By Keri Brenner, Marin Independent Journal, 08/21/18 | Original article here.
Aug 21, 2018 San Rafael City Council Meeting Video
Packed house at San Rafael City Council Monday night. Many stood and applauded
in a show of support for city regulations banning 4G and 5G cellphone towers from residential zones.
San Rafael residents have launched a campaign to block cellphone companies from attempting to build densified 4G and 5G towers in Marin residential neighborhoods.
The 4G/5G towers, which would allow for faster and higher-capacity video streaming and other transmissions, would also exacerbate health symptoms already suspected as a result of exposure to electromagnetic fields, Vicki Sievers, of the EMF Safety Network, told the San Rafael City Council on Monday.
According to the EMF Safety Network website, those symptoms can include fatigue, headaches, sleep problems, anxiety, heart problems, learning and memory disorders, ringing in the ears and increased cancer rates (brain and heart cancer) and DNA damage.
“We’ve experienced 2G, 3G, 4G and now, on the horizon, is a fifth generation, aggregating 4G and 5G millimeter wave spectrum,” Sievers said after her presentation that brought standing applause from about 20 people at the packed meeting. “Around the world, doctors and scientists are concluding certain adverse biological and physiological effects of that technology.”
Sievers said no permits for 5G so-called “small cell” towers have been issued in Marin as of yet — though they have in other Bay Area cities — and she suspects they are being planned in San Rafael and Marin.
“(We want) amendments to the current telecommunications ordinance — which has not been reviewed since 2004 — that protect residential areas, schools and parks through setbacks and attention to power output,” Sievers said in an email Tuesday.
According to Sievers, San Anselmo, Fairfax and Mill Valley are working on strengthening their cell tower ordinances.
“Our effort has to do with making preemptive strikes before Verizon, AT&T (and others) actually make formal applications to each town and city. There are no applications in San Rafael to date, but there surely have been permits granted and installations begun in other Bay Area cities.”
In May, Verizon was forced to withdraw its application to build two “small cell” towers in Sebastopol after four months of heavy opposition by residents and attorneys for the EMF Safety Network.
“Several of us San Rafael residents went to the (San Rafael) council on Feb. 20 (when the Sebastopol issue arose), urging them to prevent such debacles here,” Sievers said. San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips said Tuesday he was not aware of any ongoing activity to strengthen or upgrade cell tower regulations in the city and there were no immediate plans for further discussion. “It kind of came a little bit out of the blue,” he said of Monday’s presentation.
Pulsed, data-modulated, Radio-frequency Electromagnetic Microwave Radiation (RF-EMR) emitted by cell towers, cell and cordless phones, smart meters, the smart grid, Wi-Fi and wirelesss computers and phones, and the electric and magnetic fields (EMF) from power lines, fluorescent lights, indoor wiring and other electronic devices can all be hazardous, if not properly regulated, according to the EMF Safety Network.
“Studies have shown that some workers exposed to high magnetic fields have increased cancer rates,” the CDC reported on its website. “But such associations do not necessarily show that EMF exposures cause cancer (any more than the springtime association of robins and daffodils shows that one causes the other). Scientists have looked carefully at all the EMF evidence."
According to the website whatis5g.info, a 5G so-called “small cell” tower “will include the higher millimeter wave frequencies never before used for Internet and communications technology. These waves do not travel as easily through buildings as 4G waves, so the Wireless industry says that it will require millions of new 4G/5G cell towers installed everywhere, even though Verizon itself, denies this:
Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon:
"When [Verizon] went out in these 11 [5G test] markets, we tested for well over a year, so we could see every part of foliage and every storm that went through. We have now busted the myth that [5G frequencies] have to be line-of-sight — they do not. We busted the myth that foliage will shut [5G] down . . . that does not happen. And the 200 feet from a home? We are now designing the network for over 2,000 feet from transmitter to receiver, which has a huge impact on our capital need going forward. Those myths have disappeared."
Jason L., Verizon Field Engineer:
"[Verizon 5G] is really high frequency [28,000 MHz and 39,000 MHz], so everybody thinks it doesn’t go very far, but it’s a really big pipe and so that’s what allows you to gain the super fast speeds . . We’re 3,000 feet away from our radio node. the cool thing about this is that we did not move the radio node. It’s pointing down to serve the customers in that area " . . . here even 3,000 feet away, we’re still getting 1,000 [Megabits per second] speeds . . . So now we’ve driven about 1/3 of a mile away [1,760 feet] from the radio node. we are still getting very good speeds even though we have foliage in between [800 Megabits per second]."
The Wireless industry is aggressively seeking to outfit nearly every lamppost and utility pole around the country with a wireless ‘small cell’ antenna beaming hazardous radiation next to, or into our homes, 24/7.
San Rafael resident Chandu Vyas said Monday he is wary of RF-EMR and EMF exposures after a health challenge about five years ago. He said he developed severe and constant headaches after a smart meter was installed at his home. The headaches went away after he “opted out” and had the smart meter at his property removed.
“I don’t want to go through the same health problem again,” he told the City Council. “I ask your help.”
Kiah Bosy of Chi Home Design showed the council how her EMF meters ratcheted up to high pitch when she walked toward a TV screen in front of the council chambers.
“It’s serious,” she said. “We’re microwaving each other.”
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