The Relevance of the Precautionary Principle to wind farm noise planning

Wind farms consist of clusters of industrial wind turbines which, when placed in rural areas, are associated with intrusive and unwanted sound. Wind turbine noise has characteristics sufficiently different from other, more extensively studied, noise sources to suggest that standard industrial noise standards are not appropriate for measurement and assessment purposes. A seven year study is reported and, although limited in population size, it is clear that there are definite adverse health effects related to wind farm noise. Time-aggregated noise metrics have limited utility in assessing individual human health and well-being, and a cluster of metrics are needed to describe and estimate potential effects on individuals and communities. Sleep deprivation is a widely reported occurrence by people in the vicinity of a wind farm. At this time, however, the quantity and quality of research are insufficient to effectively describe the relationship between wind turbine noise and health, and until such time that a definitive relationship is obtained, legislation should apply the precautionary principle and conservative criteria when assessing proposed wind farm developments.