Thursday, October 23, 2014

WA Radio: Opponents Help Kill New Tower Plans

Opponents of 150-foot radio towers proposed by Bellingham's KRPI 1550 AM had friends in high places, according to The Herald.

Three Canadian government officials were scheduled to speak at a hearing next week in front of the Whatcom County hearing examiner, including Kerry-Lynne Findley, a member of parliament.

“It is an international incident, it really is,” said Steve Wolff of Point Roberts, a member of the Stop the Radio Towers Cross Border Coalition. The group of Point Roberts and Tsawwassen, B.C. residents filed a pre-hearing motion asking the county to deny a conditional-use permit to build the five towers near the Canadian border.

KRPI 1550 AM Coverage
KRPI broadcasts in Punjabi to a Canadian audience.

The conditional-use permit triggered the hearing, which was scheduled to run for five days at least. Hearing Examiner Michael Bobbink canceled the hearing after saying he would deny the permit because the towers were too tall — 150 feet, which would be much higher than Point Roberts’ 45-foot limit.

Point Roberts and Tsawwassen residents were also concerned about possible ill health effects, although medical science hadn’t established a link between radio waves and disease.


One opponent, an engineer, put it this way: People are concerned about holding a half-watt cell phone to their heads. The 50,000-watt towers, because they would be arranged to direct their signal northward, effectively have a power of 100,000 watts in that direction. Imagine, Wolff said, getting this level of power 24-7, for a lifetime.

The Federal Communications Commission requires that people stay less than five meters, or 16.4 feet, from an individual tower with this amount of power.

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