FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC- Citing thousands of instances of ‘smart’ meter fires, health problems, and violations of privacy laws, the National Campaign to Stop Smart Meters and Wireless Radiation Protection Coalition are calling for a National Day of Action on October 4th to demand an immediate moratorium on “smart meter” installations. ‘Smart’ meters are digital devices that monitor utility usage and maintain continuous two-way communication between the customer’s property and the utility company. Utilities are replacing traditional analog meters on homes and businesses all around the country as a supposed energy-saving measure.

Campaign organizers say that these energy savings are failing to materialize, and point to the need for massive new data storage facilities, energy consumption of the meters themselves, and the need for frequent replacement as evidence that “smart” meters are not so “green.” They say smart meter mesh networks are in fact consuming significant energy as part of their routine operation, sending out pulses of microwave radiation day and night, and subjecting residents to health problems, increased risk of fire, rising energy bills, and even power disruption.

The wave of demonstrations in early October is timed to coincide with “GridWeek,”a conference being held in Washington, DC by industry and government proponents of the smart grid. In addition to Washington, DC, other demonstrations are being planned throughout the United States to coincide with the Washington event.

“We are calling for a moratorium on the installation of “smart” meters, and for utilities to remove existing “smart” meters already in place on homes and businesses.” says Joshua Hart, spokesperson for the Campaign, “Like any defective product, whether automobile, food or drug, these meters require an immediate product recall. Analog meters were safe, accurate, and lasted for 80 or more years. My grandmother used to say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Utilities and governments now need to take responsibility and fix the mess they’ve created.”

Coalition members protesting on October 4threpresent the nationwide groundswell of opposition groups from more than a dozen different states, challenging smart meters in a wide variety of regulatory and legal venues.

“Smart” meters emit strong bursts of microwave radiation that the World Health Organization labeled a Class 2b carcinogen in May of 2011. This is the same category as lead, DDT, and chloroform. The meters are widely reported to be impacting human and environmental health. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has warned people with a number of medical conditions to avoid them. Thousands of people have reported ringing in the ears, insomnia, headaches, dizziness, nausea, heart irregularities, memory loss, and anxiety after a smart meter was installed on their home. Despite this, utilities in many parts of the country are forcing smart meters onto private property and unlawfully disconnecting people’s essential services for refusing to accept a smart meter.

A series of 26 smart meter fires in Pennsylvania forced PECO to suspend further installations in August, and this has sparked inquiries in Washington, DC, Maryland, and other states. Problems with wiring, lack of UL certification, and unprofessional, shoddy installations have been suspected as causes of these and other fires, which have already caused millions of dollars in damages. Yet installations continue in many areas. Public safety advocates are demanding an immediate moratorium on these unsafe, untested devices.

According to a Congressional Research Service Report [February 2012], the Department of Energy determined smart meters can reveal people’s daily schedules, the use of individual appliances, whether they use certain medical equipment and other personal information. “Smart meters are an invasion of privacy. They are a detailed and warrantless information gathering devices attached to our homes and businesses,” said Ed Friedman lead plaintiff in a smart meter case that has been remanded to the Maine Public Utilities Commission after a victory in the Maine Supreme Court.

The National Campaign to Stop Smart Meters and Wireless Radiation Protection Coalition are urging members of the public to do the truly smart thing: plan your own event to demonstrate against ‘smart’ meters on October 4! See http://actiondaytostopsmartmeters.org for materials and more information on planning an event, and for locations and times of events being planned around the country and internationally.

The main demonstration in Washington DC begins at 10:00 am Oct. 4th at the GridWeek conference outside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place N.W., Washington, DC 20001. For other demonstrations around the country, see http://actiondaytostopsmartmeters.org

1. Parking lot at Baillios (across the street from Vitamin Cottage)
2. on the roof of Quail Run Clubhouse, 3101 Old Pecos Trail
3. at Saint John’s College, 20 feet from the Lower Dorm
4. on the roof of Hotel Santa Fe
5. at Burger King at the corner of St. Francis and Alameda, in the Dumpster area next to the gas station
6. a co-location on a Qwest tower on City-owned land (I am unaware of the location)
7. additional antennas on the Marcy Street tower
8. Next to Capital High School, at 4851 Paseo Del Sol — already approved
9. St. John’s Methodist Church (approved last year but under litigation)
10. 2706 Senda Jarosa
11. atop the PERA Building
12. at the Agua Fria Fire Station
13. Route 599 and North Saint Francis Drive
14. Tano Road and US 84/285

Please contact Arthur at (505) 471-0129 if you live in the neighborhood of one of these locations and would like to get involved in fighting these proposals.

