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North Gower wind farm, North Gower wind power project, Not a Willing host, Ottawa wind concerns, property value loss Richmond
With new research on both health impacts and property value loss surfacing, we decided to update our maps on the sphere of influence of the proposed wind power generation project in North Gower and Richmond.
It is staggering. With health problems due to the environmental noise being reported as far away as 5 km in other jurisdictions (10 km reported in Australia) and property value loss substantial within 2 miles (US study from Clarkson University), our map depicts the influence on residents living within 3.5 km.
See the map HERE NG wind turbines – 3500m- 20131012
Where is YOUR home?
And what can you do? Tell the City of Ottawa that the residents of the North Gower area are NOT a “willing host” to this wind power project.
Come sign the legal petition Saturday October 26th at 10 AM at the Alfred Taylor Centre, and help get the word out to your North Gower friends and neighbours.
Alternate signing day will be Saturday November 9th from 11 AM to 1 PM. Volunteers will also be going door-to-door in the weeks after the petition launch; you may also email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com to have a copy brought to you.
Each signature will be witnessed: this is a LEGAL DOCUMENT that will go to Ottawa City Council.
Donations welcome: PO Box 3, North Gower ON K0A 2T0
Ottawa Wind Concerns
ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com
Ottawa Wind Concerns 
Reblogged this on Northgowerwindactiongroup's Blog.
I don’t see any references to these new studies anywhere in your article. Having lived in north gower for 25 years i can see no reason why those locations would be bad.
Also interesting you have an article complaining about power costs while pushing to to get rid of wind power near apparently even sparsely populated areas and farmland.
I have yet to hear of a double blind wind power test where residents are told they are living beside a wind turbine and one does not exist and vice versa. Such as to eliminate/understand the nocebo effect. Which i personally believe is significant.
I feel that the potential job creation through install and servicing is very beneficial to this area. Ottawa and its environs is just spoiled in that it has been isolated from any power generation issues due to only being exposed to hydro electric plants.
I’m interested to see the facts in this issue, but so far all i see is opinion and speculation.
As to property value studies, we would refer you to Heintzelmann and Tuttle of Clarkson University who say not only is there a significant impact on property value but it is such that any proposal for a wind power generation project should include impacts on neighbouring properties, and that the proposals include the costs of buying out neighbouring landowners, That, the authors say, would make the projects not viable, economically. Other studies include Sunak and Madelener of Aachen University, and work by appraisers Ben Lansink and Michael McCann.
As to health, there have been statements made by Dr Robert McMurtry (former Dean of Medicine at Western University and member of the Order of Canada), studies done by Dr Michael Nissenbaum which shows health effects to 3 MILES and beyond, and a statement by the Society for Wind Vigilance, a group of international scientists, to the effect that the minimum setback from large-scale or industrial-scale wind turbines should be 2 km.In case you rely on the wind industry lobby’s favourite document, the report by Ontario’s Chief medical Officer of Health, that was a (now outdated) literature review, not a clinical study, and Dr King herself concluded then that more research was needed. Both Ontario and Health Canada are currently carrying out much needed clinical studies.You may recall our MP Pierre Poilievre filed a petition with the House of Commons, asking for a halt to the North Gower wind power project until the Health Canada study results were available.
We dispute your assertion that the North Gower project would be near “sparsely populated” areas–in this case, over 1,100 homes and thousands of people will be exposed to the environmental noise and vibration/sound pressure/infrasound. This is NOT a compatible land use.
As to job creation, we refer you happily to the Auditor General of Ontario report of December 2011 in which Mr McCarter says that job creation is minimal, that the experience of countries such as Germany and Spain is that the higher costs of electricity as a result of expensive wind power was to lose two jobs for every one created–Mr McCarter also said that Ontario never did any sort of cost-benefit analysis for wind power or study of the range of impacts–and that the jobs were short-term, related to construction. On Wolfe Island, where there are 86 turbines, there are about three positions for people maintaining the equipment.
Last, how can you POSSIBLY have a “double blind” study where people are told you are living next to a turbine but they really aren’t? You are not going to miss a 195-meter structure with flashing lights that does produce noise and vibration.
For more facts on this issue I refer you to windvigilance.com or windfarmrealities.org for a selection of papers and articles. I would also refer you to news stories about the 20+ families in the Kincardine area who are now ill from exposure to the environmental noise from the Enbridge wind power project there, and whose medical officer of Health Dr Hazel Lynn has said these problems are real and merit attention.
Thank you for your comment.
Two things in response to your comment:
Firstly, North Gower is sparsely populated by any measure. It is a small farming town with a population of 2500. I’m not aware of a single building with more than 4 floors so density is extremely low. That doesn’t really matter as there is no quantifiable impact of wind turbines on humans at the proposed distance.
