A QUIET NIGHT WITH THE TURBINES? HA!

Don't be fooled by the pastoral setting

It's not yet midnight. The sky is clear, except for a few small clouds moving across the sky.  I am standing on my back deck and I am in awe of the ominous, deep rumblings of the closest windmill.  It is a kilometre away. This is the sound they told us did not exist.

Just like the ones I saw in Loweville, the turbines sound like a jet--too high to be seen, but close enough to hear.  The difference is, the jet passes over, and the silence of the night resumes. In the case of the turbines, the noise continues into the night, and then into the day.

When I went back into the house and went to bed, I could still here the noise coming through my open window.  What was it that made the noise particularly thunderous last night? There was a soft breeze , the air was clear, atmospheric conditions, who knows?  My hearing isn't always the best, so I know I'm I am not overly sensitive.  

Many years ago, I originally came to Wolfe Island to escape the sounds of the city.  On my first night sleeping here, I was amazed at the silence.  I relished the sounds of nature, frogs, crickets, and the intermittent howl of coyotes. After decades of listening to sirens, drunks, and screaming tires, the peacefulness of Wolfe Island was heavenly. 

Residents who opposed the placement of turbines on Wolfe Island were assured that there would be no noise, which to me made not sense,  everyone knows that when a stick, a whip, a skipping rope is lashed, there is a distinct whooshing sound.  Cap'n Mike laughed at our concerns, telling us that one could stand right under a turbine and not hear a sound.  Of course, standing under a windmill is like standing under a gigantic speaker--the noise radiates out, underneath is probably the quietest place to stand. We were even told that quite often, people like to picnic under them!  Yes indeed Mr. Jablonicky and we are all idiots!

I do not feel that I should change my way of living in order to block out the sound of the turbines.  I do not want to close my windows at night; I do not want to run something that makes white noise to mask the noise; I do not want to move.  What I want is an apology, an admission from the corporations that they did in fact lie.  I want to launch a class action suit against them. I want everyone who was so eager to put  a windmill on their property to go crazy from the noise and the guilt that were it not for their greed to get money from nothing, Wolfe Island would still be a peaceful oasis in a world of noise and confusion. 

For a video of what turbines really sound like, go to  http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/what-wind-turbines-sound-like/

WELL THAT'S A SURPRISE

Can anyone ever believe big business? Don't bet the farm on it.  Wolfe Island was promised that March 31 would be the end of the construction of wind turbines. We were assured that our roads would be back to normal, the workers would be gone, and our lives would be back to normal. Well, sort of normal, except for the 86 gigantic turbines spinning through the air above our heads.

The latest news is that the current crop of windmills will not be completed until the end of June. The excuse, according to the official spokesperson, is that construction has been delayed because of the unusually bad winter!  Only this morning we were discussing on the boat how tame a winter we have been having compared to previous years.  The lake is smooth enough to skate to town--if you were crazy enough to try--we recalled winters where the frozen lake took on an otherworldly look.  I can only wonder how much Canadian Hydro pays their weather experts. I really hope it isn't too much. 

Of course the extension is good news for the people who are renting out properties to the construction workers; the restaurants who feed them; and the young women who are seeking love in the hordes of heavily accented, fair haired Danes. Which makes me wonder... will there be a surge of little windbabies?  Turbotots?

But there is a spanner added to the works.  During the month of March, the MTO dock in Kingston will undergo an upgrading, no doubt necessary because of the abuse rent by the heavy construction equipment. At the same time, the Wolfe Islander III will go to St. Catherine's for it's five year refit, leaving residents with the considerably smaller Frontenac II. What this means is longer line-ups, longer waits to get home after a hard day's work, more cutting in line and most of all, short fuses. It is a recipe for disaster, and I can only hope the ones most affected can go home and picnic under the shade of their wind turbine!

As of today, Sea Wreck is proudly announcing there are 45 turbines erected, but not yet running. This represents slightly over half of the intended number, 86. Needless to say, the skyline of Wolfe Island will never again be photographed as an example of unblemished nature.  