Saint John’s Methodist Church

This AT&T tower, concealed in a false chimney, is in operation. It was turned on on September 22, 2012, with disastrous consequences for the neighborhood. At least one person has already had to leave their home, and several others are seriously ill and looking for new homes. What used to be a small chimney now looks like this:

Hotel Santa Fe

To passersby, it looks like the hotel is building a fourth story. But it is really a façade for antennas: AT&T is installing a cell tower on the roof of the penthouse, whose walls will be extended upwards another nine feet to hide it. The hotel’s spa and fitness center are on the second and third floor, just twenty feet away from where the nine antennas will be installed.

The hotel is owned by the Picuris Pueblo.

This project is under appeal in New Mexico District Court, but construction continues and is expected to be completed by the end of March, 2013.

Marcy Street Tower

AT&T’s application for replacement antennas at the 142-foot height, and a new tier of antennas at the 77-foot height, plus structural reinforcement of the tower to bear the additional weight, was approved on the fall of 2012, but the permits have not yet been issued. One problem holding up the project is the fact that the ugly 195-foot tower is itself not legal under current city ordinances. It is grandfathered in because it was built before current height and zoning restrictions were adopted, and normally grandfathered “nonconforming” structures cannot be added onto.

On March 27, 2013 the Santa Fe City Council will consider adopting a new ordinance, drafted specifically for AT&T, that will define each antenna as a separate “structure.” This will enable the new antennas to be considered “new” towers — a legal fiction that will allow AT&T to add onto the existing tower despite the fact that it is a grandfathered structure.

Baillios

A new 75-foot monopole at this site, across the street from Vitamin Cottage, went into operation early this year.

Capital High School

A new 100-foot-tall fake pine tree, adjacent to both Capital High School’s football field and its day care center, is also up and running.

Burger King

This project will require a public hearing because AT&T is applying for a height exemption, and also because it is a new tower in a historic district. An Early Neighborhood Notification Meeting, held May 21, 2012, was packed with neighborhood people opposing this project. At this writing, no public hearing has yet been scheduled.

Quail Run Clubhouse

This was originally planned as a 28-foot tower, but the Quail Run management decided that would be an eyesore, and so invited AT&T to put hidden antennas on the Commons Building instead. Unfortunately, the Commons Building doesn’t just house Quail Run’s administration. It also has a library, gym, spa, restaurant, and other facilities on the first floor. And on the second floor, directly beneath the planned antennas, are condos where residents live. This tower has been defeated. Due to opposition from Quail Run residents, the Quail Run board has voted not to sign a contract with AT&T.

The case, Firstenberg v. City of Santa Fe, was originally filed in state district court in New Mexico to assert the rights of people with disabilities whose lives are threatened by the proliferation of cell towers.

The rights at issue are fundamental. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires municipalities to consider the needs of people with disabilities in zoning decisions. The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution guarantees to every person the equal protection of the laws, and says that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

AT&T, also a party to the lawsuit, removed the case to federal district court, where Judge James A. Parker ruled that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 preempts the ADA. He also ruled that people with disabilities are not entitled to the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment if it would interfere with the construction of a national wireless telecommunications network. This has been appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

You can read more about the case on our Litigation Page.

Donations toward this appeal can be made on this website.

Recently, Aljazeera TV was in Green Bank covering this ongoing story. Aljazeera’s segment, broadcast February 18, can be seen here: http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2012/02/20122189014951813.html.

By Dafna Liel, for Israel Channel 2. http://norad4u.blogspot.com/2011/09/israeli-ministry-of-education-is-going.html

Students are not allowed to speak on their cell phone while in school: new guidelines published by the Ministry of Education on August 30th, 2011, significantly restrict cell phone use by students on school grounds.

According to the new guidelines, students should refrain from talking on their mobile devices on school grounds and if necessary they should use only text messaging or headphones.

Students who wish to talk on their cell phone would have to go to designated areas.

The new guidelines set up by the Ministry of Education were issued following an appeal made last May to the Education Minister, Gideon Saar, by two lawyers, Vered Cohen and Raanan Bar-On.

