To the editor:
I am writing this to make clear my vehement opposition to the wind turbine proposed by Mark Richey Woodworking. It will be constructed in the Newburyport Industrial area at 40 Parker St. I do support renewable energy but I feel that the location for this turbine is a highly unsuitable one.
I do not believe that the Newburyport Zoning board (ZBA) thoroughly investigated the impact that these projects would have before approving them. This turbine will have a direct and very negative impact on the neighborhoods that surround them.
At 300 feet high, the Richey wind turbine will be an eyesore to anyone within several miles of it. Its rotors or blades will be about 78 feet wide each. The turbine will more than double the current noise and vibration in the surrounding neighborhoods. According to residents who currently live near other turbines, the noise will be similar to that of a "jet engine."
Since the site of the Richey turbine is within a few hundred feet of residences, the vibration from them can cause something called Wind Turbine Syndrome. This a documented medical condition that causes stress, dizziness, sleeplessness, headaches and heart problems.
The strobe effect that the turbines will give to certain homes when it is between them and the sun is also called flicker. The experts claim the flicker from this turbine will be only a few hours per year. People who live near wind turbines strongly disagree, saying it can be very disturbing and occur for "several hours per day."
The Richey turbine is located within 300 feet of Route One, the rail trail and inhabited buildings like Metrorock climbing, where children often go. In winter it has been documented that similar turbines have thrown huge chunks of ice several hundred feet. Turbines have caught fire and have fallen down as well.
In cases where the brake on the turbine has failed, the gigantic rotors have been thrown as far as 1,650 feet. Something like this would be catastrophic, causing countless damage and death to nearby businesses and residents.
Being green should not be for the betterment of just one business, especially when it does so to the detriment of the lives of so many others. Being green means caring about your own community as well as the environment. Placing a 300-foot turbine that will be loud, unsightly, unsafe and can cause health problems to people who live near it is not being green.
I would like to challenge the Newburyport Zoning Board and City Council to rethink their decision on this wind turbine. Since the surrounding neighborhoods that would be directly affected by the turbines were more or less left out of the process, a public forum needs to happen on this and any turbines that would be installed in the future. If it's determined that there is not overwhelming public support or that the turbine in this location is not safe, then the city must not allow it to happen.
Andrew Morris
Newburyport
