To: World Health Organization 

I am writing today to urge you to please help with an ongoing world health problem.

It is painful to watch the continuing distress and disturbance being forced on families worldwide by industrial wind turbine installations being situated too close to homes.

There are a multitude of families who are suffering serious adverse health effects and yet governments continue to forge ahead with new wind farms, leaving those affected suffering in their homes without any assistance. Many families have had to abandon their homes.

I cannot emphasize enough the pain and the hurt felt by victims when they are ignored and even ridiculed by government officials and proponents. The victims have no power. They cannot shut the turbines or substations down and they cannot afford to move, leaving them and their families dealing with continuous exposure to the detrimental effects of the turbines and substations. The stress forced upon these families is immeasurable.

I am making a plea to you today to please intervene and help these people. I have firsthand knowledge of the harm it is causing. The wind farms where families are suffering should be immediately decommissioned, so people can return to living in a healthy environment in their own homes. The long term repercussions from the adverse effects on both the physical and mental health of individuals resulting from global green energy policies are far reaching.

There are identical reports from around the world of families enduring debilitating living conditions since the start up of the wind turbines and there appears to be a group effort by wind developers, wind lobby groups, government officials and ministries to dismiss the health problems. Victims are called NIMBYs (not in my backyard), are told they are weak and can’t cope or may need psychotherapy to adjust to the new wind turbine projects that have been built too close to their homes. Some are accused of trying to disrupt green energy projects. This is lobbyist language and is unbecoming to government officials and wind proponents. The victims who have come forward publicly are trying to warn others of their experience and to stop further injury to residents in future wind farms.

The number of victims is surely underreported. There are many who cannot come forward publicly for a host of reasons.

Many are concerned about upsetting relationships with their neighbours or being subjected to community ridicule which is a widespread problem; they are concerned about the loss of property value if they should have to leave their home. This leaves them in an insecure and vulnerable position as any property transfer would be subject to full disclosure of the deficiencies and so they must remain silent or forfeit, what for many, is their biggest investment.

Many people have mortgages or other financial constraints and cannot afford to relocate to a temporary rental, leaving them no choice but to stay in their houses and suffer the compounding adverse health effects. Some victims have been billeted in motel rooms paid for by the wind developer and some have had to move in with other family or find alternate accommodations at great expense.

Many residents have signed non-disclosure clauses that prevent them from speaking about any problems. These clauses serve to stifle any negative comment and are used widely in the industry.

Victims are also afraid that should they come forward they will upset the developer and be abandoned, leaving them without any hope for help. Some developers who agree to help may claim that they are performing mechanical measures to mitigate the problems, but these measures are not being seen or felt by the victims. The technology is far beyond what the average person can understand and so they are at the mercy of the developer and the government body who is supposed to be monitoring them. Unfortunately, there are government employees who have deliberately mislead and lied to victims seemingly to the benefit of the development.

Knowing all that is happening and with repeated warnings and pleas for help, many governments still refuse to acknowledge and help the victims. It is unconscionable that these people have been abandoned and left to suffer in their own homes. Animals have also been affected including domestic pets and livestock.

Repeated requests by health professionals for 3rd party independent health studies to determine safe setbacks and noise levels are being steadfastly refused by government. Please read the attached document and visit www.windvigilance.com. With the absence of any protocol to report and compile information regarding the adverse health problems being experienced, a valid, voluntary self reporting health survey was created and distributed in existing wind farms in Ontario. To date there have been over 100 replies from individuals reporting adverse health effects. The estimated number of wind turbines operating in Ontario is approximately 650-700. This is an alarming response and the Ontario provincial and federal governments are well aware of this and are not responding.

There is a huge imbalance of power created by relationships between the government, developers, sophisticated wind lobby groups and the social marketing that they have all employed to insist that these wind installations are harmless and the answer to our global energy problems. This is causing the voice of the victims to be ignored and silenced and it must stop now. I make this plea to those who have the ability to intervene and is the reason for my letter to you today.

I eagerly await your reply.

Barbara Ashbee
Orangeville, Ontario, Canada

While there are far too many published reports of ill health world wide to reference, I believe the links below will be useful.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/countryside-farming-news/countryside-news/2010/01/28/wind-turbines-set-to-get-bigger-91466-25701853/

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6954565.ece

http://www.epaw.org/documents.php?lang=en

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY201001180410.html

http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2009/12/24/144511_national-news.html

See also an interview of Barbara Ashbee – click here.