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KING CITY, Mo. | Two brothers-in-law, a country road in northwest Missouri, a fistfight …
Surely it’s happened before, but probably never over wind energy.
Last year, 400-foot-tall wind turbines were erected near King City, some less than 2,000 feet from Charlie Porter’s house on his small acreage.
Soon the sounds from the blades swooshing through the air and other noise were driving Porter and his family crazy, he said.
“The sound gets in your head like a saw and you can’t get rid of it,” Porter said. “Some people compare it to a train that never arrived.”
Porter’s complaints upset his brother-in-law, a Gentry County commissioner who helped bring the wind farm and new economy to the area, as well as others. In February, it spilled over into a fistfight between them, then a lawsuit.
At the heart of the dispute: Just how healthy is the noise from wind turbines?
Many place great hope in wind farms to produce cleaner energy that will replace some of the need for coal-fired power plants.
The 27 turbines in the Bluegrass Ridge wind farm were dedicated in September near King City.
But complaints about illnesses caused by the sounds that emanate from turbines are just beginning to be studied.
One researcher calls it “wind turbine syndrome,” a collection of symptoms that include headaches, anxiety attacks and high blood pressure. Doctors in some other countries have done research on people who live near turbines and say the sounds they emit make them sick.
Several researchers suggest that turbines should be set back from homes, schools and hospitals by more than a mile.
Kenneth Smith, a Kansas City area audiologist, says such low-frequency sounds can cause health disorders — but cautions that much more study needs to be done on turbines.
“This has to make you nervous as a scientist,” said Smith, a founder of Hearing Associates and a fellow with the American Academy of Audiology. “It’s risky to draw conclusions.”
The wind industry says the evidence so far is only anecdotal.
One thing is certain. For a lot of King City residents and nearby farmers, the Bluegrass Ridge wind farm meant dollars for the schools and the town. The turbines have even brought tourists just to gawk at them.
Porter said he is not opposed to wind turbines, but he began complaining to the county and others when he saw how close some of them would be to his property, where he raises registered quarter horses. His wife works as a nurse in St. Joseph. Around his home are rolling hills and a couple of ponds — and now the looming turbines.
Once the blades started turning, he had another set of complaints. Porter said his family, including his 11-year-old daughter, has suffered from headaches and sleeplessness.
“It’s like somebody swinging a rope over your head,” he said. “Some days, it’s worse than other days. The only way you can get away from it is to drive into town.”
In addition, powerful strobe lights come on at dawn and dusk, lighting up the inside of his home.
Porter said he has had the property up for sale for a year, but can’t find a buyer.
According to a lawsuit filed in federal court by Porter, it was during the Christmas holidays that family emotions over the towers began splitting at the seams.
After receiving a threat from Commissioner Gary Carlson, Porter said, he drove out to meet Carlson and on the way called the sheriff to report a fight was about to happen.
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