...AND THEY COULD BLOW YOUR MIND!

         The remains of the windmill (left) allegedly destroyed by a tentacled UFO

Of all the negative effects for which the wind turbines are responsible, I just discovered one I hadn't even thought of.  It seems that they have the ability to make you stark raving mad.  I've come to this conclusion after reading some articles about a windmill in Conisholme UK.

This windmill has the dubious honour of being the first windmill (that we know of) destroyed by a UFO.  This out of this world event happened on Jan 4, 2009. A 20 metre blade mysteriously fell off a turbine at Conisholme wind farm.  Not only did the one blade fall off, but another was badly damaged.  The residents of Conisholme claim that they saw strange flashing tentacle shaped lights above the wind farm the night it happened.

One gentleman recalls looking out the his window and seeing a massive ball of light with tentacles going right down to the ground over the wind farm. He thought it strange, but mistook it for a hole where the moon was shining through, that is, until he saw the tentacles. "It looked just like an octopus", he said.

Perhaps people who live in Conisholme are used to this sort of thing, but I have a few reservations about the whole thing.  First of all, if I looked outside and saw giant tentacles coming out of the sky, I'd be hightailing my ass out of there.  Secondly, if something like this happened to a windmill in our area, I'd be rolling on the floor laughing, but I wouldn't be telling reporters that I thought it was a UFO. When you say stuff like that, people start to think you're nuts. But since the windmill loving people of Conisholme don't seem to be worried about this, I think it's a done deal.  Living in the proximity of windmills makes you nuts.  Stark raving mad.

WIND PIRATES YAAARRRR!!

Wolfe Islander III, the lifeline to residents of the island

    

I guess I never really believed they would appear, let alone stay.  Yet each day there are more. No longer can people pretend to ignore them; no longer can people who live across the river in Kingston fool themselves into thinking they won't be affected by them; no longer can local politicians and businesses involved in 'greed energy' pretend they won't scar the fabric of the environment.  The wind turbines, about 30 so far--slightly more than one third of the total, are commanding the horizon of our small island.

As the turbines increase, so does the arrogance of those in charge.  They know they've won this battle, and they are no longer kowtowing and bending over backwards to appease the fears of the residents who were never comfortable with the project.  They are changing the very fiber of the community, and doing it in ways never thought imaginable.

For example, our lifeline to the mainland is a 55 car ferry, The Wolfe Islander III.  She takes us to work each morning and brings us back safely at night.  The boat is sometimes the only constant in the lives of islanders, getting us to work, to school, to appointments on time.  Throughout the ice storm in 1998, the ferry never missed a trip, even though we had no electricity for a week. The boat carries the ambulance over to Kingston when islanders are in need of emergency treatment--cancer patients, accident victims, newborn babies.  The Wolfe Island Ferry is our link to the outside world.  

Each winter, when the lake freezes over, the ferry goes to an alternate dock, three miles outside the village of Marysville.  It's a pain in the ass sometimes, but it is reliable.  This year, the winter dock is being used by CREC, the company that is in charge of the turbine project.  There is a bubble system going from Kingston to the winter dock to keep the channel open until the spring thaw.  Since it has been a cold winter this year, we normally would be utilizing the alternate dock, but no.  CREC has made a deal with the devil, or maybe the town council, to continue to use the winter dock, while our ferry continues to crash through the ice without the aid of a bubble system.  With the exuberance of Micky Rooney declaring that he's putting on a show, CREC hollered, "We'll pay for it!"

CREC has magnanimously promised us the use of a tug boat to help clear the ice, but the only time I have seen this tug was when it was accompanying the CREC barge.  Our boat bangs and crashes and tears through the ever thickening ice, and you know that can't be good.  CREC has managed somehow to take over our boat and hold it hostage.  Each morning, the boat arrives later and later.  Residents, tax-paying residents of course, are arriving later and later at their jobs.  Why are we putting up with this?  Why don't people stand up and say "Enough is enough".  Are people so naive (out of politeness I won't use the term I really want)  that they don't know when they are are being used? Give us back our boat, our island, our lives.

