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BROWNSVILLE WIND TURBINE NOISE LOG MARCH 3-MAY 27 2008

This is a wind turbine noise log kept by the Meyer Family who live 3/4 miles eastof South Byron in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. The new wind turbines went on linethe first week of March, 2008

The Diary Begins March 3, 2008:

Our family lives on County Road Y in Brownsville, Wisconsin, which is about 3⁄4 of mile east of South Byron.

Turbine # 4 is 1560 feet behind my house.

Turbine # 3a is about 500 feet mostly east and a little north of turbine #4.

Turbine #6 is about 3⁄4 of mile to the northwest of our home. Across the road, mostly south and slightly west is turbine #73 at a distance of 2480 feet. Down the hill to the west is turbine #74a which is about 3⁄4 of a mile away. We can hear all five of these turbines at various times. The following is a log of our experiences with wind turbine noise.

March 3, 2008

Turbine #4 turning slow for the first time. 10:00 pm I went out to check the fire and I looked up in the sky to try and see the jet flying over. It was not a jet, but the turbine.

March 6, 2008

Same sound as Wednesday the 3rd of March

March 7, 2008

Turbine sound. Our 13 year old son, complained of a headache. He had not been toldheadaches being one of the side effects of turbine noise. My wife and I were concerned about how the turbine noise would affect him. He has become our son via social services with many problems. His ears are like that of Radar on MASH. He hears sounds beforewe do, such as fire department sirens.

March 8, 2008

Saturday AM. Loudest so far. Like jet in sky with whoosh to it. I have not written every day. That does not mean the turbine sound is not there. I feel we may never have peaceand quiet ever again. We can only hope there are days with no breeze.

March 10, 2008

5pm. Sounds like a high flying jet. 10pm Low flying jet. At 10pm loudest I have heard it. My son still has headache.

March 18, 2008

#4 not turning but could hear whose of #6. We could hear the turbines daily so if there isno record that does not mean there was no sound.

March 25, 2008

Could hear whoosh of #3a. #4 not turning at 4:45 PM. At 5:30PM #6 turning with jet sound of whoosh of turning blades.Our son is a foster child we adopted. He has lots of issues which are mostly behavior butalso include mental problems. If we just stopped by to talk and you interacted with himyou would not know, but tick him off and you would see it. He is like Radar on MASH in that he usually hears sirens before we do. My wife was concerned about his health when talk began about turbines and then we received information about health issues. Our son does not know about the health issues from us or from anyone talking about them.

Soon after #4 began turning he had a bad headache. It lasted about four days or hementioned them for four days. At school there is a complicated way to help him try and behave and do his schoolwork. He does not focus and is angered easily. So there is alevel system with level 4 being the best and in level 1 he is in solitary confinement and cannot go to his regular classes. Level 3 he is in the special ed. Room with other students. Level 2 he is in the special ed room but kept from other students. For about two weeks hedid well and stayed at level 4. After the turbine began turning and the headaches he has now gone to level 1. I should also say he can only go up or down one level in a day. Since Wednesday he has told teachers and the principal and us that his head is spinning and in some cases he tells us that his head is spinning 100 miles an hour. I would guess ithas a connection to his behavior at school. Sometimes we can hear the turbine while in our house.

March 26, 2008

#4, #3a & #6 running. Can distinguish between #3a and #4 jet sound whoosh.

March 27, 2008

Fairly quiet

March 28, 2008

Not much wind. Slow turn. Not much noise.

March 29, 2008

Wind from SE. Jet sound with only slight wind.

March 30, 2008

Turbines around us not running much.

March 31, 2008

6AM Jet sound. 10PM fog, drizzle. Woosh sound.

April 1, 2008

Wind NW 14 mph. 6:15AM #4 not running. I hear #6 with jet sound.

2:30 PM tower #6 still very loud.

April 2, 2008

6AM. Wind from the SW. #4 jet sound. Now hearing #73 and #74a as the have come on line. In the afternoon #74 is louder than #73.

April 3, 2008

6AM Some sound from #4

April 4, 2008

6AM #4 turning slow, no wind. 11PM #4 and 73 loud and sound like jet going over

April 5, 2008

Our son could not sleep and was up at 1:30 AM. I sent him back to bed and went to our family room in the north end of the house. I could hear turbine #6 from inside the house. Remember that turbine is 3⁄4 of a mile from our house. I turned on the TV (low sound) and could still hear the turbine.

