Status of 5G Loving ZTA 19-07 in Montgomery County

From: Montgomery County Coalition to Control Cell Towers-MC4T
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2020 11:29 AM
To: Montgomery County Citizens Coalition  
Subject: ZTA 19-07 is now in "Suspended Animation" while County pursues two suits against FCC...

Hoping this email finds you safe.

To borrow a line from John Oliver "We are still doing this!" 

And, we just posted a long overdue update on the status of ZTA 19-07 and County's pending litigation against the FCC on the MC4T.ORG home page.

We urge you to click on the link above and read the entire update - as lots has been happening, but summarized very quickly:

• ZTA 19-07 was "suspended" by PHED Chair Hans Riemer on February 1, 2020 when he  summarily pulled  a Committee vote on the bill.
• Neither Councilmembers Andrew Friedson, nor Will Jawando would agree to vote the bill out of PHED Committee, while Montgomery County is engaged in two  lawsuits against the FCC. 

• We are greatly appreciative of Mr. Friedson's and Mr. Jawando's steadfast support for residents and their amply justified hesitancy regarding this bad bill.
•  Both suits have been consolidated in the 9th Circuit.

• However,  ZTA 19-07 is NOT dead!!

• Mr. Riemer is widely expected to reintroduce his bill (as co-sponsored by Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz and Craig Rice) as early as June 2020.

• Oral arguments for the two lawsuits were held in 9th Circuit on February 10, 2020. The two suits include:

•  challenge to the FCC's recent "3rd Order" that expedited 5G roll out while reducing local government control over public rights-of-way; and,
•  a second, separate suit seeking to compel FCC to conclude a long running "Notice of Inquiry" and promulgate updated RF emissions standards.

• In the interim, the FCC peremptorily issued Order 19-226 that abruptly ended the very Notice of Inquiry that Montgomery County was seeking to compel - WITHOUT updating RF standards. 

• In effect, the FCC used procedural "slight of hand" to cut the legs out from under County's lawsuit.

• On January 28, 2020 the Council met in Executive Session with legal counsel for the RF Emissions suit. But that meeting was NOT open to the public and we have NOT been briefed on the conclusions of the discussions...

• Unfortunately, the County Council subsequently (and inexplicably)  failed to appeal Order 19-226. 
• Perhaps slamming door on back-up strategy to keep the County's RF litigation alive - if the 9th Circuit renders adverse opinion or dismisses their suit for lack of standing. 
• (The good news is that independently the Environmental Health Trust appealed Order 19-226!  But, the EHT case surely would have been strengthened, if the County had - at the very least - filed an amicus curiae brief. It did NOT.)

• Decisions on the pending litigation are expected from 9th Circuit within next several months.

Please be sure to email both  Mr. Friedson and Mr. Jawando - and thank them for prioritizing the interests of residents and neighborhoods above the arm-twisting by lobbyists from Big Wireless.

MC4T will continue to closely monitor these developments. Stay tuned for further updates!

(Please be sure to forward this email to your friends and neighbors and encourage them to sign up for future bulletins from MC4T. Thank you so much for your continued support.)

Best regards,

Rick Meyer

for

Montgomery County Coalition for the Control of Cell Towers

WWW.MC4T.ORG

Deputy Chief of Staff of Councilmember Hans Riemer Supports Toxic Radiation.

Deputy Chief of Staff of Councilmember Hans Riemer Supports Toxic 5G Radiation. 

Read the letter he sent to a concerned resident. 

"Thank you for contacting Councilmember Riemer’s office about wireless
infrastructure and ZTA 19-07. Councilmember Riemer has read your
message and asked that I respond on his behalf.

Wireless connectivity is essential to many technologies we rely on,
from phones and tablets to buses and Metro trains to manufacturing and
medical equipment. In our increasingly digital world, high-capacity,
high-speed wireless connectivity will enable tremendous advances in
medicine, transportation, public safety, and entertainment. For the
county to realize the benefits of these technologies, we need to
update our obsolete zoning rules that effectively prohibit the
deployment of the next-generation wireless infrastructure. That is
what ZTA 19-07 seeks to do. Mr Riemer has more extensively laid out
his views in this blog post, which I invite you to read:
http://councilmemberriemer.com/2019/11/zoning-for-our-wireless-future.html

