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June 7, 2009 - EMR
Policy Institute Comment in FCC 09-31 Notice Of Inquiry
in GN Docket No. 09-51 A National Broadband Plan for Our Future.
Exhibits
filed in EMR Policy Institute Comment. Included
are personal statements of 41 citizens from the states
of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire,
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas,
Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
June
2, 2009 - Press Release from COALITION FOR LOCAL
OVERSIGHT OF UTILITY TECHNOLOGIES (CLOUT)
Los
Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Calls For
Repeal of Federal Cell Tower Health Preemption
New
Nationwide Coalition Claims First Major Victory
The
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously
on Tuesday, June 2, to actively seek and support federal legislation
to repeal portions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that
limit the authority of state and local governments to regulate
cell towers and related wireless facilities on the basis of
their health and environmental effects.
The vote follows similar action taken by the Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD) Board of Education at its May 26,
2009 meeting.
The motion by Supervisors
Zev Yaroslavsky, Michael D. Antonovich and
Mark Ridley-Thomas cited "ongoing debate within the
scientific community and among governing bodies throughout
the world regarding how thoroughly the long-term health effects
of low-frequency electromagnetic and radio-frequency emissions
are understood" and "questions . . . regarding how
well the existing regulations established by the Federal Communications
Commission [FCC] protect more vulnerable populations such
as school-aged children, and how well they protect against
the cumulative effect of radio-frequency emissions on people
who live or work in close proximity to multiple cellular facilities."
May
29, 2009 - Los Angeles Board of Education Members
Vote to Prohibit Cell Phone Towers Near Schools. Official
press release from the Los Angeles Unified School District
announcing adoption of its Resolution
on Wireless Telecommunications Installations.
The
Resolution calls for revision of the preemption in the TCA
of 1996 over health effects of low-intensity radiofrequency
radiation and calls for fiberoptic infrastructure for high-speed
broadband internet access.
April
2, 2009 - European
Parliament Resolution of 2 April 2009 on health concerns
associated with electromagnetic fields. The report was adopted
with 559 votes in favor, 22 against and 8 abstentions.
The placement of antennas, mobile phone masts and high-voltage
power lines should be negotiated between industry actors,
public authorities and residents' associations in order to
minimize health risks and legal action cases. This will also
ensure that EMF-transmitting devices are kept clear of schools,
crèches, retirement homes and health care institutions.
In addition to this, the House recommends that mobile telephone
operators should negotiate to share infrastructure in order
to reduce "the exposure of the public to EMFs."
Aggressive marketing campaigns by telephone operators, including
"the sale of mobile phones designed solely for children
or free call time packages aimed at teenagers" are also
condemned by MEPs.
March
4, 2009 Memorandum, “EMF
of Mobile Telephones – Children Belong to a Group of
Increased Risk.” Opinion of the Russian National
Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.
November
6, 2008 - Kucinch
to FCC: Consider Health Effects
On November 3, Representative Dennis Kucinich, Chairman of
the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, sent a letter asking FCC
Chairman Kevin Martin to consider the potential health effects
before voting on an Order that would authorize the use of
the ‘White Space’ spectrum for wireless devices
operating in the home. Skeptics have expressed concern that
the use of the White Space spectrum would result in the repeated
and long-term exposure to RF radiation, to which the human
health effects are not adequately known. On November 4th,
the FCC adopted the Second Report and Order, which allowed
such use.
September
25, 2008 - US
Congressional hearing - Cell Phone Use and Tumors: What the
Science Says convened by Congressman Dennis Kucinich,
Chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy of the House
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. View recording
of hearing and read the submitted written testimony of the
witnesses.
August
8, 2008 - EMR
Policy Institute (EMRPI) Petition to Deny FCC approval
of the Verizon Wireless – Alltel merger WT Docket 08-95.
EMRPI argues that the FCC has not addressed the impact of
long-term exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation on human
health. Providing protection for human exposure to potentially
unsafe levels of RF radiation as required by the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will not occur if the FCC
approves this transfer before updating its present obsolete
and inadequate RF safety guidelines. FCC should deny the license
transfer from Alltel to VZW until VZW implements an RF safety
solution that protects the public and all categories of workers
whose workplaces are found near to VZW’s antenna sites.
Go to
Regulation
– United States to see Verizon Wireless –
Alltel Joint Opposition and FCC Memorandum Opinion and Order
dismissing EMRPI Petition to Deny.
July
24, 2008 - NPR
report on the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center cell
phone advisory.
The
head of the cancer research center at the University of Pittsburgh
is urging his faculty and staff to limit their use of cell
phones. Dr. Ronald Herberman, Director of the Cancer Center
at the University of Pittsburgh issued the cell phone advisory
to the 3000 faculty and staff there July 23, 2008. Another
scientist, Daniel Wartenberg, Chief of the Environmental Epidemiology
Division at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New
Jersey, says it may be better to be safe than sorry.
