energy transition
Shock for wind energy: Couple receives 110,000 euros in compensation for turbine syndrome
In Germany, too, there is a dispute how close wind farms can get to the development (symbol photo)
© Jochen Tack / Picture Alliance
Sick from wind power – this is controversial among experts. In France, a wind farm now has to compensate a couple. They claim their health problems are due to the operation of the rotors.
The expansion of wind energy should enable the replacement of fossil fuels. However, the over 200 meter high plants are not popular, the complaint is known that the industrial buildings spoil the landscape. Again and again there are complaints about the low-frequency noises emitted by the windmills. In France, the couple Christel and Luc Fockaert sued the operators of a wind farm because the plant had impaired their health. A court in Toulouse has now awarded the two of them compensation of 110,000 euros.
Like a washing machine
The couple claimed that for two years they had suffered from health problems such as headache, insomnia, irregular heartbeat, depression, dizziness, tinnitus and nausea. The cause is said to be six wind turbines that are only 700 meters away from your home. The turbines have been standing since 2008, but the health problems are said to have started only five years later. At that time, a piece of forest that had previously insulated the emissions was cleared.
The Fockaerts compare the noise with a “constantly rotating washing machine” and were also irritated by the white “flashing lights” of the turbines. “We didn’t understand it straight away, but gradually it became clear to us that the problem originated in the turbines,” says Christel Fockaert. “The turbines blink every two seconds … we’ve put outside lights up to offset the effects of those lightning bolts.”
Controversial Syndrome
In 2015 they gave up and moved away, their health problems had disappeared. In science, the “turbine syndrome” is at least controversial. In France, however, the National Academy of Medicine wrote a report in 2017 on the health impact of onshore wind turbines. It found a number of “different symptoms associated with wind turbine nuisance” including sleep disorders, headaches, tinnitus and cardiovascular problems.
Several factors should therefore contribute to the complaints. Among them are the stroboscopic light effects of the rotation and the blinking of the lights. The second factor is the low frequencies and the ultrasound emanating from the system. A third factor is psychological, i.e. individual, in nature. The problems with the wind farms can lead to feelings of anger, stress, and powerlessness with all the resulting psychosomatic consequences, according to the academy. The report does not deny the negative effects, but sees them in a complex relationship in which the local factors, but also the psychological constitution of the residents play a role.
Not a model case
The Fockaerts’ lawsuit was initially dismissed, but their appeal has now been successful. The judge of the first instance had not taken expert reports into account and made a picture for himself during a short on-site visit.
Alice Terrasse, the couple’s lawyer, said on French TV: “This is an unusual case and, as far as I know, there is no precedent.” The lawyer also warned: “Be careful, the process cannot simply be copied. This park creates an abnormal nuisance in its configuration. Each case is specific and must be investigated.”
The operators were convicted of grossly disturbing the neighborhood. In the context of neighborhood law, it will have been unfavorable for you that you refused to talk to the person concerned and did not try to reach an amicable settlement, for example by adjusting the speed or the lighting effects. The lighting and speed of rotation of the turbines are said to have been changed in the meantime.
Source: Le Monde, Le Dauphine; France 3