Turbines & Trash Haulers: Trick or Treat?

Falmouth’s Town Code § 191-10 regulates the hours of trash collection to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  I recently asked some trash hauler friends, as well as some town hall workers the reason for the hour restriction.  As if not already obvious, plain sense words were spoken from one of the respondents.  “The clanging, banging, the incessant beeping and revving of the diesel engined trash trucks isn’t conducive to the peace and quiet expected by neighborhood residents when they settle in for the night.”     

Town Code § 191-11 refines the reason even more.  It says the Board of Health may license off-hour collection of garbage, from nonresidential structures located only in business, agricultural, light industrial, public use and marine zoning districts when the Board of Health determines that off-hour collection is necessary to protect the public health. 

How does this apply to turbines?  The Board of Health has a regulation defining a healthy ‘do not disturb period' for Falmouth citizens.  For the public's health, residential neighborhood peace and quiet shall never be compromised by the clanging, banging, the beeping or thr revving of the diesel engined trash trucks, after 7:00 p.m.  Nor shall these folks have to suffer being rudely awoken by the same prior to 7:00 a.m. 

It’s a given our Wind 1 & Wind 2 wake people up.  No one can deny that fact (though people will - just like the climate change deniers).  By turning the turbines off 8 hours and capturing the period when most people sleep, Selectmen even have officially acknowledged the sleep disruption impact caused by the turbines.   

Monday November 4, the Board of Health will address the effectiveness of the Selectmen’s actions.  It’ll be quite interesting how Health Board members will rationalize the necessity of 12 hours to protect resident’s health from trash pick-up but not wind turbine noise.