Wind farms vs. neighbors - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 28

Unlike land uses that are offensive based solely on their aesthetic
attributes, noises that unreasonably disturb neighbors are widely recog-
nized ground for common law nuisance claims in the United States. 50
In the famous case of Rose v. Chaikin in 1982, a court in the state of
New Jersey enjoined operation of a 60-foot tall wind turbine that had
been installed just ten feet from the plaintiff's own property line. 51 The
plaintiff complained that noise from the turbine was causing “stress-related
symptoms” including “nervousness, dizziness, loss of sleep, and fatigue.” 52
The court expressly noted the social benefits of wind energy and that such
benefits must be weighed in such situations. 53 However, citing longstanding
case law for the principle that noises did give rise to an actionable nuisance
if they caused unreasonable “injury to the health and comfort of ordinary
people in the vicinity,” the court ultimately held in favor of the plaintiff and
prevented further use of the turbine. 54
Although Rose v. Chaikin involved a small turbine, courts in the United
States have recognized that noisy commercial wind farms can constitute a
common law nuisance as well. In Burch v. NedPower Mount Storm, LLC ,
the West Virginia Supreme Court overturned a lower court's dismissal of
a nuisance claim based on the noise of a large, utility-scale wind energy
project near the plaintiffs' land. 55 According to the court, a plaintiff may
be entitled to an injunction under West Virginia State law for any noise
that “prevents sleep or otherwise disturbs materially the rest and comfort”
of nearby residents . 56 Accordingly, developers in the United States must
consider the possibility of a nuisance claim if their turbines generate that
level of noise at a residence nearby.
Low-frequency “infrasound” and the wind turbine syndrome debate
In addition to ordinary noise, wind turbines can also produce less percep-
tible noise that some believe could be equally detrimental to neighbors
of commercial wind farms. In recent years, a handful of researchers have
suggested that certain inaudible sound waves emanating from wind turbines
might be injurious to humans. Infrasound, which occurs at frequencies less
than 20 Hz, is not perceptible by most people at the decibel levels produced
by commercial wind turbines. However, operating turbines can produce
such low-frequency sound, and this infrasound has been the subject of
much debate in recent years.
In 2009, Dr. Nina Pierpont published a book on what she labeled “Wind
Turbine Syndrome”, creating some amount of stir within the wind energy
industry. 57 The topic summarized the author's research concluding that the
infrasound waves generated by rotating commercial wind turbines were
capable of causing a wide range of symptoms such as migraine headaches,
vertigo, motion sickness, gastrointestinal sensitivity, and anxiety. 58 Dr.
Pierpont has since conceded that the low-frequency noise she describes in
her book is not uniquely produced by wind turbines and can be created by