updated 4/13/2024
Understanding noise impacts from industrial wind farms
Wind turbines do not cause cancer. But wind turbine noise can be a serious public health threat if not limited by noise limits that assure that less 10% of the affected community will not be highly annoyed. The 10% HA standard is included in national acoustic standards, and has been adopted by the World Health Organization (2019), Health Canada and several other authoritative standard-setting bodiessuch as ISO 1996-1, Annexes D, E and F (2016); and ANSI S12.9-2005/Part 4 (2005). The New York State Department of Health has testified in favor of the standard in wind farm cases, recommending that 45 dBA(den), the equivalent of 38-39 dBA (Leq-8 hr) is the minimum needed to protect public health.
The standard is also known as a community tolerance level, based on a dose-response relationship between sound levels and annoyance. Annoyance response rates are determined by social surveys, normalized for highway noise and adjusted for the distinctive qualities of a non-highway noise source. Wind turbine noise has at least three distinctive characteristics requiring decibel "penalties" for each: pulsating noise, nighttime noise and noise with a substantial low frequency component (wind turbine noise is predomonantly low frequency).
Modern wind turbines generate slightly more than 100 decibels at a distance of about 300 feet. Wind developers acknowledge that their projects will emit at least 45 decibels (dBA) of sound at least a half-mile away. They commonly adopt an approach to noise assessment that leads to the conclusions that background sound levels are around 45 dBA, wind noiseof rustling trees and brush will mask turbine noise, and total noise impacts will be insignificant for nearly everyone. Each of these conclusions relies on a novel approach to acoustics and cannot be sustained on professional grounds. Towns that have permitted a wind farm based on this approach find that subsequent operations generate a level of complaints the developer’s model was unable to predict. This is the consequence of flawed and biased modeling methods.
Most communities doing their homework have concluded that in order to protect residents from chronic noise, sleeplessness, and the adverse health impacts that result from sleeplessness, setbacks need to be more than one mile from homes, and noise needs to be limited to no more than 6 dBA above the existing background sound level. Here are resources many smart towns rely on.
SETBACKS
CRS Report for Congress: Wind Power in the United States, Technology,
Economic, and Policy Issues (see p. 34)
Jeffrey Logan and Stan Mark Kaplan, Specialists in Energy Policy
1 km (3,281 feet) setback
Ontario (Canada) Ministry of the Environment
1,000 meters (3,280 feet)
Rock County (Wisconsin)
Rock County Tax-Payers for a Better Renewable Energy Plan
2,640-foot setback
Union Township (Wisconsin)
2,640-foot setback
Union Township Final Report (see pp. 99ff.)
Blair County (Wisconsin)
2,500-foot setback
Potter County (Pennsylvania)
2,900-foot setback from residential property lines
Town of Allegany (New York)
2,500-foot setback from residential zone
Town of Lyme (New York)
4,500-foot setback from residential villages
Town of Hartsville (New York)
2,460 feet from a dwelling
George W. Kamperman, INCE Bd. Cert. Emeritus Kamperman Associates, Inc.
george@kamperman.com
Richard R. James, INCE E-Coustic Solutions rickjames@e-coustic.com
Simple guidelines for siting wind turbines to prevent health risks
1 km (3,280 feet) or more setback
French Academy of Medicine
1.5 km (.9-mile) setback
Trempealeau County (Wisconsin)
1-mile setback
National Wind Watch
1-mile setback
Beech Ridge Wind Farm (West Virginia)
1 to 4 miles setback
Fayette County (Pennsylvania)
Deal reached in wind turbine dispute
6,000-foot (1.1 mile) setback
Noise Radiation from Wind Turbines Installed New Homes: Effects on Health
2 km (1.2 mile) setback
Location, Location, Location: An investigation into wind farms and noise by
the UK Noise Association (UKNA)
1 to 1.5 mile setback
summary
Are wind farm turbines making people sick? Some say yes.
