Cell tower variation opposed by residents (Canada)
Sunday, January 19, 2003
City politicians turned thumbs down on Telus plans to erect two 43-metre (140-foot) cell phone towers in South Surrey.
Telus Mobility and Wireless Development Services asked council for a variation from the usual maximum tower height of 12 metres (40 feet) to allow construction of one tower at 18809-0 Ave. and another at 3133-188th St.
Telus wants to install a chain of towers along 0 Avenue, from Surrey to Abbotsford, to improve cell phone service for the increasing number of drivers who use the road.
Nearly 100 residents turned out for Monday's public hearing on the towers to tell council they don't want them. Most raised concerns about potential long-term health risks some believe are associated with radiation from cell phone antennae.
Milt Bowling has made a crusade of fighting the proliferation of cell phone antennae. He told council Industry Canada, which regulates electromagnetic radiation from such towers, uses a guideline called Safety Code 6. The code, he said, only deals with the thermal effects of radiation on the human body and sets the safe limit of exposure to less than that, which would raise body temperature by one degree in six minutes.
"These geniuses in Ottawa say, if it doesn't cook you, it doesn't hurt you," Bowling scoffed.
He referred to U.S. EPA studies, which conclude the long-term effects of other aspects of exposure are unknown.
Bowling said people have reported ringing in the ears, headaches, sleep disruption, short-term memory loss, nosebleeds and increased frequency of seizures in children with epilepsy, which they believe, are associated to radiation from cell towers.
Morrie Finn of Wireless Development Services, one of the proponents, said no study has produced definitive proof cell towers cause health problems. Two recent U.S. lawsuits claiming damages for ill health caused by cell phones were thrown out by the courts, Finn said, an indication there is no connection between the technology and disease.
The audience wasn't buying that argument, though.
"They said the same thing about tobacco," resident Dan Johnson said.
"How many years did they have court cases thrown out before they finally made it stick?"
In the end, council unanimously voted against both proposals. Coun. Marvin Hunt noted the city doesn't have the technical expertise to make a decision based on the disputed safety aspects of cell phone technology.
"That's Health Canada's business. We will never have the expertise. We can only decide on the variance and vote for or against," Hunt said.
Asked later if Telus could go ahead and install the 12 metre (40 foot) towers allowed under Surrey bylaw, Hunt said they could, but he doesn't believe that will happen.
"My expectation is they will do nothing, or go to the CRTC for a ruling."
The CRTC can overrule council's decision, Hunt noted.
Telus Mobility could not be reached for comment before the Now's press deadline.