Fears that wind turbines make people sick are ”not scientifically valid”, and the arguments mounted by anti-wind farm campaigners are unconvincing, according to confidential briefings given to the state government by NSW Health.
Documents obtained under freedom-of-information laws show that health officials repeatedly warned ministers last year that there was no evidence for ”wind turbine syndrome”, a collection of ailments including sleeplessness, headaches and high blood pressure that some people believe are caused by the noise of spinning blades.
But the department’s advice contrasts with the view of the Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, who was responsible for draft guidelines, released in December, that significantly tighten the approvals process.
“I take the view that the jury is still out on the health impacts from wind farms,” he told the Herald last night. “When it comes to people’s health, I’ll take a precautionary approach every time.”
Mr Hazzard said his view was consistent with that of NSW Health in that strong planning guidelines minimised any risk. The guidelines include a proviso that anyone living within two kilometres of a proposed turbine can send it through an extra planning process that takes account of health impacts.
NSW Health said in its briefings that the guidelines would minimise any health impacts but was scathing of presentations to the government by anti-wind farm groups, including the Landscape Guardians.
One study by Nina Pierpont, which is central to the claims that wind turbines make people ill, was dismissed as ”not of sufficient scientific rigour” by NSW Health. ”This ‘study’ is not a rigorous epidemiological study; it is a case series of 10 families drawn from a wide range of locations,” according to the ministerial briefing on July 5 last year. ”This work has not been properly peer reviewed. Nor has it been published in the peer-reviewed literature. The findings are not scientifically valid, with major methodological flaws stemming from the poor design of the study.”
The documents, obtained under FOI laws by the environment group Friends of the Earth, say existing studies had been examined and no known causal link could be established. The assessment undermines the claims of an anti-wind farm group, the Waubra Foundation, which had been lobbying the government for a moratorium on new wind farms.
“The documents from NSW Health confirm our belief that the foundation has been ‘cherry picking’ data that supports its allegations about ‘wind turbine syndrome’ by talking with people who believe they have … symptoms,” said a Friends of the Earth spokesman, Cam Walker. ”This becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy and is not the basis of good science … Yet, as has been noted by a growing number of medical authorities, there is no credible evidence of a causal link between turbines and ill health.”
The president of the NSW Landscape Guardians, Humphrey Price-Jones, claimed to have observed a ”churlish attitude” among NSW Health officials who had sat through presentations by anti-wind farm groups.
”We find it extremely peculiar that the Department of Health would dismiss, out of hand, anecdotal evidence,” Mr Price-Jones said. ”The fact that it is anecdotal doesn’t mean it should be ignored or cast aside.”
The group believes evidence linking illnesses caused by low-level sound from turbines is mounting and would soon be impossible for the government to ignore. It said a thorough investigation was required.
A landowner near Lake George, Marcia Osborne, said her family had had no medical problems or trouble sleeping from the seven or eight turbines close by. ”Quite the opposite really, they’ve done nothing but help us,” she said.
”We are farmers … things were pretty tough [during the drought] … When they asked us if they could put a wind farm on the place it was like a gift from God. We used to curse the wind, now we get paid for the wind.”
The guidelines are on exhibition until March 14.