Mr. Riemer believes that ZTA 19-07 strikes the right balance between
allowing the deployment of this critical infrastructure and sensible
setback, size, and concealment requirements to allay concerns of
neighborhoods. The ZTA 19-07 incentivizes the carriers to use poles
that are 60 feet or further for houses, which effectively pushes many
antennas to poles along arterial roads. Only after a public hearing
process and meeting certain conditions would a wireless antenna be
allowed on a pole that has at minimum a 30 ft setback. You can find
more details on the proposal here:

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/col/2019/20191119/20191119_7.pdf

It is important to note that federal law and related case law prevent
local jurisdictions from regulating the siting of wireless
infrastructure on the basis of health. The Council staff report on ZTA
18-11 discusses this issue. The excerpt below is from page 8:

--------------------------------
Unlike most other topics of legislation, the Council is preempted by
Federal law as to the basis for its decision. Federal law states:

No State or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate
the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless
service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio
frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the
Commission's regulations concerning such emissions.

The County is bound by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals holding in
T-Mobile Northeast, LLC v. Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. 13
That decision, in part, overturned the Supervisors' denial of a cell
tower when part of the Supervisors' rationale for the denial was the
human health effects of the radio frequency emission. The Court of
Appeals holding in the case is still the law.
--------------------------------

Congress has given the FCC exclusive authority to set RF emissions
standards. Indeed, the FCC recently announced an order that concerns
their standards for RF emissions. After reviewing the record, which
included input from other Federal agencies, they are proposing to
maintain the current standards. They note that the FDA has concluded,
“[t]he weight of scientific evidence has not linked cell phones with
any health problems.” You can review the full order here:

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-maintains-current-rf-exposure-safety-standards

The American Cancer Society has reached a similar conclusion saying,
“Cell phone towers are not known to cause any health effects.” You can
read for yourself what ACS has to say about cell phones and cell
towers, which is based on many scientific studies and expert agencies
here:
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/cellular-phone-towers.html

Finally, the County is under a very real threat of preemption via the
state, the FCC, and/or the courts. Without this zoning change,
wireless providers will not be able to install the new networks and
will eventually take us to court. Congress and the FCC have already
established that local governments can’t block networks. ZTA 19-07 is
maybe our last opportunity to set our own standards before federal
and/or state rules will be imposed on us, and they will surely be less
favorable than what this ZTA would achieve. Further, Mr Riemer
believes we should not wait for a court order to do something that we
know is integral to our economic success and way of life.

Thank you again for reaching out to our office with your thoughts on
wireless infrastructure. Mr. Riemer will keep your views in mind as
this matter moves through the legislative process beginning with
committee worksessions in January 2020. Should you have any further
questions or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out to me
directly.

Kind regards,
Tommy

—
Tommy Heyboer
Deputy Chief of Staff | Office of Montgomery County (MD) Councilmember
Hans Riemer
tommy.heyboer@montgomerycountymd.gov | 240.777.7948


Our note: How sad to see officials ignoring hundreds of scientists call to protect the pubic and hundreds of studies showing harm. 

Yes, there is scientific evidence. 

“5G Wireless Expansion: Public Health and Environmental Implications” is a research review that documents the range of reported adverse effects of RF and millimeter waves—effects range from cancer to bacteria growth changes to DNA damage. The study concludes that “a moratorium on the deployment of 5G is warranted” and “the addition of this added high frequency 5G radiation to an already complex mix of lower frequencies, will contribute to a negative public health outcome … from both physical and mental health perspectives” (Russell 2018).

“Adverse Health Effects of 5G Mobile Networking Technology Under Real  Life Conditions” identifies the wide-spectrum of adverse health effects of non-ionizing non-visible radiation and concludes that 5 G mobile networking technology will affect not only the skin and eyes, but will have adverse systemic effects as well. They state that 5G will increase the cell tower densities by an order of magnitude. Radiation could penetrate much deeper into a small animal in comparison to a human,  because of the much smaller animal size. The researchers point out that most laboratory experiments were not designed to identify the more severe adverse effects reflective of real-life conditions. For example, they do not include the real-life pulsing and modulation of the carrier signal and do not reflect the real life exposures of various modulations. In addition, the vast majority of experiments do not account for synergistic adverse effects of other toxic stimuli with wireless radiation despite the reality that people are exposed to a myriad of toxic insults every day. Science has documented additive, synergistic, potentiative, and/or antagonistic effects created by the combination of exposures. Combined exposure to a toxic stimuli and wireless translates into much lower levels of tolerance for each toxic stimulus and the exposure limits for wireless radiation when examined in combination with other potentially toxic stimuli would be far lower for safety purposes than those derived from wireless radiation exposures in isolation.