June
29, 2008 - The Minneapolis Star Tribune
printed an editorial
written by Jackie Hunt Christensen on how various external
sources of electromagnetic interference can affect implanted
medical devices, such as the deep brain stimulation system
that she has to treat her Parkinson's disease. Ms. Christensen
is a Parkinson's disease and environmental health activist
- the Public Affairs Senior Advisor for Parkinson's Action
Network and Co-facilitator for the Collaborative on Health
and the Environment's Parkinson's Disease and Environment
Working Group.
June
3, 2008 - New York Times , Health Section
- "Experts
Revive Debate Over Cellphones and Cancer"
May
31, 2008 - Toronto Star - "Wireless
Wonders - Listening to cellphone warnings"
March
11, 2008 - (Event date: March 19, 2008) - Forum
at The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco - "Microwave
Radiation - The Shadow Side of the Wireless Revolution."
Speakers are David O. Carpenter, MD; Magda Havas, PhD; Cindy
Sage, MA; and Camilla Rees, MBA. $8 members, $15 non-members.
To buy tickets call 415/597-6705 or register at www.commonwealthclub.org
| Feb.
25, 2008 -
Jessup, Pennsylvania community wins battle to remove Sprint
Nextel antennas from the La Salle Academy, a Catholic
elementary school in the Diocese of Scranton. Jessup Area
Neighborhood Alliance (JANA) challenged the zoning permit
that the Borough had issued in error to Sprint Nextel
for building cellular antennas in a residential area.
See three local news reports linked below: |
 |
|
|
August
30, 2007 - Renowned Scientists Issue Wake-up Call
on EMF and RF
Radiation Hazards
State University of New York at Albany - An international
working group
of renowned scientists, researchers and public health policy
professionals
The BioInitiative
Working Group has released its report on
electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and health. It raises serious
concerns
about the safety of existing public limits that regulate how
much EMF is
allowable from power lines, cell phones, and many other sources
of EMF
exposure in daily life.
July
23, 2007 Germany
warns citizens to avoid using Wi-Fi.
The German Environment Ministry recommends that people should
keep their exposure to radiation from Wi-Fi "as low as
possible" by choosing "conventional wired connections".
It added that it is "actively informing people about
possibilities for reducing personal exposure".
April
2, 2007 - Canadian
Doctors call for Removal of Cell Phone Antennas Near Elementary
School
January
19, 2007 - Library
Director Resigns Because of WiFi
A Library Director at a college in Santa Fe, NM left her position
due to wireless internet (WiFi) in the library. Rebekah Zablud
Azen, MLIS, resigned from her position at Quimby Memorial
Library, Southwestern College, on December 16, 2006 after
administrators refused to discuss the issue.
September
18, 2006 - NIOSH’s NORA program looks at workplace
exposure to EMFs and RF radiation.
The EMR
Policy Institute sponsored participants to attend the National
Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) National Occupational
Research Agenda (NORA) Symposium held in Washington, DC in
April 2006. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont also weighed
in with a letter
to NIOSH identifying long-term continuous workplace exposure
to low-intensity EMFs and RF radiation as a top priority for
federal research funds. The Centers for Disease Control ‘s
(CDC)November
9, 2006 letter of response to Senator Leahy discusses
2 studies in which NIOSH is participating that examine workplace
EMF and RF exposures and cancer.
September
11, 2005 - "Electrical
Fields Can
Make You Sick"
Sarah-Kate Templeton, Medical Correspondent for The Sunday
Times, Britain
A government agency has acknowledged for the first time that
people can suffer nausea, headaches and muscle pains when
exposed to electromagnetic fields from mobile phones, electricity
pylons and computer screens. (pdf
archive)
June 13, 2005 -The Supreme Court has denied
the Petition for Certiorari 04-1515 EMR Network vs. Federal
Communications Commission and United States of America.
Documentation
is found on page 5 of the listing of all Supreme Court orders
for June 13, 2005.
Despite
the Supreme Court's denial for hearing in this case, two important
amicus briefs were filed in support of the Petition:
Amicus
Curiae Brief of the State of Connecticut filed by Attorney
General Richard Blumenthal.
Amicus
Curiae Brief of the International Association of Fire Fighters,
AFL-CIO, CLC.
May
10, 2005 - Citizen
Group Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Order the FCC to Study Health
Effects of Cell Tower Emissions
April
7, 2005 - Announcement
(same in pdf)
from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).
This marks the release of IAFF's Position Statement on potential
health effects of RF radiation from mobile phone base stations,
and its call for a moratorium on the siting of further base
stations at firefighters' workplaces.