7:30 AM Definitely that jet sound from #4. Can also hear #’s 3a, 6 and 73. I had a brief unusual feeling in my head somewhat like when one gets off a roller coaster. This was around 11:00AM. This is the loudest the sound has been since March 5th. At 11pm still that jet sound.

April 6, 2008

6-6:15 AM. Wind from the South. Turbine #’s 4, 6, 73, 74a all turning. Jet sound as soon as I went out the house door. 9AM #’s 6 &73 loudest. 10PM #4 quite loud. Saturday has been the worst day so far.

April 7, 2008

5:30 AM Can hear the turbines easy.

10:00 PM Quietest in 3 days

April 8, 2008

Drizzle and not many turbines turning at 10PM. #4 some sound

April 9, 2008

My wife told me she had a headache Friday through Monday with turbines turning. Shehad no headache Tuesday. Turbine was not turning. This morning she told me she has aheadache and asked me if the turbine is turning. Yes it is.

April 10, 2008

Fairly quiet today.

April 11, 2008

6AM Could hear the woosh but turbines were hidden in fog. 3:00 PM Loud, jet sound with strong south wind.

April 12, 2008

7:00 AM #4 Jet sound with whoosh sound. At breakfast I asked my son if he could hear the turbines in the house. “Yes, and I hear them in my room,” he said, “Some nights I can’t sleep” His room is upstairs in the SW corner of the house. As I sit below his room(inside the house) I can hear the turbine.

April 12, 2008–

7AM #4 jet sound with whoosh sound. At breakfast asked (my son) if he could hear theturbines in the house. “Yes, and I hear them in my room”, he said. “Some nights I can’tsleep”. His room is upstairs on the SW corner of the house. As I sit below his room(inside the house) I can hear the turbine at this moment.9:30PM #4 not running, however I can hear the jet sound of #6.

I didn’t realize how feisty the wind people are.... Two farmers I have talked to are really angry about how they were treated. That is, once the contract was signed it meant thecontractors could go where ever they wanted to on the farmer’s land. One also had issues as to the placement of the tower road, he wanted it on the fence line or to take out thefence line to minimize land loss. He was told it would cost too much to re-survey the land. He told me that if they wind people came to his door now, he would tell them to leave. The farmers said they were not told about the interduct or collection system thatwould be going through their land. Any complaints made to (the wind developer) wasmet with “it’s in your contract.”

April 13, 2008–

6AM #4 jet sound. Light wind but can hear #6. 10PM#4 turning but sound is quiet.

April 14, 2008

– 9AM No turbines going and all is quiet. Very nice. No sound, like that of the plane grounding after 9-11. All 86 turbines were still. Thought there must be problem. Late afternoon-They began turning again. By 10PM the noise of the jet flyover was back.

April 15 2008

Turbine #4 not turning. #73 is loud. I could hear it in the house. I felt something unusual at the base of the back of my neck. Too loud. 3PM #4 turning. My wife says the sound, “Is loud”.

It may have happened before, however today is the first day that I noticed that our dog stopped while walking from the house about 20 feet down the sidewalk to look North at the turbine.

April 16 2008–

During the day the wind is strong. The weather man says the wind will be 25-35 miles per hour. So strong that I don’t hear the turbines very much.From 6PM to 10PM the turbines were loud. I could hear #’s 4, 73, and 74a. Jet sound or like waiting for two trains to crash. We house a 360 (cubic inch) sprint car at our house. Tonight it was run for the first time this year. One of the guys mentioned he could hear the turbine (#4) over the sound of the race car engine while it idled. He was standingbetween the tire and the engine or right next to the engine. The car has no muffler.

Earlier my wife said she worked outside all afternoon in the wind and her earswere fine. When the wind died down and could hear the three of the turbines her ears hurt. She also mentioned the whooshes between turbines were out of sync.

It is 11:27 PM. I am at the computer and can hear #73 from inside my house with no windows open. When I went to bed my head felt “different”. I felt lightheaded or dizzy with my stomach not feeling quite right as well. We had spent much of the evening raking leaves and cleaning the yard.