CREC likes to be called C-REC.  Sea Wreck.  Now I know why.

Cap'n Mike of the Sea Wreck. Yaaaarrr!

WHAT TO EXPECT

Congratulations!  Your community has been chosen to be the recipient of a vast number of wind turbines!  What can you expect to happen?

Number one.  Don't expect to have any say in the matter if you are not on the side of those who want to turn your community into an industrial electricity-producing wind farm.  The people who want the turbines will collect free money for renting their property to the turbine  company, in our case CREC or Canadian Renewable Energy Corporation.  If you protest too much, you may be arrested or you may merely get a cease and desist order.  Don't use the environment as an excuse, dead wildlife is considered collateral damage.

Number two. Divide and conquer.  It's a war tactic that has worked for centuries and still does. Your neighbourhood will split like an overcooked frankfurter. Families will turn against one another, friends will be at each others throats.  The turbine company loves when this happens.

Number Three.  You will be lied to.  They will hire sweet talkers who will tell you what you want to hear, but when it comes right down to it, they will do as they please.

Number Four.  You will not be able to get gravel for your home improvement projects.  Entities like gravel will be contracted out to the turbine company and no one else will be able to access certain raw materials.

Number Five.  Your town will be inundated with workers.  Your town will be like Times Square on New Year's Eve, and people will benefit from this. These people will need somewhere to stay. People with restaurants, bed and breakfasts, rooms to rent, empty cottages, trailers, will all think they have died and gone to heaven.  

Number Six. These people will be driving large equipment.  Very large equipment that will tear up your roads, stir up dust and dirt, and create potholes the size of a 1951 Mercury.  

Number Seven.  They will fix your roads.  Someday.  Not today, not tomorrow, but when ever this expensive, gigantic project is finished.  Whenever that will be.

Number Eight.  You will lose some of your friends because they will move.Oh sure, you say you'll keep in touch but you won't.  But maybe your friend was wise to get out when s/he did, because what are your property values going to be like when this is all over?

Number Nine.  The Oops factor.  Oops, we accidently spilled a whole bunch of diesel in your water.  Ooops, we didn't mean to cut down quite so many trees.  Oops, we didn't mean to (fill in the blank).  Because there's a lot of Oops factors that you'll never find out.  Isn't Oops a great word!

Number Ten. Don't expect to get a deal on your electricity bill.  If your council is as bright and foresightful as ours is, you will get nothing personally out of the deal.  Sure there will be tax money, but they'll use that on the roads, and sure the landowners will make out like bandits, but they'll all be wintering in Florida.  Never mind that you are doomed to forever look at gigantic turbines every time you look out the window, or that you went through two sets of tires because of the massive pot holes you are forced to drive through every day.  You will still pay premium prices for electricity unless someone makes a deal to keep one of the windmills for the exclusive use of your community.

Once again, congratulations.  Now that you know a few things to expect, (there are many many others) you can make the right choice--do I pack up the family and go now while the going is good, or do I wait and see the community I once loved turned into an electrical plant.

21 AND COUNTING

As of today, there are 21 windmills on Wolfe Island--a mere 65 to go.  They are interesting creatures, they standout in the sunshine as light bounces off the blades, but on a cloudy day, they disappear into the mist, appearing invisible to those who do not know they are there.  Because I go to work when it is still dark and return home in the dark, I have not had to look at them.

But a few days ago, I was returning home in the daylight, and forced myself to look towards the windfarm.  Twenty-one turbines overpowering the horizon, I was a bit overwhelmed.  And yet none of the other commuters mentioned them.  It was like looking at someone's dirty laundry--we all know it's there, but it's to embarassing to talk about. No one commented or even acknowledged the existence of these behemoths. They glanced at them, then looked away.  

There are many who stand up for the building of the windfarm. The mayor of Frontenac Islands is one of them.  He wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper stating that almost everyone is on board with the project,  discounting anyone who has an opinion to the contrary.  It shows how out of  touch he is with his constituents, he does not mingle with those who disagree with him. Hopefully this arrogance will prevent him from becoming mayor for another term. I know I won't vote for him! 