Secondly, it is very easy to live near a wind turbine and not know it is there. I lived within 1km of three 2KW turbines for two years before a neighbour told me about them. They’re each about 90-100m tall. I still live here and I have a hard time hearing them from my backyard on the clearest of days.
You again.
Hard not to believe you are in the pay of the wind industry.
How do you know what North Gower is like?
These wind turbines as proposed will be close to 1,100 homes and over 3,000 people.
This is an industrial use of the land and ought not to be placed next to where people live.
But the amazing thing is your complete ignorance of the situation: you live near three 2 kW turbines…these are 2.5 MEGAWATT turbines, standing at 626 feet tall.
The wind developer themselves admit, will they make noise? “Of course they will–they’re power plants!”
Your 2 kW pinwheels have no relevance to this situation.
One more thing: are you aware of how much you personally are subsidizing the wind power industry? Pierre Poilievre commissioned the Library of Parliament to look at the Marlborough wind power project (it is not a “farm”) and he learned that that the subsidies under the Feed In Tariff (FIT) program from ratepayers would be, conservatively, $4.8 million per year.
For power Ontario does not need.
yes i am aware and proud that ontario is taking the initiative to start replacing old infrastructure with cleaner alternatives. you have to have the capacity before you can start removing existing power. It’s a slow process, but it’s always better to start today than tomorrow with infrastructure. Toronto is slowly learning this with public transportation.
Public transportation is indeed a positive step, and it is one that will have a direct effect on air quality. Building expensive, intermittent wind power at this scale does not help anyone except the wind power developers.
Wasn’t one of the gas plant cancellation reasons given air quality? just because ottawa doesn’t have Natural Gas power generation doesn’t mean you aren’t creating better air somewhere else.
I understand frustrations involved, i’ve read the evidence for and against. I still have yet to see any published info on the ratio of people without issue to those with. when living near a turbine or farm.
hope the research continues.
I couldn’t reply to your last comment. I think the comment tree got too long.
KW was a typo, the three turbines within a kilometer of my house are 2MW as are the ten that are ~4.5km away.
Do you find it strange that you think anyone who disagrees with you is being paid by the secret association of wind turbine advocates?
I know where North Gower is because I grew up in Manotick.
Finally, I’ve been told many times not to argue with imbeciles, but clearly that lesson escaped me this morning. You should find something more productive to do with your time instead of spreading out of date and shoddy research and promoting Luddism. The progress train is coming to town, and you look like a fool babling on about them being bad for your health and reducing property value when you have no reliable reason to have these beliefs.
David , I think you owe to your good neighbours to educate yourself and at least look at the map.This area is inclusive of the entire village of north gower which includes schools , community centres , churches , cemeteries , subdivisions as well as many , many homes including mine . when you include the types of dwellings I have mentioned above I would hardly label north gower as “sparsely populated ” .like you David I did not see the issues with this form of green energy until I did some investigating , what stuck out the most to me was the interviews with people who have already been affected by wind farms in Ontario, people who have had to walk away from their homes !! While I am all for the growth an prosperity of our town , to say that this will produce any sort of long term employment opportunities is just not true.And even if it were the cost to those that will have to live with this kind of industrial money pit in their backyard far out ways the good.if this is such a great form of energy then please explain why it needs to be so heavily subsidized by taxpayer money ???
For the ones that believe that these Wind farms are OK to be located on farm land where population is sparse, the proposed wind farms will affected about 1200 residents – health, property value. I would not consider this farm land in the middle of nowhere land. People need to visit North Gower to see how many residents do live here. This will also affect a big population around North Gower i.e. Richmond area. The proposed wind farms will be the height of 625 feet tall – higher than the Peace Tower.
I love this argument against wind farms. I wish someone would look into the impact wind farms have on property values, especially when this site makes claims of an average of a 30% reduction in property value without quoting a source. Here is a look at the effect wind turbines had on the property values of 50,000 homes. Published Aug 2013z
Click to access lbnl-6362e.pdf
As for the impact of the noise on health, wouldn’t there be an epidemic of health issues in people living in cities? There is a constant low roaring in most major cities from things like exhaust fans, cars, busses, and trains and nobody is complaining.
Click to access Wind_Turbine_Sound_and_Health_Effects.pdf
Second source has some potential bias, but it has been confirmed by other non-partisan research groups in Australia too! This page quoted Australian research, so I thought I’d refer you to the governing body’s conclusions:
http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/new0048
I moved from Manotick to Illawarra, NSW, Australia a few years ago. I currently live within 5km of 2 wind farms, the closest has three 2MW turbines and is 1km as the crow flies. I have yet to hear the sound of the turbines. That said, I can hear the surf at the local beach which is about the same distance away. Given the conclusions of the author of this page, the repetitive sounds of the beach will be causing me great stress and I should be concerned for my health.
