Lodge a Complaint

 

This page was created to help if you are experiencing disturbed living conditions and/or noise and health problems since the start up of wind turbines near your home. People have told us that the symptoms start when the turbines begin turning and go away when the turbines are off or when the person is out of the area.

Not everyone living near turbines has the symptoms. This does not mean people are making them up; it means there are differences among people in susceptibility.  These differences are known as risk factors.  Defining risk factors and the portion of people who get symptoms is the role of epidemiologic studies.  Chronic sleep disturbance is the most common symptom.  Exhaustion, mood problems, and problems with concentration and learning are natural outcomes of poor sleep.

The reported symptoms include:

• Sleep problems: noise or the sensation of pressure makes it hard to go to sleep and cause frequent awakening.
• Headaches which are increased in frequency or severity.
• Dizziness, unsteadiness, and nausea.
• Exhaustion, anxiety, anger, irritability, and depression.
• Problems with concentration and learning.
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

Here is some sound information on what to do and who to talk to:

• Start a daily diary.  We cannot emphasize this enough.  While it may sound like a tedious chore, it will keep track of everything on a daily basis and is extremely helpful for recalling certain events or noticing a pattern to your observations.  It can be crude notes, but the more detailed the better.  Make note of the weather, time of day, the wind speed, the atmospheric conditions (foggy, snowing, sunny etc.), the blade direction.  Note any physical responses, or any health issues.  Any changes in behavior of your children, pets, livestock.  All of these are very important, as well as recording the disturbances in the home (noise, vibration etc.) (Sample diary page).
  
  
• Lodge a complaint.  Start by drafting a letter with the following phrase at the top “Please register this as a formal complaint”.  Clearly outline the issues you are having.  State your experience, you do not need to use anyone else’s observation to support yours, besides those who reside in your home.  It must be your own personal experience.  If you have multiple people in your household with complaints, include details for each person.

The complaint should be sent to:

• The wind developer or energy company that owns the turbines.
• Your local government office( Town, Village, City, County).
• Healthy Wind, Wisconsin

Keep a copy of all your correspondence.  If you should have a face-to-face meeting or phone calls, make sure you write down the pertinent points in your journal so you don’t forget what was said.

Upon receipt, HWW will forward your letter to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, the Wisconsin Department of Public Health, and your state Representative and Senator.