The authors contend that almost all of the wireless radiation laboratory experiments that have been performed to date are flawed/limited with respect to showing the full adverse impact of the wireless radiation that would be expected under real-life conditions because they did not include signal information and only used single stressors. The researchers conclude that in aggregate, for the high frequency (radiofrequency-RF) part of the spectrum, currently published reviews show that RF radiation below the FCC guidelines can result in: carcinogenicity (brain tumors/glioma, breast cancer, acoustic neuromas, leukemia, parotid gland tumors), genotoxicity (DNA damage, DNA repair inhibition, chromatin structure), mutagenicity, teratogenicity,  neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), neurobehavioral problems, autism, reproductive problems, pregnancy outcomes, excessive reactive oxygen species/oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, blood-brain barrier disruption, pineal gland/melatonin production, sleep disturbance, headache, irritability, fatigue, concentration difficulties, depression, dizziness, tinnitus, burning and flushed skin, digestive disturbance, tremor, cardiac irregularities, adverse impacts on the neural, circulatory, immune, endocrine, and skeletal systems” and “from this perspective, RF is a highly pervasive cause of disease” (Kostoff et al., 2020)

“Towards 5G communication systems: Are there health implications?” is a research review detailing research findings that millimeter waves can alter gene expression, promote cellular proliferation and synthesis of proteins linked with oxidative stress, inflammatory and metabolic processes.” The researchers conclude, “available findings seem sufficient to demonstrate the existence of biomedical effects, to invoke the precautionary principle” (Di Ciaula 2018).

“Systematic Derivation of Safety Limits for Time-Varying 5G Radiofrequency Exposure Based on Analytical Models and Thermal Dose” documents how significant tissue heating can be generated by 5G technology’s rapid short bursts of energy.  “The results also show that the peak-to-average ratio of 1,000 tolerated by the International Council on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines may lead to permanent tissue damage after even short exposures, highlighting the importance of revisiting existing exposure guidelines.” (Neufeld and Kuster 2018)

“The Human Skin as a Sub-THz Receiver – Does 5G Pose a Danger to It or Not?” and “The Modeling of the Absorbance of Sub-THz Radiation by Human Skin” are two papers by physicists presenting research that found higher 5G frequencies are intensely absorbed into human sweat ducts (in skin), at much higher absorption levels than other parts of our skin’s tissues (Betzalel 2017, Betzalel 2018). The researchers conclude, “we are raising a warning flag against the unrestricted use of sub-THz technologies for communication, before the possible consequences for public health are explored.” 

“Exposure of Insects to Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields from 2 to 120 GHz” published in Scientific Reports is the first study to investigate how insects (including the Western honeybee) absorb the higher frequencies (2 GHz to 120 GHz) to be used in the 4G/5G rollout. The scientific simulations showed increases in absorbed power between 3% to 370% when the insects were exposed to the frequencies. Researchers concluded, “This could lead to changes in insect behaviour, physiology, and morphology over time….” (Thielens 2018)

Review Publications on Electromagnetic Radiation and RF  

A 2019 literature review “Oxidative mechanisms of biological activity of low-intensity radiofrequency radiation” found that 93 of the 100 peer-reviewed studies dealing with oxidative effects of low-intensity RFR, confirmed that RFR induces oxidative effects in biological systems.  

“Planetary Electromagnetic Pollution: It Is Time to Assess Its Impact” published in The Lancet documents the significant increase in environmental levels of radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic wireless radiation over the last two decades. The study cites an evaluation that found 68.2% of 2266 studies in humans, animals, and plants demonstrated significant biological or health effects associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields. 89%  of experimental studies that investigated oxidative stress endpoints showed significant effects and “radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation causes DNA damage apparently through oxidative stress. The paper also highlights research that has associated RF exposure with altered neurodevelopment and behavioural disorders, structural and functional changes in the brain and the sensitivity of pollinators. “These findings deserve urgent attention.This weight of scientific evidence refutes the prominent claim that the deployment of wireless technologies poses no health risks at the currently permitted non-thermal radiofrequency exposure levels.” (Bandara and Carpenter 2018)

The review “Thermal and non-thermal health effects of low intensity non-ionizing radiation: An international perspective” published by researchers of the  European Cancer Environment Research Institute in Brussels, Belgium and the Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, NY, USA reviews current research findings and states that, “the mechanism(s) responsible include induction of reactive oxygen species, gene expression alteration and DNA damage through both epigenetic and genetic processes.” The paper states that “exposure to low frequency and radiofrequency electromagnetic fields at low intensities poses a significant health hazard that has not been adequately addressed by national and international organizations such as the World Health Organization.” 

