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The noise caused by wind farms can make some people ill, according to experts. The study by a panel of independent experts found that the irritation caused by the noise around wind farms can effect certain individuals. Scientists dismissed the idea of a “wind turbine syndrome” where the vibrations in the air or the particular sound waves from wind turbines cause headaches, nausea and panic attacks.
However, they did concede that the swishing sound caused by wind turbines can “annoy” some people, keeping them awake at night and even causing psychological problems because of the stress.

BEEKMANTOWN — The Beekmantown Town Council will seek a cost-free, informal opinion from the State Attorney General’s Office regarding the legality of Penn Energy’s proposed wind project. At the town’s first regular meeting of the year, newly elected Councilor Mike Morales motioned to have State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office weigh in on the project and its legal standing.

SALE-LEASEBACK QUESTION: Value of proposed deal with JCIDA will be reduced if tax bill is lowered

Wind turbines are exempt from sales taxes, a recent opinion by the state Department of Taxation and Finance states. It's unclear exactly how that will affect the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm, because the developer wouldn't say how much of the estimated $253 million originally said to be eligible for sales taxes includes turbine parts.

ABOARD USCGC IDA LEWIS – Weighing the fate of a proposal to build the nation’s first offshore wind farm near Massachusetts, the Secretary of the Interior said Tuesday he’s “bullish” on the future of wind energy in the U.S., even if he decides to kill the project.
“What happens to Cape Wind, whether it goes up or it goes down, will not be determinative of the future of (offshore) wind energy in the United States,” said Ken Salazar, who was touring the project’s proposed site in Nantucket Sound. Even after more than eight years of review, Salazar said, “important questions” need to be answered about the Cape Wind project. I’m not prejudging where we will end up on this particular project,” he said. However, Salazar said, there is huge wind potential along the coast.

Hammond - While a handful of residents spoke against two local laws passed last Wednesday evening by the Hammond Town Board, the vast majority of those who spoke and wrote letters supported them. The board passed a six-month moratorium which amends Local Law #1 of 2009 (the wind energy facilities law) passed in December by the outgoing board.

The moratorium means no applications from wind companies can be reviewed or approved for sitiing, contruction, or placement of wind turbines, during that time period. Supervisor Ron W. Bertram said the moratorium had been established so that the new board can take time to review Local Law #1 of 2009 and amend it as necessary.

The Coalition to Preserve the Golden Crescrent and 1000 Islands Region is airing these two commercials on the local News 10 and FX stations in an attempt to reach Jefferson County legislators who have not yet made up their mind on the Galloo Island PILOT vote being held Tuesday at 7 pm at the Jefferson County Court House in Watertown.

Photo by Lonny Kalfus

Posted Feb 1, 2010
By Kristin Choo

Wind farms are a growing source of clean energy. But some of the neighbors are beginning to complain.

Note: This month's CLE, "A Storm Brews Over Wind Power," is from 1-2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Feb. 17.

It is a bright mid-September day. Hal and Judy Graham are sitting in the living room of their restored 19th century farmhouse, which looks out over the still-green rolling hills near Cohocton, a rural community in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. The pastoral view is punctuated by two 420-foot-high structures. The sleek towers, almost alien in appearance, are wind turbines. One of them stands 1,000 feet from the farmhouse, on a neighbor’s property. The second is 2,000 feet away on the Grahams’ own land.

On this afternoon in the late summer of 2009, the twin Goliaths are still. One was shut down last winter after a flurry of attempted repairs, and the other has unaccountably been shut down for just a couple of days. But the Grahams expect it to be only a temporary respite. When the winds are high and the turbines are spinning fast, “it sounds like a jet engine taking off in your backyard,” says Judy Graham. “Only it never stops.”

SALE-LEASEBACK QUESTION: Value of proposed deal with JCIDA will be reduced if tax bill is lowered

Wind turbines are exempt from sales taxes, a recent opinion by the state Department of Taxation and Finance states. It's unclear exactly how that will affect the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm, because the developer wouldn't say how much of the estimated $253 million originally said to be eligible for sales taxes includes turbine parts.