Wind Concerns Ontario has sent a letter to the federal Minister of Health, Rona Ambrose, expressing concern about the mailing of a promotional brochure connected to the Health Canada Wind Turbine Noise and Health study.
The study results were released in a summary (no peer review, no actual report or paper) last November, but the brochure was not sent out until February 2015, by Canada Post Unaddressed Admail.
The timing is unusual, coming so long after the study results release, and coinciding with Ontario’s new procurement process for large renewable power projects. It is also very unusual for a research team to create and release a brochure.
That brochure is misleading, Wind Concerns Ontario president Jane Wilson said in the letter to the Minister. “It’s not true, as the brochure says, that there are no health effects from the wind turbine noise and infrasound–there are, and the study summary* says that. It says 16.5 percent of people studied who live within 1 km of a turbine were experiencing distress,” Wilson said.
Wind Concerns Ontario met with Health Canada/Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety staff the day after the study results were released, and advised that the draft brochure not be released. “We told them that the disclaimer on the brochure, which explained that the study results were ‘preliminary’ and unreviewed, was not prominent enough,” Wilson said. “We also asked why they weren’t going back into the study communities in person, as is normal practice for scientific research teams, rather than sending a brochure.”
Wind Concerns said that the study summary, and now the brochure, strain the credibility of Health Canada and the federal government in Ontario.
“The fact is, the conclusion being promoted in the brochure from this study–that there are no health effects–does not coalesce with the real-life experience in Ontario communities,” Wilson said. “The people of Ontario were hoping that their federal health department would pull out all the stops to find a reason for the many, many reported health problems related to wind turbine noise—instead, they got short shrift in this study, and now an unnecessary and misleading, taxpayer-funded promotional brochure that functionally supports the wind power development industry.”
The brochure has been revised from the original version to now say Health Canada has had it reviewed by its own panel, but the study results have yet to be published.
*the 16.5% figure (actually 25% at 1/2 a km) appears in a PowerPoint summary given to WCO by Health Canada

9 Comments
Sommer
Rona Ambrose needs to be sent letters from victims who are dismayed with the loss of credibility of Health Canada.
BJ
Sommer,
Rona Ambrose and (Leona Aglukkaq before her) of Health Canada have been receiving letters directly from victims for years. So have Wynne, Matthews, Hoskins, Harper, King and all health authorities, local and ministerial. Sadly this situation is not from lack of information or testimony from those impacted but intentional delay and denial by all of them.
Barbara
People don’t read the posted links for more available information on topics.
So they don’t know what is taking place with various issues.
Sommer
Yes, I know victims have done so.
It’s important to repeat this process and keep copies of all letters/emails written.
This will be evidence when they are under oath and brought to justice.
Sommer
I just found this. It’s highly relevant.
http://citizen.on.ca/?p=3011
Richard Mann
Has anyone received the brochure? Can you scan it and post it here?
Thanks…
Wind Concerns Ontario
Richard, the brochure is the same as is on the Health Canada website for the Wind Turbine Noise and Health Study. They simply printed it and mailed it as Unaddressed Admail in (we presume) the study areas.
Richard Mann
Thanks, can you please repost the link to the website. It should accompany this article.
Wind Concerns Ontario
Done. The link to the brochure PDF is at the bottom of the Health Canada page.