The  literature review “Effect of radiofrequency radiation on reproductive health” published by the Division of Reproductive Biology & Maternal Health, Child Health, Indian Council of Medical Research documents research that has found a link between radiofrequency radiation and oxidative stress and changes to the reproductive system including sperm count, motility, normal morphology and viability. The review concludes that the “available data indicate that exposure to EMF can cause adverse health effects. It is also reported that biological effects may occur at very low levels of exposure.”

A 2010 landmark review study on 56 studies that reported biological effects found at very low intensities, including impacts on reproduction, permeability of the blood-brain barrier, behavior, cellular and metabolic changes, and increases in cancer risk (Lai and Levitt 2010).

Cancer

Cancer epidemiology update, following the 2011 IARC evaluation of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields is a comprehensive research review of RF effects in human and animal research. The review concludes that scientific evidence is now adequate to conclude radiofrequency radiation is carcinogenic to humans (Miller 2018). Several previously published studies also concluded that RF can “cause” cancer, for example, Hardell 2017, Atzman 2016 and Peleg 2018.

The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) Study on Cell Phone Radiation found “clear evidence” of cancer, heart damage and DNA damage in a $30-million study designed to test the basis for federal safety limits (NIEHS 2018). The heart and brain cancers found in the NTP rats are the same cell type as tumors that researchers have found to be increased in humans who have used cell phones for over 10 years. Thus, researchers say this animal evidence confirms the human evidence associating the exposure to cancer(Hardell 2019.)

The Ramazzini Institute (RI) Study on Base Station RF  was another large scale rat study that also found increases in the same heart cancers that the NTP study found—yet the Ramazzini rats were exposed to much lower levels of RF than the NTP rats. In fact, all the RI Ramazzini radiation exposures were below FCC limits, as the study was specifically designed to test the safety of RF limits for cell tower/base stations (Falconi 2018.) Thus the Ramazzini study corroborates the NTP findings. 

Tumor promotion by exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields below exposure limits for humans” is a replication study that used very, very low RF exposures (lower than the Ramazzini and NTP study) and combined the RF with a known carcinogen. Researchers found elevated lymphoma and significantly higher numbers of tumors in the lungs and livers in the animals exposed to both RF and the carcinogen, leading researchers to state that previous research (Tillman 2010) was confirmed and that “our results show that electromagnetic fields obviously enhance the growth of tumors” (Lerchl 2015).

Environment

“A review of the ecological effects of RF-EMF” reviewed 113 studies finding RF-EMF had a significant effect on birds, insects, other vertebrates, other organisms and plants in 70% of the studies (Cucurachi 2013). Development and reproduction in birds and insects were the most strongly affected. As an example of the several studies on wildlife impacts, a study focusing on RF from antennas found increased sperm abnormalities in mice exposed to RF from GSM antennas (Otitoloju 2010).

Studies on bees have found behavioral effects (Kumar 2011, Favre 2011), disrupted navigation Goldsworthy 2009, Sainudeen 2011, Kimmel et al. 2007) decreasing egg laying rate (Sharma and Kumar, 2010) and reduced colony strength (Sharma and Kumar, 2010, Harst et al. 2006).

A study to investigate the Western Honey Bee was completed in  2020 looking at honey bees in 5 stages of the life cycle (different developmental stages): worker, a drone, a larva, and a queen. The scientists simulated exposures to RE-EMF at various frequencies from frequencies in use now with 3G  and 4G to higher frequencies  that will be used in 5G. They  combined this information with with in-situ measurements of environmental RF-EMF exposure near beehives in Belgium in order to estimate o estimate a realistic exposure of honey bees at different developmental stages. The analysis shows that a relatively small shift of 10% of environmental incident power density from frequencies below 3 GHz to higher frequencies will lead to a relative increase in absorbed power of a factor higher than 3. “Assuming that 10% of the incident power density would shift to frequencies higher than 3 GHz would lead to an increase of this absorption between 390–570%. Such a shift in frequencies is expected in future networks.”(Thielens et al,. 2020)

Research has also found a high level of damage to trees from antenna radiation.  For example, a field monitoring study —-spanning 9 years involving over 100 trees (Waldmann-Selsam 2016)found trees sustained more damage on the side of the tree facing the antenna.