Wind turbines affect public health

In a presentation to the New York State Legislature's Energy Committee in March 2006, titled "Wind Turbine Syndrome," Dr. Nina Pierpont cited numerous public health issues associated with siting wind turbines too close to homes, hospitals and schools. Dr. Pierpont graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1991. She holds a Ph.D. in population biology from Princeton University, conferred in 1985, as well as a B.A. in biology from Yale University, conferred in 1977. Dr. Pierpont is also a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She can be reached at www.ninapierpont.com.

In the opening paragraph she stated, "current (wind turbine) [siting] practices disregard public health." In the balance of her presentation, she addresses various maladies suffered by all citizens, including the rural, old, ill and very young when residing too close to wind turbines that have come to be called wind turbine syndrome. In the final paragraphs of her presentation, she stated that, based on all of the studies she has made, had access to, and correspondence with academia in New Zealand and Europe, "… there is in fact a consistent cluster of symptoms, the wind turbine syndrome, which occurs in a significant number of people in the vicinity of industrial wind turbines. There are specific risk factors for this syndrome, and people with these risk factors include a substantial portion of the population. A setback of 1.5 miles from homes, schools, hospitals and similar institutions will probably be adequate in most N.Y. State terrain, to protect people from the adverse health effects of industrial wind turbines."

The N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, citizens in nearby communities serviced by the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority, the Union Beach Council, the Union Beach Board of Education, and the citizens of Union Beach themselves must decide whether or not the people shall be provided with the same protection from the wind turbine syndrome that was recommended for the residents of the state of New York. If they do demand it, the BRSA wind turbine project should be halted. If, in the end, they do not desire this protection, then the project should go forward. My home in Hazlet, is, as is a large portion of the Union Beach population, closer than 1.5 miles and I do want the same protection.

Charles E. Hoffman Jr. Captain U.S. Navy Reserve