Wind farm DVD made by local man

Armed with his video recorder and drawing on his training in scientific investigation, retired science teacher Ed Evans has created a DVD to address the questions about noise generated by wind turbines.

In early May, Evans and some family members visited three nearby wind farms and taped the moving turbines, measured noise levels and compared them to background conversation and a radio playing at normal audio ranges and recorded the sound of the rotating turbines in low level wind speeds that existed the days of the taping.

Evans said the goal was to provide visuals and data for anyone interested in knowing more about wind towers that already exist. As a former member of the Hamlin Wind Tower Committee, he says the half-hour presentation’s goal is to provide information in an easy-to-use format.

“The video presently being ciruclated is a collection of unplanned, unscheduled and unrehearsed video takes candidly collected during brief visits to the Madison, Fenner and Weathersfield wind farms,” Evans writes in a disclaimer. He first intended to edit out comments and banter recorded during the taping, but a series of copying malfunctions “ate” the original tape, leaving him with a couple of copies before it shut down completely. Then, his recording machine quit for good and he was left with no edited versions of the tape. So, he thought it important to provide a disclaimer when he dropped off copies at some area locations. “All comments made by me on the tape are directed to the political debate going on in Hamlin about the wind farm issue,” he states in the disclaimer.

Evans also provides the background for a “facetious crack” he makes in reference to mobile homes. He says he was disturbed by a comment made at a Wind Committee meeting which seemed to discount data collected from residents around Fenner wind farm who live in mobile homes. “I made it known in the meeting minutes that people who owned mobile homes held their property just as dear as people who live elsewhere.” His on-mike reference is to the meeting comment made several weeks earlier.

Evans’ DVD does capture some of the sound created by the sweeping blades of the turbines, especially on the day when wind speeds were approximately 10 mph. “While watching the video, it is possible to distinguish the wind/microphone noise from the other sounds that are being recorded at the same time. A db (noise) meter, on the other hand, gives a single reading made up of all the sounds mixed together and is too often erroneously reported as wind turnbine ‘noise,’ ” he writes in his disclaimer.

So far, Evans has produced 14 copies of his wind farm DVD. Copies of the video are available on loan at the Hamlin Public Library. For information contact Evans at 964-3689.

May 27, 2007