Summary of the situation on wind turbine noise pollution, children, and the WHO

Posted Category: Health, Wind turbine Noise

NOISE: a startling case of two schools in proximity to wind turbines 

Timeline, of letters (re Affects of Windfarm Noise on Children) to the World Health Organisation, assembled by Mark Duchamps of World Council for Nature 

1) – For memo only:

November 23, 2015 – Residents from Canada say some children are allegedly receiving nosebleeds from wind turbines.

http://friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/nosebleeds-from-wind-turbines

2) – Events and correspondence, published or private, involving Marie-Eve Héroux, who heads the panel developing the WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region, or Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO.

On July 18, 2016, Christine Metcalfe from Scotland, acting in the name of a long list of professionals, wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

“We welcome your review because, despite mounting anecdotal and academic evidence, for too long mitigation against adverse health effects following the construction of wind turbines has been absent from planning guidelines and noise pollution regulations in many European countries, especially with respect to sound below 200 Hz.”

http://friends-against-wind.org/health/open-letter-to-the-who

 

On July 18, 2016, Leena from Finland wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

“I live about 10 kilometres from the windmills. I thought I would be safe. I was wrong.”

http://friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/i-thought-i-would-be-safe

 

On July 21, 2016, Emyr Griffiths from Wales wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

“I would like to ask one question of the WHO: under what circumstances would the WHO condone torture?”

http://friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/torture-from-industrial-wind-turbines

 

On July 22, 2016, Blandine Vue (PhD) from France wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

“The walls of my house vibrate as if a compressor would be against the walls. So there is a continuous buzz… ”

http://friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/vibrations-de-ma-maison-et-de-la-vallee

 

On July 23, 2016, Pascale Hoffmeyer from Switzerland wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

« Impossible pour moi de sortir lorsque les machines fonctionnent, les symptômes s’accélèrent et en plus je suis prise de nausées. »

Translation: “Impossible for me to get out of my house when the wind turbines are turning, the symptoms accelerate and I get nausea to boot.”

http://friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/riverains-des-eoliennes-minorite-sacrifiee

 

On August 2nd, Mr and Mrs D. from France wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

« La nuit, notre maison absorbe les vibrations basses fréquences des éoliennes qui troublent notre sommeil »

Translation: “At night, our house absorbs the wind turbines’low frequncy vibrations which trouble our sleep”

http://friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/nuisances-acoustiques-des-eoliennes-industrielles

 

On August 2nd, Mrs R. from France wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

« Ce que je vis au quotidien chez moi depuis presque un an, sans interruption et sans espoir que cela cesse un jour, s’apparente, sans exagérer, à de la torture. »

Translation: “My day to day life at home, for nearly a year, with no interruption and without hope that it will cease some day, isn’t much different from torture.”

http://friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/nuisances-sonores-liees-aux-eoliennes

 

On August 19th, Mr Z sent to Mrs Héroux a report on his observations during two years spent teaching in two schools located respectively 2 and 5 km from wind turbines.

“There were instances of fits, outbursts of rage, rolling on the floor, knocking tables over and provoking each other into violent behaviour.”

“… a very large proportion of the pupils had special education needs, a large number of them bound to low attainment, and many had learning disabilities officially recognised (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia etc.)”

He signed the report, identifying himself but with a request for confidentiality, and provided the details of the schools in question. His report was later modified so as not to reveal his identity to his employers, and published here on December 13th:

https://wcfn.org/2016/12/13/windfarms-affect-children/

 

On August 24, 2016, Barbara Ashbee from Canada wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

“The ultimate insult of having gone through this, to having fought for our home and lost, to losing faith and trust in any authority that we thought was concerned about people’s health and wellness, is to have it happen to even more families in our area and globally because it continues.”

http://en.friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/the-ultimate-insult

 

on August 31st – Virpi Poikolainen from Finland wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux:

“When we understand that human can hear and feel the low frequency noise, the symptoms residents feel close to wind turbines should not be underestimated.”

http://en.friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/noise-produced-by-large-wind-turbines

 

On September 16th, Mr and Mrs X from France sent to Jean-Pierre Riou a list of their symptoms, as collated by their Physician Dr Y. This document was forwarded to Mrs Héroux by Mr Riou, with the assent of the two victims, and published.

http://fr.friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/famille-riveraine-d-eoliennes

Mrs Héroux replied to Mr Riou privately that the WHO’s procedure did not encompass taking testimonies into account. They limited themselves to reviewing “the scientific literature”.

My comment: to disregard testimonies about an emerging disease is about as scientific as disregarding  the moon rocks brought back by the Apollo missions when studying the moon.

 

On October 6th, Jean-Pierre Riou from France replied to Mrs Héroux in an open letter:

“I do think it is my duty to publicly express my dismay at your response, in which you state the unability of the Panel to take testimonies into account.”

http://lemontchampot.blogspot.com.es/2016/10/open-letter-to-mrs-meheroux-who.html

 

On October 17th, WCFN wrote an open letter to Dr Margaret Chan, who heads the WHO:

“The World Council for Nature (WCFN) strongly disapproves the WHO’s refusal to take into account the testimonies of victims of an emerging disease, the Wind Turbine Syndrome (WTS). We also object to the refusal of a number of national health authorities to measure infrasound emitted by wind turbines, or to conduct epidemiological studies among victims.”

The email contained links to some of the most significant independent literature on the health effects of wind turbines.

https://wcfn.org/2016/10/16/2627/

 

On December 13th at dawn, WCFN wrote an open letter to Mrs Héroux, releasing the public version of the report on two schools:

NOISE: a startling case of two schools in proximity to wind turbines

https://wcfn.org/2016/12/13/windfarms-affect-children/

 

On December 13th, a national seminar was held in Paris on ambient noise and its effects on the health of children, during which Mrs Héroux gave a presentation. In it she gave the usual excuses for NOT considering the effects of wind turbines on health: not enough evidence, more studies needed etc. We have proof of this: a picture was taken of the powerpoint page listing these excuses. It is reproduced in the press release WCFN published the next day.

The international platform Victims of Wind Turbines sent two delegates to the seminar, with mission to deliver the “two-schools report” to Mrs Héroux personally, and to ask a few precise questions. Asked about the signed version of the said report sent to her on August 19th, she replied: we receive so much mail, we can’t reply to everything.

 

On December 14th, WCFN published in French a press release on the results of the Paris Seminar.

https://conseilmondialpourlanature.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/loms-fait-lautruche/

 

On December 15th, WCFN sent a private letter to Mrs Héroux, asking her to acknowledge receipt of the two-schools report, in its two versions: the signed one sent Aug. 19th, and the public domain version delivered by hand to her at the seminar.

“I sincerely hope the WHO will take a serious look at the report you received on the ill-effects of wind turbines on the children of two schools located respectively 2 and 5 km away. It is a momentous document. A generation of children is at stake, and many more in the future. The WHO would be gravely at fault if it looked the other way.”

To date, she has not replied.

 

 

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