Editor:

It is hard to find much substance in Lorrie Gillis's letter (Meaford Express, October 6) that claims many people in Ontario are suffering health problems they say are caused by turbine noise.

The results of the survey that Ms. Gillis is talking about can be found on Wind Concerns Ontario's web site. Wind Concerns Ontario is a coalition of groups opposed to wind turbines - any place, any time.

Ninety-eight of the124 people responding to the survey say they have symptoms such as sleep disturbance, stress, headaches, tinnitus and anxiety among others that they attribute to wind turbines.

This isn't a very large number given that there are probably more than 3,000 people living in Ontario within 2 kilometres of wind turbines. It certainly isn't the epidemic of health problems that Ms. Gillis describes.  

Only wind power opponents like Ms. Gillis say that wind turbines make people sick. You would think that if lots of people are suffering from wind turbines in Ontario some credible agency like a public health unit or a group of independent health professionals would be able to confirm the problem but none has.

Guess what a comparison of the results of Ms. Gillis's survey to health statistics from Statistics Canada, the US Center for Disease Control and organizations concerned with specific health issues shows?

The same symptoms that wind power opponents say are caused by wind turbines occur in the general population at about the same rate as those identified in the wind opponent's survey.

Apparently, people who don't live near turbines suffer the same levels of sleeplessness, stress, headaches, tinnitus and the other symptoms identified by the wind opponent's survey.

So why is Lorrie Gillis saying that there is an epidemic of health problems from wind turbines when there is no evidence that there is?

Have you ever heard the acronym FUD? Look it up on Wikipedia.

You will find that it describes an ethically questionable technique sometimes used by public relations practitioners and marketers to cause fear, uncertainty and doubt concerning things or positions that they or their clients oppose.

Think about it. Turbines have been operating for years. More are being built every day all over the world and there is still no scientific or medical evidence anywhere that turbines have any impact on human health.

Ms. Gillis opposes wind turbines. She wants you to fear them, to feel uncertain about their safety and doubt their effectiveness.

You should not believe her. She is FUDing you.

Robert Knox

Rob Roy