This page isn’t based on science. The author(s) had to go out of their way to locate research that supports their movement and it shows.
Possible alternative arguments that might have worked, but haven’t in the past; effect on migrating birds, turbine overrun, and esthetics.
So, TL:DR… That website is pretty weak ant-wind power propaganda and lacks credible research to back their claims. Misinformation at its finest.
First of all, we have to wonder why someone now living in Australia is taking such an interest in our wind woes here in little North Gower, Ontario, Canada, unless put up to lodge comments by the wind business lobby? We are sorry if this seems cynical.
We will address your issue with property values, only.
The Hoen report you offer up as proof that there is no effect on value was a follow-up to Mr Hoen’s original report in which he examined (to use the term loosely) over 7,000 properties. The problem was, Mr Hoen—who is not a real estate appraiser or consultant and has no experience whatsoever in property, valuation, or valuation analysis–used so many properties with such diverse characteristics, the exercise was completely meaningless. You cannot compare properties that are decades old to new ones, and you cannot compare properties of different types, i.e., bungalows to multi-storey homes, etc.
Simple.
But Mr Hoen’s work met with such criticism that he took more money from someone and did it all over again, this time with MORE properties.
For a criticism of Mr Hoen’s work we refer you to the website windfarmrealities.org or to this comment by U.S. appraiser Michael McCann:
I have studied wind project impacts from a “market value” perspective since 2005, with an understanding of the definition of Market Value ingrained through over 30 years of appraising and evaluating all types of property. I can tell you that the “statistical significance” or lack thereof of this latest report from LBNL does not meet any of the professional appraisal standards (USPAP)and just presumes to substitute their untested, unproven regression model for the Industry Standards for professional appraisers. (Google: wind Farms and Rubber Rulers)
To illustrate the disparate results that hinge on the difference between Market Value and statistical significance, refer to table 7 of the LBNL report. What you will see is that post-construction of the turbines, homes within 1 mile of the turbines sold on average for 28% less than homes over 3 miles from where turbines were constructed.
One does not need to be a scientist to understand that with over 1,000 sales within 1 mile, the average price is an entirely relevant mathematical result. Yet, the black box of the LBNL regression somehow is able to reduce 28% prima facie evidence of impact to a finding that tells the reader there is no statistically significant impact.
This means the study conclusions do not comport with reality,….or the balance of the 50,000 sales used as background/control for the regression analysis must have been largely far superior properties, like lakefront homes, upscale subdivisions, or some other combination of features that invalidates their use for measuring impact of turbines.
Further, even when one ignores the funding sponsor of that report being the USDOE and that they are open advocates for pursuing the policy of wind energy, you really can’t ignore what is stated on report page 5, 2nd paragraph, last sentence, wherein the authors admit that their analysis assumes that the value impact could not be higher than 4%. This is clearly research bias. Period.
I suggest that LBNL and other academic research be conducted within the framework of the established and accepted methodology for the issue in question, and not reinvent the wheel to suit the policy goals of their funding sponsors. After all, a student with a few biology classes completed is similarly not qualified to render expert medical diagnosis or treatment.
No, i don’t work for the international wond power lobby. Concerns like that let make you look like a conspiracy theorist nutjob. I take an interest as the area is my home and viable alternatives to this plan being proposed include another oil pipeline. Additionally, I take interest as you seem to enjoy spreading misinformation to the gullible and ill informed.
You come across as a bit of a luddite troll. I’m sure if you weren’t protesting wind farms, you’d be out protesting con trails or water fluoridation. Best of luck!
“Secondly, it is very easy to live near a wind turbine and not know it is there. I lived within 1km of three 2KW turbines for two years before a neighbour told me about them.”
samthedentist quite clearly you should return to the rock you have been living under for the past 2 years …. whos the luddite troll??? commenting on an issue from some 16 000 km ‘s away !!! lol glad to hear you no longer reside in this area.
and really “no reliable reasons to believe in peoples concerns”.
maybe you should hear what other ONTARIO residents have to say about them…
http://ontario-wind-resistance.org/video-testamonies/
I truly hope this does not happen. I live in the proposed area and I would probably be able to see them from my house. I would really hate to move but not only that…what about our health and our children’s health? If we do sell, would the government compensate us when our property value goes down because of it?? This truly sucks and I hope it does not happen. I love where I live. I got out of the city because I love the peacefulness of living in the country. The farmers who are giving up part of their lands to put these monsters on should be ashamed of themselves….and we allllll know who you are.
If they gave us free hydro for as long as we own the house, I’d be much more open to it. Just saying.
Pretty small potatoes for the loss of as much as 50% of the value of your home…