NORTH BRANCH TWP. – North Branch’s township board and planning commission had a standing room only crowd Wednesday (Jan. 9) night for a discussion of wind turbines. But after three hours those in favor and opposed to placing them in the township seemed to be where they started.
Recently elected Township Supervisor Gary Swoish started the meeting reading a statement saying he had cancelled his contract with DTE to potentially place wind turbines on his farm.
He said he called for the informational meeting because “I realized I needed to educate myself.”
That didn’t set well with Lori McLane, who’s been a vocal opponent of wind energy in northern Lapeer County.
She, along with Deb Horen of Burlington Township and Michelle Peel are concerned about the possible health effects of wind turbines on special needs people. Peel told board members that North Branch Schools alone has 300 special needs students and there are 1,700 across Lapeer County.
She said her son has several seizure disorders and she’s concerned the flicker from turbine towers will trigger seizures in people like him.
Dr. Jeffery Ellenbogen, an assistant professor of neurology and a sleep medicine specialist at Johns Hopkins University, said that studies by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Health Canada and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change found no connection between wind turbines and health problems.
“Noise,” said Ellenbogen, “is a very personal thing.” He noted that while one person may find the sound of a barking dog comforting, someone who was bitten by a dog as a child might not.
He said Health Canada’s 2011 study looked at 1,200 people selected randomly and found no connection between health problems and wind turbines.
Kenneth Kaliski, an engineer with RSG, said there is a lot operators can do to mitigate turbine noise, including shutting them off at times. He said most of the sound created is from the interaction of the wind and the turbine’s blades.
He said most turbines produce less noise than the sound of the human voice.
While Norm Stephens, a former planning commission member from Almer Township in Tuscola County, urged North Branch residents to insist on tough rules for wind energy, Terry O’Conner, township supervisor in Huron County’s Minden Township said, “We’ve had no problems.”
He said the 70 towers in his township have created a revenue stream that’s allowed to township to lower its millage rate. “Green energy is our future,” O’Connor said.
John Simmons, who said his family began farming in North Branch in 1854, noted that when electricity first came to the area, some people opposed it. “If you come into my community,” he said, “you’d better be doing something good.”
McLane said she was not happy that only experts provided by DTE were at the meeting. Swoish said if she could provide a list of experts opposed to wind energy he’d be happy to hold another informational meeting.
“We want to hear from the other side,” he said.
While the township’s planning commission is working on a wind turbine ordinance, there’s still no clear idea when it will present one to the township board.
“We can’t stop what’s happening,” said Planning Commission Member Mark Chapin, “I just hope we come up with something fair.”