1.5 mile setback
Dr. Nina Pierport
1.5 mile setback, more for mountainous geography
Health Effects of Wind Turbine Noise
Dr. Amanda Harry
1.5 mile setback
Riverside County (California)
"3000 feet or greater" from residential development unless the developer demonstrates the project
will not generate "excessive low frequency" noise (LU 15.9)
Welsh Select Affairs Committee (Wales)
Marjolaine Villey-Migraine
Docteur en sciences de l'information et de la communication, Université Paris II-
Panthéon-Assas, Sp. de l'Information Scientifique et Technique (IST)
5 km (3.1 miles)
Recommendations on the Siting of Windfarms in the Vicinity of Eskdalemuir,
Scotland (2005)
10 km (6.2-mile) setback (10.87 MB)
NUMERICAL NOISE STANDARDS
Ontario, Canada
Green Energy Act of 2009
noise levels at receptors can be no more than 40 dB(A)
World Health Organization
Guidelines for Community Noise (1999) (see Section 3.4)
night-time noise levels should be no more than 30 dB(A) in bedrooms
World Health Organization
Night Noise Guidelines (2009)
adverse health effects in rural areas occur at 40 dB(A) or more
World Health Organization
Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (2019)
wind turbine noise should not exceed 45 dBA(den) outside homes
Minnesota Department of Health, Environmental Health Division
annoyance from non-tonal wind turbine noise should not be estimated from a dB(A) scale
because it includes a significant low frequency component; a 6 db "penalty" should be
added to dB(A) results
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
a 10 db "penalty" should added to dB(A) results when the noise source operates at night;
increases above ambient 6 dB(A) or more can be expected to cause complaints
New York State Department of Health
Ohio Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental Health
Literature Search on the Potential Health Impacts Associated with Wind-to-Energy Turbine Operationsno increase in noise from wind turbines more than 3 db(A) over background sound levels at any non-participating property line
Excerpts from the Final Report on the Township of Lincoln Wind Turbine Moratorium
Committee turbines add 5-20 dB(A) to the ambient sound; a 10 dB increase is perceived
as a doubling of noise level
Wind Farm Noise and Regulations in the Eastern United States
Second International Meeting on Wind Turbine Noise
USEPA, local noise ordinances, and noise standards various countries compared
Town of Allegany (New York)
no increase in noise from wind turbines more than 3 db(A) over background sound levels
(however, the limit applies only 2,500 feet or less from residences)
Town of Hartsville (New York)
no increase in noise from wind turbines more than 3 db(A) over background sound levels at any non-participating property line
Town of Cherry Valley (New York)no increase in noise from wind turbines more than 3 db(A) over ambient sound levels at any non-participating property linelink hereTown of Wales (New York)no increase in noise over 24-hr. mean ambient sound level whatsoeverlink hereTown of Ridgeville (Wisconsin)
no increase in noise from wind turbines more than 5 db(A) over background sound levels
NOISE AND HEALTH
This is perhaps the most difficult issue for understanding wind turbine noise. Newer research on direct organic effects of low frequency sound on the body (vibroacoustic disease or "wind turbine syndrome") is still developing. However, there is well-established research that forms the basis for respected standard-setting organizations regarding the effect of low-level noise annoyance on sleep, and health effects that result from chronic sleeplessness. Unlike many community noise sources, wind farms can be expected operate for several nights on end. Annoyance that results in chronic sleep disturbance can be expected to result in some people suffering ill health. Recently an acoustics lab created a "listening room" reproduction of what three wind turbines located one-third of a mile away sound like.
American Wind Energy Association
Facts About Wind Energy and Noise
National Research Council, Environmental Effects of Wind Energy Projects (2007), ch. 4
World Health Organization
Fact Sheet No. 258, "Occupational and community noise"
World Health Organization
Community Noise (1995)
World Health Organization
Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (2019)
wind turbine noise should not exceed 45 dBA(den) outside homes
UKNA
Information Sheet
Low-Frequency Noise & Infrasound
UKNA Briefing Sheets
Alves-Pereira and Branco, Public health and noise exposure: the importance of
low frequency noise (2007)
Eja Pedersen, Human response to wind turbine noise – perception, annoyance and moderating factors (Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Goettingen 2007)
Eja Pedersen and Kerstin PerssonWaye, Wind turbines—low level noise sources
interfering with restoration [rest and recovery from mental fatigue]? (2008)
Barbara J. Frey and Peter J. Hadden, Noise Radiation from Wind Turbines Installed
Near Homes: Effects on Health with an annotated review of the research and
related issues (2007)
Erik Rudolphi, Wind turbine noise emission: Wind speed measurents below hub hight give
poor accuracy (2003)
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK), Low Frequency Noise (2001)
Dr. Nina Pierport
Noisy Wind and Hot Air
Dr. Nina Pierport
Wind Turbine Syndrome - testimony before the New York State Legislature Energy Committee
Dr. Nina Pierport
excerpt from rebuttal to Noble Environmental's Draft Environmental Impact Statement
regarding noise, shadow flicker, and health
Renewable Energy Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering,
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, "Wind Turbine Acoustic Noise: A White Paper"
"Anti-noise" Silences Wind Turbines
New England Wind Forum: Wind Turbine Sound
U.S. Department of Energy
Noise Radiation from Wind Turbines Installed Near Homes: Effects on Health
with an annotated review of the research and related issues
by Barbara J Frey, BA, MA and Peter J Hadden, BSc, FRICS
Noise pollution from wind turbines
September 20, 2007 by Julian Davis and S. Jane Davis
Publications of the Acoustics Laboratory and the Department of Acoustics,1974-present
acoustics.aau.dk/publications/pubframe.html
A unique technology - Auralisation - lets you listen to the future sounds before making
important and costly decisions
Contact: Specialist Soren Vase Legarth
svg@delta.dk
Tel. +45 72 19 46 10
Simple guidelines for siting wind turbines to prevent health risks
George W. Kamperman, INCE Bd. Cert. Emeritus Kamperman Associates, Inc.