April 17, 2008 - Jet sound some of the day.

April 18, 2008 – Fairly quiet.

April 19, 2008 – Wind from the North very slow so the sound is quiet.

April 20, 2008 – There is a little wind, sound fairly quiet jet sound at 6AM

April 21, 2008

6AM. The sound had been quiet over the weekend. Now it is back to its irritating sound.

10:30 PM can hear #73 like a train winding down the tracks. #4 sounds like a jet flying over. Only a slight wind on the ground.

April 22, 2008 –

6AM some sound. 3PM, sounds like a train. Could also hear # 73. 10PM like a train under a load pulling a load of heavy cars up the Byron hill. That hill is about 2 miles away.

April 28 – Quite peaceful today

April 29 – 6AM. Turbine turning slow with little sound. 3PM Turbine not turning. It has been a peaceful today, however now, 10:30 PM turbine #4 is back to it’s rather loud sound, somewhat like a large train engine under load with the whooshing sound of the blades. It is midnight and I can hear #4 from my dining room.

April 30 – 5:30 AM low noise. 3 PM. Moderate noise.

9:30 PM. Jet sound our like having your car window open 1/8” while driving down thefree way…annoying.

May 1 – 6 AM. Fairly quiet

May 2 – 6 AM. Not much sound. 3 PM. Louder.

7 PM. Wind is from the south or a little south west. This is the loudest sound in 3 or 4 days. We can hear turbines 4, 6 & 73. Number 4 sounds like a jet flying over, number 73 a deep sounding thunk. Sitting at the computer at 11 PM. I can hear turbine sounds. Our oldest son (age 33) said, “When it is calm it sounds like the generator humming. When it is windy I hear air going through the blades”.

May 3 – 6 AM. I have not been outside yet this morning, but I can hear turbine #4 or #73 (or both) while in the house. Someone chose 50 db of sound as being a standard or OK or as an acceptable sound level. What ever the level by whomever it was, this is notacceptable.

5:30 PM. Loud jet sound. I can hear turbine #4 from our mailbox which is another 150’ added to 1560’ and the length of our house. Weekends seem to be loud. I can hear lowsound of #4 inside the house. 11 PM. Loud jet sound. I can hear #4 and #73.

May 4 – 7AM. Turbine is turning slow and quiet.

12:30 PM. 30’ from the house door turbine #4 sounds like the F16’s flying over at theNASCAR race at Brooklyn, Michigan. I can also hear the sound in the house as I writethis. I can also hear turbine #73, keeping in mind that 73 is 2480’away from the house. Does that suggest that the 1000’ or 1800’ is not enough set back from the turbines thatenergy companies and the PSC say make little or no noise? It sounds like a political campaign: Tell the lies now and hope the constituents forget or deal with reality later.

Tonight turbine #73 and #4 seemed to be fighting with each other. They both are loud. I walked closer to turbine #4 so that I was 1350’ away. That meant I was 2690’ fromturbine #73. That’s 100’ more than half a mile away and it was louder than turbine #4. The wind at ground level was straight from the S-SW. In the inside front of the house I can hear turbine #73. In my family room in the back of the house (56’ long) I hear turbine #6 or #4. It is not the sound of a jet flying over or a whoosh, but more like hearingyour heart beat with a stethoscope.

May 5 – 5:30 AM. Same sound as last night.

6:30 PM How nice. It is calm and all the turbines are still. The robins and cardinals are happy too I hear them chirping. I had not noticed them when the turbines are loud. I will pay closer attention to listen for that in the future.

May 6 – 5:15AM. I can hear turbines 4 and 73 quite loud.

4:30 PM. Turning quietly.

11:00 PM. I have the kitchen door and combination door open. It is loud with the two turbines sounding like they are fighting to see who can win at being the loudest.

11:30 PM. I am sitting by the computer. I can hear turbine #73 grinding away. Remember that one is 2480’ away from the house. Usually I get past the large pine tree 30’ from the house before the sound gets my attention. Tonight the turbine sound was loud on the porch just outside the house door.

May 7 – 6:15 AM. Again the loud sound right outside the door. For the people that say “Oh, you will get used to it”, you are wrong. The sound is getting more aggravating and annoying.

