Ford said.<\/p>\n

Colin P. Murphy, also of Blacksmith Shop Road, said that he has felt all the effects listed in the study \u201cat some point or other.\u201d He invited board members to spend time in the neighborhood for a full 24-hour period in various wind conditions to feel the effects for themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mark and Annie Hart Cool<\/a>, with appreciation to WGBH<\/a><\/h6>\n

Mark J. Cool<\/a>, a resident of Fire Tower Road, asked the board to take a proactive approach by approaching state authorities for help and working with other town committees to address the residents grievances. \u201cAt the very least, acknowledge that something is going on in our neighborhood. It\u2019s an enormous problem for everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chairman Gail A. Harkness said it was clear that residents are affected, but the turbines are related to the town\u2019s \ufb01nances, over which the board of health does not have jurisdiction. Mr. Murphy said that money should not be a concern for the board of health. \u201cAren\u2019t I worth more than $178,000? I think I\u2019m worth more than that,\u201d he shouted, referring to the town\u2019s estimate of how much money will be saved through wind energy each year.<\/p>\n

Mr. Donald said that those savings should be enough to fund a study.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t the board take some milk from those \u2018cash cows\u2019 to fund an epidemiological study?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Dr. Harkness, an epidemiologist by training, suggested approaching the schools of public health at Harvard or Boston University to do a controlled study. \u201cOne residential study does not give you the truth. Repeated \ufb01ndings do not lead to a cause-effect scenario,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Cool asked board members whether they had seen the noise complaint log, which Falmouth Wastewater Superintendent Gerald C. Potamis explained is being kept by a private consultant. Dr. Goldstone said that could be helpful, especially if the log featured \u201ccontrolled vocabulary\u201d that could be used as scienti\ufb01c data for the sometimes subjective complaints.<\/p>\n

Several residents said they had not heard of the log, and had been sending their complaints directly to selectmen or the town manager. Dr. Waterbury suggested posting the log, along with wind turbine data, on the town website so that it would be easily accessible.<\/p>\n

Board members questioned whether pending litigation between a group of residents and the town would affect the online log, but they said they would explore the idea, along with the possibility of getting state health authorities to conduct a study in the affected neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00b7 Editor’s comment: \u00a0Read the following news story of a recent meeting between a group of residents (Falmouth, MA) and the town Board of Health (BoH). \u00a0The former, quite reasonably, asked the BoH to intervene in the egregious matter of the wind turbine which is making these people ill. \u00a0They presented both their own illness and worldwide evidence for the same—global Wind Turbine Syndrome. We’re sorry, Misters Donald and Cool and Murphy and Ford, but our epidemiological metric tells us you’re not really sick. \u00a0You may think you’re sick. \u00a0And it’s conceivable that with your obvious irritation and angst, you’re making yourselves sick. \u00a0However, until we read an article in the New Eng. Jour. of Medicine letting us know this turbine is in fact making you ill\u2014well, frankly, we simply can’t believe you. Don’t take it personally, okay? To repeat, our metric, our science, our hocus pocus tells us we can’t believe you when you say it’s from that turbine next door. \u00a0Remember, we all have PhD’s in epidemiology and science and stuff. \u00a0This means we’re smart—certainly smarter than you are about what’s making you ill. Besides, it’s a political issue and source of revenue for the town. \u00a0We don’t get involved in that stuff. John B. Waterbury, PhD Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Dr. John B. Waterbury is a member of the Falmouth Board of Health. \u00a0He’s a specialist\u00a0in\u00a0the “purification, developmental patterns and properties of\u00a0some fresh water and marine cyanobacteria belonging to the\u00a0orders Chamaesiphonales and Pleurocapsales” (title of PhD thesis)—presumably gazillions of which are swimming around in those brightly colored beakers. But what expertise do Waterbury and his colleagues on the Board of Health have in old-fashioned, off-the-shelf, garden variety, plain vanilla, screamingly obvious common sense? \u00a0(You know, the kind of stuff you don’t have to measure in a beakerRead More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[163,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windturbinesyndrome.com\/static\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}