In their appeal, the lawyers urged the Minister to take action against the widespread use of mobile phones by students, which is very common even amongst students in the first grade.

Professor Siegel Sadetzki, Director of the Cancer & Radiation Epidemiology Unit in the ‘Gertner Institute’ in ‘Tel-Hashomer’ Hospital, and the representative of the Ministry of Health told ‘Channel 2’ that “we recommended to reconsider the age in which cell phone use would be allowed, however, we cannot sweepingly ban the use of cell phones”. She added: “We recommend precautionary use of cell phones but we do not think it is necessary to prohibit the use completely”.

Children and youth are more vulnerable to damage from cell phones’ radiation “There is concern of an increased risk of developing malignant tumors from the use of cell phones, and children and adolescents are more vulnerable to the damage of electromagnetic radiation” explained Cohen and Bar-On presenting the recent recommendations of the ‘Council of Europe’ to limit children and adolescents exposure to radiation from mobile devices. In their appeal the lawyers wrote:

“Although two bills were introduced to prevent mobile phone use in order to protect the health of students, this complicated issue hasn’t been resolved so far.” They added, “this issue concerns the lives of our young children and therefore, we should take action preemptively.”

Bar-on and Cohen also explained that the risk exists even for students who choose not to use a mobile device. “The fact that some children choose not to use a mobile phone is not protecting them as the radiation is affecting them despite being ‘passive,’ because other children use the cell phones on school grounds.”

On July 20, 2011, three Green Party members of the Belgian Parliament introduced the following resolution recognizing electro-hypersensitivity:

PROPOSED RESOLUTION THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

A. Considering the growing exposure of the population to various electromagnetic fields;
B. Considering that there exist a growing number of citizens who suffer from complex effects on their physical and mental health, linked to exposure to electromagnetic radiation;
C. Considering that those complex effects can cause a very significant deterioration of the social context within which these persons are able to move;
D. Considering that few studies really take account of the link between the exposure and the evoked symptoms, nor of the potential damage to exposed but non-affected citizens;
E. Considering that professional training in this matter is almost non-existent, probably because of the present very weak state of scientific knowledge in this area;
F. Considering that there are numerous prospective studies in progress with diverse preliminary results that tend towards real messages of precaution with regard to exposure to this type of radiation;
G. Considering that developments in other countries have permitted a substantial amelioration in the lives of, and social integration of, citizens affected by these symptoms;
H. Considering that it is essential to respond in an adequate fashion to the suffering which these people report, in their everyday lives, within their families and in their work, in order to preserve a strong social link that permits them to surmount so stigmatizing a handicap;
I. Considering that the WHO has declared, following an intensive review of the scientific literature, that “however, our knowledge of the biological effects of these fields still contains gaps and research must be pursued in order to fill them”;
J. Considering that there is no broad consensus among scientists to assure a total absence of long-term harm from this radiation;

CALLS ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,

1. to officially recognize the existence of the syndrome “electro-hypersensitivity” as an illness and to recognize as a handicap the maladjustments and functional impairments that result, in consultation with the academies of medicine and the Council of Health;
2. to conduct and take part in studies aimed at bringing to light the exact mechanisms and establishing the causal link between exposure and symptoms;
3. to make health professionals aware of the existence of this syndrome and to strengthen their education relative to environmental illnesses both in their core curriculum and in the continuing education classes that they are required to take;
4. to strongly apply the precautionary principle in the face of the significant amount of uncertainty concerning the link between exposure to electromagnetic radiation and the health effects that may be attributable to it;
5. to require, in public places, zones that are free from WiFi, WiMax and DECT [cordless telephone systems], where the use of portable telephones would be prohibited, in order to protect electro-hypersensitive persons and give them access to public, social, and health services;
6. to inform the managers of public establishments, including health establishments (hospitals), but also community facilities such as day-care centers, rest homes and nursing homes, about the needs of persons suffering from electro-hypersensitivity.

20 July 2011

Thérése SNOY, Green Party delegate
Muriel GERKENS, Green Party delegate
Eva BREMS, Green Party delegate

Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe promotes cooperation among all the countries of Europe in the areas of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Its resolutions are influential in policy-making and its decisions have often been adopted through conventions and treaties.

The resolution may be found on the organization’s Web site at http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/AdoptedText/ta11/eRES1815.htm, and the Cellular Phone Task Force has made this resolution available for download as a PDF here.