3:20 PM. I have been neglecting turbine #6 for a while. I won’t today. At the moment itis louder than turbine #4. In case you don’t care to go way back to the beginning of this log turbine #6 is about ¾ of mile away or about 3960’ away + or -a few feet. That would give the impression that a 1000’ set back approved by the WI PSC is certainly insufficient and inept.

11:15 PM. Turbine #4 is moderately grinding away. Our 13 year old son had some lateschool work to do. He went to bed at 10:00PM. He should be tired. At 10:40 he came down stairs and to our bedroom where I was talking on the phone. He had an over sized piece of paper that he had drawn a picture of a wind turbine on. Yes, he should have been sleeping, however he couldn’t sleep. He had opened his window because it was niceoutside and could hear the turbines #73 and #4 from his open window. Probably turbine#73 because that window faces the south toward turbine #73. He also had a headache. This morning at the table for breakfast healso complained that he still had a little bit of aheadache.

May 8 – 5:45 AM. Turbines are slow moving and quiet.

10:00 PM. Quiet.

May 9 – 6:00 AM. Only a few of the 86 turbines are turning. From somewhere on my property or the center of the road I can see all 86 of turbines in this wind farm. It is very peaceful and quiet.

10:30 PM. Peaceful and quiet. It is rare.

May 10 –

6:30 AM. Turbine #4 is turning slow. I can hear the turbine while walking in the back of our property.

11:30 PM. I can hear #73.

May 11 –

7:30 AM. My wife did not sleep well last night. The turbines are not very loud at this time.

12:15 PM. to 5:00 PM. The wind is from the north with the sound of a jet flying over, very annoying.

9:30 PM. I can hear the beating sound of turbine #4 while sitting at the computer.

10:20 PM. The turbine is loud and violent, ripping through the night sky. Late thisafternoon I took a pain killer for my headache. I can’t think of when I took a pain-killer for a headache. At least a year as it is extremely rare for me to have a head-ache. I did not sleep well. This has happened several times when hearing the turbines from inside thehouse.

May 12 –

5:30 AM. Moderate sound.

4:45 PM. I can hear turbine #4 over road traffic in front of our house.

11:00 PM. Jet sound.

May 13 –

5:20 AM I can hear turbine #73 from in the bathroom.
6:15 AM. I am walking in the yard and can hear a number of the turbines. I walked away from #73 toward #4. When I was about 2737’ from turbine #73 it is still very loud, but now is close to the sound of #4.
3:30 PM. Turbine continues to be loud.
4 to 7 PM. I worked in the garden. There were times when it sounded like a Chinook helicopter doing heavy work. Very loud.
9:00 PM.Turbines #4 and #73 are ripping through the sky. At times #73 is loud like blasting in a stone Quarry. A loud pounding sound. I hear them while at the computer once in the house.

May 14

-6 AM. Loud. Turbines # 4 and 6 are pounding. -3:30 PM Turning but not loud. -4:10 PM #4 to a different direction and is quiet. I could hear #6. -10PM. Moderate sound. My stomach has the feeling of being full and slightly

sick. -May 15

7:00 AM #4 turning slow and quietly. Today was a fairly quiet day•

May 1

– 7:00 AM Very slight wind with low noise. 2:00PM slight wind form south west. Grinding or humming sound.

3:35 PM The wind is picking up and so is the turbine sound. I can hear #’s 4,

6 and 73. I just came in the house and can hear #4 or 6 from inside our family room.

4:00 to 7:30 PM I worked in my garden planting vegetable seeds. Turbine #4 is about 1390’ north of the garden. It was extremely annoying. I am on edge or angry from hearing for such a long time. I still have the full, sick feeling in my stomachI still hear turbines # 4, 73 & 6. My wife came out to the garden after checking out our flower gardens and said. “I don’t say much but tonight I have a headache from hearing the turbine sound and have to go in the house”.

11:50 PM Still loud and can hear the turbine sound in the family room. I opened the kitchen door and was “hit” with the jet sound.