But no matter who is mayor or who isn't mayor, and no matter who is on the side of green energy and who is on the side of greed energy, the fact remains that the windmills are here to stay, at least for the next twenty years according to the binding legal contract. How are the two sides going to reconcile their differences?  Will neighbours ever again acknowledge one another?  Will the feelings of anger and hatred ever go away?  

Many of us are concerned about our health, our property values, and the survival of the island as a community and not just an industrial park.  But unfortunately, no one can predict the future.  We will continue to stick up for our beliefs, and question those who think they can take advantage of those less gifted than themselves.  And remember, those who do not standup for their convictions, have no convictions.

DIRTY UNDERHANDED TACTICS WIN THE WAR

I was very distressed the other night after our windmill meeting.  Unlike the other liaison meetings of past months. it seemed that there was an inordinate number of windmill supporters in the  house.  "How can that be", I thought to myself, "when I know some of them are too lazy to leave their homes".  My first clue was seeing the chairs stacked in neat rows as if someone was expecting a crowd.  Previously we grabbed our own chairs and set them about in random order.  And on prior occasions, I was one of the first people there, and this time, the hall was almost full even though there was twenty minutes to go until the meeting started.  It was as if they were giving away free beer.

When instead of the concerns that we usually deal with, people started giving props to the corporation that started it all, and I knew something was amiss when they all started clapping their hands for the turbine that was erected that day.

Today, I discovered that the secretary or glorified secretary that works for CREC, took it upon herself, and, company slave that she is, phoned as many supporters of the turbine construction project that she could before breaking a nail.  I guess I consider that stacking that deck. 

What it has probably done, is to alienate even more people on the island and further the toxicity of the social environment.  Way to go Trudy!

Imagine This Every Day

No matter how much I speak about the horrors of the construction of the turbines, it still remains true that a picture is worth 1,000 words.  So if that's the case, a video must be worth millions.  This video was made by a friend of mine who is also a filmmaker.  She and her husband are at Ground Zero of the turbine construction.  Despite being two of the healthiest people I know, they are experiencing serious health problems which can only be attributed to aggregate dust, diesel fumes, and whatever other byproducts of so-called "green energy" are polluting the air.

Here is the link to the Youtube video:    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-via0ec-AY

If this doesn't work, just Google wolfeislandfamily

Wind turbines.  Green energy or red herring?  Communities across the nation are being deceived by large corporations into agreeing to host windmill farms, thinking they are doing their part for the environment and the future.  The only future they are safeguarding is the financial future of the multi-million dollar companies who manage to sweet talk the little guy into long time leases.

The community of Wolfe Island, the largest of the Thousand Islands on the St. Lawrence River between New York State and Ontario is one such story.

Wolfe Island has a population of 1500 or so full time residents who live on the island and commute via ferry to nearby cities,  most commonly, Kingston, ON. The population doubles in the summer time, as cottagers and tourists take advantage of the fishing, bird-watching, and the unobtrusive serenity of nature. Well, at least it used to be like that.  These days the island is more reminiscent of a war zone--loud, monstrous vehicles, clouds of dust and debris, and explosions that rattle the bones of the long dead in the island's cemeteries.

What is it about nature that makes people feel they must destroy it?  A wind farm is not a gentle, quiet endeavor.  It is a loud and destructive process that will alter the environment forever. Trees must be cut, limestone must be blasted from the land where it has settled for millions of years, meadows must be torn asunder to allow for roads that will accommodate the colossal machinery needed to destroy the soul of the island.

After it is all done, the profile of the island will be dominated by 10 storey monoliths that look like leftover props from some long forgotten Orson Welles film. The land will have been raped by industrialists.  The soothing song of nature will be replaced by a constant barrage of white noise.

Joni MItchell sang the song, They Paved Paradise They Put up a Parking Lot many years ago. Little did I know then, that it would become an eerie refrain that floats through my mind like a funeral durge.