ing electricity a bit earlier. who with his wife, Sally, The turbines have so far are seasonal residents. The been reported as troublecouple has considered refree, but some residents are tiring to their Vinalhaven bothered by the noise they home but the noise of the make, from the generator turbines has given them itself and the blades. pause. Wylie said he has Erin Creelman, a yearheard the noise compared round wife and mother who to a cement mixer, and to a is part of a neighbors’ jet plane that never lands. group, said she is conThe couple said they cerned that Fox Islands were not told how loud the Wind follow the law. The turbines would be, but they so-called “quiet zone” hastened to say they want around the turbines is supto get along with fellow resPhoto by Patty Weeks posed to have a maximum idents, that they don’t noise level of 45 decibels. The wind turbines, seen over Zeke Point, have generated blame the local electric coAt one point, the noise was over millions of kilowatt-hours so far. Some nearby residents operative for any problems recorded at 46 decibels at think the noise is terrible, while others don’t notice it. with noise. Sally Wylie said neighbor Art Farnham’s she has measured a dayhome, and that triggered a mandatory “power-down” time noise level of 45 decibels, while an international of the turbines, meaning they are not running at full standard is a maximum of 35 decibels. Maine allows capacity. the higher level, she said. Farnham, closest neighbor to the turbines, has reAndrew Fisk, director of the Bureau of Land and fused an easement for the wind turbines and also de- Water Quality at the Department of Environmental clined to sell his property to Fox Islands Wind. Protection, said he is “comfortable” with the current Creelman voted for the wind turbines and acknowl- state standards and sees no reason to change the 45edged that how much their sound bothers anyone is decibel limit. “They [wind turbines] do make noise. We subjective, but standards must be enforced, she said. have to come up with a reasonable standard,” he said. Ethan Hall has built his own house. It’s now about Fisk acknowledged there have been “a lot of conversa3,000 feet from the turbines, and he can hear them, he tions” about the sound produced by wind turbines both said. He believes turbine proponents misled him about on Vinalhaven and at sites across the state. the true noise level. He was told when the wind blew “The level of noise is not difficult to measure,“ Fisk it would tend to mask the turbine noise. said. “Its effect on people is difficult to measure.” He Brown, the co-op board president, said, “We were all added that Fox Islands Wind voluntarily sought state told it would make a whooshing noise.” He said some certification of its turbines. The project is small nearby residents think the noise is terrible, while oth- enough that state oversight was not required, he said. ers don’t seem to notice it. “Anything that generates The complaints from island homeowners haven’t anything at all, mechanically, there is going to be a lit- fallen on deaf ears. There have been several meetings tle noise to it,” he said. between neighbors and officials at the Fox Island Elec“If it stays the way it is, it’s really untenable,” commented David Wylie, an executive with Babson College LAST WORD, continued on Page 76
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