Position
on the Health Effects (same
in pdf) from Radio Frequency/Microwave (RF/MW) Radiation
in Fire Department Facilities from Base Stations for Antennas
and Towers for the Conduction of Cell Phone Transmissions
| The
International Association of Fire Fighters position on
locating cell towers commercial wireless infrastructure
on fire department facilities, as adopted by its membership
in August 2004 (1), is that the IAFF oppose the use of
fire stations as base stations for towers and/or antennas
for the conduction of cell phone transmissions until a
study with the highest scientific merit and integrity
on health effects of exposure to low-intensity RF/MW radiation
is conducted and it is proven that such sitings are not
hazardous to the health of our members. |
Be sure
to read the acknowledgements at the very end of the Position
Statement. In addition, Joe Foster, "B" Platoon
Vice President, IAFF Local #18 - Vancouver British Columbia
and Ron Cronin of the Brookline, Massachusetts Fire Department
are deserving of recognition for tirelessly leading this initiative
as members of IAFF. Milt Bowling, director of the Electromagnetic
Radiation Task Force in Vancouver, British Columbia, should
also be acknowledged for his technical support in this effort.
March
7, 2005 - From
the University of Washington Alumni Association Magazine Columns,
March 2005, on-line edition - Cover Story - "Wake-up
Call"
Can Radiation from Cell Phones Damage DNA in Our Brains? When
One UW Researcher Found Disturbing Data, Funding Became Tight
and One Industry Leader Threatened Legal Action.
Be sure to read the further references at the end of the article.
January
12, 2005 - "Mobile phones tumour risk to young
children" by Sam Coates, Nigel Hawkes and Alexandra Blair.
Times
Online
"Children
under the age of eight should not use mobile phones, parents
were advised last night after an authoritative report linked
heavy use to ear and brain tumours and concluded that the
risks had been underestimated by most scientists." Read
more...
Mobile
Phones and Health. Report by the Board of NRPB. Doc NRPB 15(5)
1-116 (2004)
Download
PDF of full text of NRPB 2004 Report - Mobile Phones and Health
UK mobile
phone manufacturer withdraws child's mobile phone model from
the market in response to NRPB 2004 Report - Mobile Phones
and Health.
Mymoshop.com
Product Withdrawal Statement 11 Jan. 05
January
5, 2005 - The
Helsinki Appeal 2005 calls on the European Parliament
to apply the Precautionary Principle to electromagnetic fields,
especially in the radio- and microwave- frequency bands. Distribute
it to your colleagues and return it with signatures to this
address:
EMF-team
Finland
P.O.Box 1040
FIN-JÄRVENPÄÄ
or fax
+358 9 2796 3681
October
8, 2004 - Lawyer
Struck Teenage Girl on Shoulder of Route 7
By Karin Brulliard, Washington Post Staff Writer
A
Loudoun County Circuit Court jury yesterday ordered a former
Sterling lawyer who struck and killed a 15-year-old girl with
her Mercedes on a Fairfax County highway to pay more than
$2 million in damages to the victim's family.
August
17, 2004 - Here's the link where you'll find the
IAFF (International Association of Fire Fighters) resolution
calling for the study of fire fighters exposed to radio frequency
radiation from cell towers/mast which was passed in Boston
on August 17, 2004 by about 75% of those voting. It is Resolution
#15. It is found on pages 21-23.
The key
rationale for supporting this study as stated in the Resolution:
"WHEREAS,
many firefighters who are living with cell towers on or adjacent
to their
stations are paying a substantial price in terms of physical
and mental health. As
first responders and protectors of the general public, it
is crucial that firefighters are
functioning at optimal cognitive and physical capacity at
all times."
For further
information, contact:
Kristin
Craine
Public Relations
International Association of Fire Fighters
1750 New York Ave., NW as amended
Washington, DC 20006
202-824-1590
kcraine@iaff.org
October
23, 2003 - Dutch Government Study Finds Non-Thermal
Effects from Exposure to Mobile Telecommunications Antennas
In late September 2003 the Netherlands Ministries
of Economic Affairs, Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment,
and Health, Welfare and Sport released the results of a study
of the effects on human well being and cognition from exposure
to low-intensity radiofrequency/microwave (RF/MW) radiation.
The study outline characterizes the strength of the applied
RF/MW fields (maximum 1V/m) as comparable to the field strength
that the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research
(TNO) has measured at the base of antenna towers, on rooftops,
and to the maximum field strengths measured by TNO in people’s
homes.
For background
on the study and excerpts from the report click
here. (PDF)
October
22, 2003 – The Federal Court of Appeals for
the 4th Circuit upheld the ruling of federal district Judge
Catherine Blake to exclude the expert testimony of Dr. Lennart
Hardell in the Christopher Newman brain cancer suit. See the
4th Circuit decision
and Judge Catherine Blake’s ruling, Newman
v. Motorola Inc., 218 F. Supp. 2d 769 (D. Md. 2002).
(These
are both PDF files.)
|
