Are Local Windmills Too Noisy?

Though Southold Town has less than 10 wind turbines, Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said during town board work session on Tuesday that complaints about noise and vibrations from certain windmills have been coming in to his office.

“What I’d like to do is reach out to the contractors that have done the installations to see if it might be a maintenance issue,” Russell said. “Maybe this isn’t systematic of the machines themselves.”

Though town code does address a noise limit regarding windmills, Councilwoman Louisa Evans said she has noticed that noise from some turbines get louder the farther away you are, which might make the issue hard to quantify.

Chris Baiz of The Old Field Vineyard, who was in the audience at work session and whose wife is on the board at Peconic Landing assisted living facility in Greenport, said he knows that a lot of complaints have come from Peconic Landing about the wind turbine on the property at the new Kontokosta Winery this coming spring on a 62-acre property overlooking the Long Island Sound in Greenport.

“I don’t think it was installed properly,” he said.

Do you think some wind turbines on the North Fork are too loud? Let us know in the comments below.