george@kamperman.com
Richard R. James, INCE E-Coustic Solutions rickjames@e-coustic.com
The "How To" Guide to Siting Wind Turbines to Prevent Health Risks from Sound
George W. Kamperman PE and Richard R. James INCE
Low Frequency Noise from Large Wind Turbines
Delta Project EFP-06. Client: Danish Energy Authority
Second International Meeting on Wind Turbine Noise (Abstracts)
Lyon, France. September 20-21, 2007
Acoustic Trauma: Bioeffects of Sound
Alex Davies BFS Honours
A Review of Published Resarch on Low Frequency Noise and its Effects
Report for Defra by Dr. Geoff Leventhall
Noise Background
DART (Dorest Against Rural Turbines)
Project WINDFARMperception
Visual and acoustic impact of wind turbine farms on residents
Wind turbines more annoying than expected
G.P. van den Berg
Wind turbines at night: acoustical practice and sound research
Science Shop for Physics, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
G. P. Van den Berg
Effects of the wind profile at night on wind turbine sound
Journal of Sound and Vibration, 277 (2004), 955–970
summary:
G. P. Van den Berg
The Beat is Getting Stronger: The Effect of Atmospheric Stability on Low Frequency
Modulated Sound of Wind Turbines
Journal of Low Frequency Noise, Vibration and Active Control, 24:1 (2005), 1-24
Effects of the wind profile at night on wind turbine sound
Journal of Sound and Vibration
Vibroacoustic Disease
N.A.A. Castelo Branco and M. Alves-Pereira
Wind Turbine Acoustic Noise
Renewable Energy Research Laboratory
a distance of 200 meters (656 feet), a single 2.5 MW Nordex N80 wind turbine
generates 95 decibels of low frequency sound, G-weighted (10 Hz)
Nine-News (Australia), "Electric Nightmares" (unexpected noise levels cause headaches,
sleeplessness and result in people vacating their homes)
LOCAL BANS ON INDUSTRIAL WIND PROJECTS
Before Public Service Law, Article 10 became effective in 2011, more than twelve New York towns banned industrial-sized wind power plants (although allowing small turbines), based in part on finding unacceptable noise impacts:
Malone (Franklin Co.), Brandon (Franklin Co.), Italy (Yates Co.), Bovina (Delaware Co.), Meredith (Delware Co.), Castile (Wyoming Co.) and Warsaw (Wyoming Co.).
After 2001, Article 10 preempts local land use laws in New York that a renewable energy developer argues are "unreasonably burdensome". Under this rue, the Article 10 Siting Board waived many provisions of local laws but did so reluctantly, seeking project changes that would obviate the need for a waiver. That changed dramatically after Article 10 was replaced by the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act (2020 Renewables Act), which includes a new Executive Law §94-c. Section 94-c replaces the Article 10 Siting Board with an Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES). ORES has used the "unreasonably burdensome" standard aggressively to waive most local laws that interfere with developer's project plans. In many case ORES has denied the host town (or towns) any opportunity to appear in an ORES permit proceeding to defend its local laws.
In the 2024 NY Executive Budget, Part O, Governor Hochul proposes to erode local control of land uses even more, by giving ORES the power of eminent domain. This is a novel move, since under current law eminent domain can be exercised only by utilities and cell phone tower projects, considering that those are providing essential services to end-users of the service (electricity or cell phone signals). Wind and solar farms, which would have the same eminent domain powers as utilities seeking to build a new transmission line or substation in order to improve service, do not provide electricity to end-users. Their intermittent (weather-dependent) generation pattern means they cannot provide direct service to anyone.
The number of "homes powered" by a wind or solar farm is literally zero, since their electricity cannot be utilized without fossil-fueled power plants idling in the background, waiting to be called up by the grid operator in order to avoid a precipitous drop in voltage on the system when cloud cover or wind speed is insufficient to operate renewables.) This is a costly way to provide electricity, and no ratepayer would want unassisted renewables. By contrast, nuclear and hydropower and highly efficient combined cycle gas-fired power plants provide essential services to ratepayers.
Notwithstanding this fundamental contrast in the way different sources of energy operate, and obvious questions about whether renewables can provide essential services without unsustainable costs to the public (including new transmission infrastructure to allow renewable electricity to be transported downstate--up to a trillion dollars over the next decade), The Governor's proposal can be expected put all rural towns in upstate New York on the sidelines, unable to even participate in the siting of large-scale renewable energy projects within their borders.
ANALYZING THE WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY
Stop Ill Wind
The Top Ten False and Misleading Claims the Windpower Industry Makes for Projects in the
Eastern United States
Misplaced State Government Faith in "Wind Energy"
An Analysis and Report by Glenn R. Schleede
Rural Power
Community-Sealed Renewable Energy and Rural Economic Development
John Farrell and David Morris
jfarrell@ilsr.org
dmorris@ilsr.org
Cellulose Prairie
Biomass Fuel Potential
By Brett Hulsey
Better Environmental Solutions
AUDIO-VISUAL RECORDINGS OF WIND FARM NOISE, SHADOW FLICKER AND
CONTROVERSY
