Dear Editor,
It's time to wake up and smell the radiation.
Oops sorry about that. We know you can't smell, see, taste, feel or hear it. But now that we have your attention, we need your help to voice our community's concerns about the proposed installation of two new cellphone towers in Whistler. One is proposed to be located in Alpine Meadows and the other cell tower location is to be determined. Deadline for the Alpine Meadows application is by Friday (Oct. 12).
We share Ed and Marta Hollander's concern about health and safety around cellphone towers. It has prompted us to encourage the community to become more educated on this issue.
We have done our own due diligence by researching the risks associated by living near cellphone towers and we don't like what we have discovered.
Briefly, here is what we have learned:
1. World Health Organization has classified all EMR/RF radiation as a possible Class 2B carcinogen (same as DDT and lead);
2. Industry Canada can allow cell towers to be put anywhere as long as the property owner is agreeable (many of these sites site on crown land);
3. Once a tower is installed the only people responsible for monitoring the emissions are the owners of the towers, that is the telecommunication companies.
With that said, we need to pay attention to what is going on in our fair valley as there is no way for you or I to know the amount of radiation that we are absorbing. We are worried about the health of our community by what we read, such as in the book The Healthy Home by Dr. Myron Wentz and Dave Wentz.
“Scientists postulate that the human body responds to these energy fields (Radio Frequency RF emissions and Electromagnetic Fields EMFs) as invading pathogens, setting in place a cascade of biochemical reactions that cause the release of damaging free radicals, alter the blood-brain barrier, kick start chronic inflammatory responses, and disrupt intracellular communications.”
Within our own homes we can make decisions to mitigate our exposure to RFs and EMFs, however when it comes to cellphone towers and power lines, we are at the mercy of our local, provincial and federal policies. Which by the way, Canada's policies are some of the least stringent guidelines in the world. Yes, sad but true, the Canadian government is ignoring its responsibility to protect the long-term health and wellbeing of its citizens by failing to be proactive in reducing exposure to radiation emissions and electromagnetic fields.
Here is what you can do:
1. Educate yourself on the harms of EMR/RF radiation by visiting these web sites:
http://www.citizensforsafetechnology.org — click Cell Tower Action Kit
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2010/11/05/con-cell-radiation.html
2. Join us in expressing your opposition to this application by Globalive Wireless Management Corp. (WIND) at:
http://www.arfd.gov.bc.ca/ApplicationPosting/comment.jsp?ret=%2FApplicationPosting%2F&id=33125
Please note the deadline for submissions to the B.C. Ministry site is Friday (Oct. 12).
3. Contact your policy makers and implementers and let them know Whistler needs a policy for Whistler to regulate the installation and on-going monitoring of antennas, transmitters, receivers, antenna system or any other EMR-emitting or –receiving equipment.
Whistler mayor and council: www.whistler.ca/municipal-gov/council
John Weston MP: john.weston.c1e@parl.gc.ca
Globalive WIND chief of customer service Omer Rachid: omerrashid@windmobile.ca
Please talk to your neighbors and spread the word through your email contacts and social media friends.
Cheryl Massey, Lisa Geddes and Corinne Allison
Whistler