May 17

– 7:00 AM Wind is from the NW. Turbine #4 quite as loud as last night. 12 PM to 5:30PM I have been working in our garden most of the afternoon. This used to be fun and especially relaxing. It no longer is because turbine #4 is 1390’ from the garden and spewing out its sounds. As the day went on I got very tense and agitated over the constant, annoying sound emitted from the turbine.

7:00 PM. Got home from Fond du Lac. Moderate sound.

11:50 PM I walked out the kitchen door and was hit with turbine sound.

May 18

7:00 AM Wind is from the NW, very calm on the ground. Moderate turbine sound.
8:20 AM My wife just told me she can her a turbine from the dining room. This is over the sound of the refrigerator running which is 15’ away.
12:00 PM. We can hear with visiting guests turbines 4, 6 & 73.from our driveway.
7:00 PM. Fairly quiet. My stomach feel good enough to eat more than the past four days.
10:30 PM Calm wind low groaning sound from #4. –

May 19

5:15 AM Fairly quiet.
4:10 PM Low sound.
10:00 PM I can hear low humming sound of #4. Today is the quietest day in a

while• –

May 20

6 AM Fairly quiet.
3:45 PM Modereate sound.
5:30 PM I am leaving for a meeting. Our son said, “Dad, I have a bad headache”. I said, “Is it from a bad day at school”? His reply, “No it is from the wind turbine”.
When I got home at 10:30 the turbine was humming. My wife said our son had a headache and was down at 9:30 and wanted more Tylenol. My wife had given him Tylenol at 5:30 and told him she could not give him more as she had to wait until 6 to 8 hours had elapsed from the first dose. He immediately said, “I’ll be down in two hours”. Keep in mind he has learning difficulties in school. That simple math problem for us would normally not get such a quick response from him. He also said he can hear the turbine from his room.

May 21

– 6:00 AM Jet sound.

3 to 5 PM I planted peppers in our garden. I can hear #’s 4 and 6. It is a very annoying and irritating sound.

May 22 – It is a few days before Memorial Day and all through the land, not a turbine was stirring making wildlife grand. That was written to the sound of “T’was The Night Before Christmas”. It is quite peaceful and is amazing the cardinals, orioles and other birds are excited and singing. I have noticed that when the turbines are not turning or are very quiet I hear song birds. I think it has an effect on them as well.

4:00 PM Turning slow and quiet.

10:15 PM Not turning:•

May 23

6:15 AM Turning slow and quiet. Almost no wind.
4:40 PM Slow and quiet.
10:00 PM Slow and quiet.
12:00 AM Jet sound. –

May 24-

Sometime in the night my wife said, “I can’t sleep”. She got up and read a book

for 45 minutes until she got tired. She came back to bed and couldn’t sleep. -6:15 AM I can hear #6 from the bed. -2:15 PM Loud and annoying. We are leaving for our cabin. -

May 25 –

12:30 PM. I am angry. We just got home from our cabin in Waupaca county. The first thing we heard when we opened the car door was turbine #4 ripping the sky apart. It is loud and violent. I am at the almost constant sound of the turbines it being the first sound we heard when we got home. The other “anger” is being tense or on edge while we are outside, or even inside from hearing this aggravating sound on almost a 24 hour basis.

At our cabin I get up early and go out with my camera looking for deer and their signs of movement in our woods as well as other wildlife. It is so peaceful and quiet there. When I got back to the cabin my wife had just gotten up. The first thing she said was, “This is the first night in weeks that I slept all night”. This is on an old wore out bed that we brought from home after years of use.

6:00 PM Turbines 4 and 73 sound like they are fighting to see which is the loudest and strongest and ripping the sky apart.

9:00 PM The loud aggravating sound continues.

11:00 PM When we turned the TV off to go to bed we could hear #4 from our family room.

May 26

6:30 AM The loud sound continues.
12:00 PM Still loud jet sound.
5 to 8:30 PM I worked in the garden with #4 very loud. As I planted pepper plants I found I got more tense, annoyed and angry as time went on with the loud turbine sound all around me. Yes, from #73 across the road too. I have a slight headache. I rarely get headaches.
10:30 PM Wind direction has changed and sound not quite as loud. –

May 27

5:15 AM Jet sound from #4.
4:45 PM I can hear the turbines while we are in the yard loading our truck.

10:30 PM Fairly calm. Can hear the hum of #4. –


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