Commentary
Ely's leaders need to ask for options on the cell tower
by Paul and Susan SchurkeEly, Minn. — Some folks suggest that outsiders questioning the proposed Fernberg cell tower are pegging us Elyites as second class citizens. But what's really making us out to be hicks is that our township and county leaders are too weak-kneed to ask the tough questions of AT&T that would show we've got a little political savvy.
The days when communities would grovel for cell service are long gone. Nowadays cell companies are scrambling to fill the last remaining service pockets, and they're willing to wheel and deal when community leaders show a little moxie. When communities insist on alternatives to unsightly towers with flashing strobes and beacons, phone companies increasingly find them.
Vacation communities around the country have gotten phone companies to provide cell service without diminishing the scenic qualities that are key to their economic base. These towns are near nature reserves, state parks or along coastal highways -- areas with nowhere near the protection of a federally protected wilderness area. Nonetheless, they've leveraged their concerns to not only secure concessions regarding the towers but also in some cases to secure leases worth tens of thousands per year.
Given that we've got vastly more leverage up here with the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), AT&T must be chortling with glee that it hasn't had to battle any community resistance. It probably can't believe its good luck that local township and county leaders are doing its dirty work by ridiculing those who have raised questions about the tower, rather than raising questions themselves of AT&T.
The 1996 Telecommunications Act allows local jurisdictions to set maximum heights for towers. Many areas now restrict towers to under 200 feet, the height that triggers FCC requirements for lights to warn aircraft. One tall, flashing tower on the Fernberg may mean AT&T can outcompete other phone companies, but two shorter unlit towers might provide ample phone coverage for area residents. We don't know, because our community leaders have not pressed AT&T for options.
Recent court decisions strengthen community leverage, placing a burden of proof upon phone companies to present all alternative tower options upon community request. But none of our community leaders are requesting that. Perhaps it's just the typical knee-jerk reaction: "If the tree-huggers are against it, we're for it -- no matter what it is."
And perhaps it doesn't much matter in this case. After all, the neon strobes on this tower will be an annoyance to only a few hundred lodge guests, fisherman and canoe campers and will lure a few hundred birds to their death each year.(The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that the nation's 200,00 cell phone towers are responsible for up to 50 million bird fatalities annually.) And perhaps we're willing to tolerate that, if AT&T proves there is no alternative.
The real worry here is that if our local leaders don't have the backbone to leverage concessions from a phone company or even just ask a few questions, what confidence can we have that they'll go to bat for us when there are huge issues at stake -- like our entire watershed? Are they just going to roll over and play dead if PolyMet and Duluth Metals fail to provide the assurances we need that toxic metals will never leach into our lakes and rivers? Are they going to poke fun at conservationists rather than take the mining companies to task if it's apparent that copper-nickel mining may place our economic base at risk and threaten the health of our grandchildren?
The phone and mining companies have one mission: to make money. Our community leaders have another: to ensure that's done without compromising our quality of life. Let's hope they rise to the task and show we're not pushovers.
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Author/adventurer Paul Schurke and wife Susan have operated Wintergreen Northern Wear and Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge near Ely for over 20 years.
Comments (4)
There is more and more discussion about the health effects of wireless technology and non-ionizing radiation. Even the American media can't stop the snowballing of one study after another that confirms the devastating health and environmental problems we will soon be facing if something isn't done to reel in this nightmare. Enough is not being done by cities, counties, states and the Federal Government. What is being done is everything to shield the telecoms from responsibility and liability. Initially cell phones were released with no pre-market safety testing. Health studies were suppressed and the 4 trillion dollar a year industry was given a pass with no consideration of the carnage that is and will be facing us. It is said that city governments are "not allowed" to discuss health issues when licensing the placement of towers. They should anyway. Is it not the moral and legal obligation of our governments to look after and protect our health and welfare?? When did this become an obsolete concept?
On it's face, the 1996 telecommunications act is unconstitutional, a cover-up and a license to kill. A cell tower is a microwave weapon capable of causing cancer, genetic damage and a host of other very serious health problems. The telecoms are shielded from "health concerns" as a valid consideration when challenging the location of a cell tower. Free speech? We don't use it anyway. "Health Concerns" why? What do they know and when did they know it? The Government and the Military have known for over 50 years that radio frequency is harmful to all biological systems. Bees, bats, humans, plants and trees are all affected by it. While people complain about cell towers going in next to schools we allow the school board to install wi fi in all the schools and irradiate our kids for 6-7 hours each day before they go home and let their parents finish the job with DECT portable phones, wi fi and Wii's. A tsunami of cancers and early alzheimer's await our kids while the Portland School Board won't even consider adding to the health curriculum information on "safer" cell phone use and the dangers of wireless technology. We teach about alcohol, tobacco, drugs and safe sex but not about cell phone use. Young people under the age of 20 are 420% more at risk of forming brain tumors because of their soft skulls, brain size and cell turn over time. We are in a wireless trance and many scientists are in a state of panic as they see this thing expand with no safety testing or public education programs in place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_radiation_and_health
It's time to start reading about cell phone radiation, before you start claiming how dangerous it is. I live in Ely, Mn. If someone I loved was in the boundary waters and couldn't make a phone call in an emergency because they couldn't put up that tower, I would definitely be very upset. This is the technology age and I really do believe people are pushing against that. Ely needs to expand, including the mines, and extra cell phone towers. This town needs more people and more jobs, and most of all, more money.
Everyone has their opinions on this tower, but you can't stop change. And as much as you think they are, schools are not "irradiating" our children with wifi internet.
In response to S.K., I question whether this cell phone tower is really a safety issue. (1) What have we done until now? (2) Isn't cell phone service already available in parts of the BWCAW, including satellite access? (3) From my own experience, the one time when I actually might have been in danger in the BWCAW, no cell phone call could have saved me before hypothermia would have taken over. A lot of the time, safety depends on common sense.
Also based on experience, a few years ago AT&T put up a cell tower in the Side Lake area (near Chisholm). Now we all get phone service, provided we use AT&T. And we also get to view flashing white strobe lights until late dusk when they turn red. I received no notice whatsoever of this cell tower prior to its installation and permanent change in my view. AT&T is making a nice profit at our scenic expense.
In the case of Ely, sometimes we don't appreciate the true value of our backyard landscape until it disappears in the name of progress. There are some things that money will never be able to buy back.
Any fast-track advice on protocol/contacts for registering a complaint or request for compliance monitoring of the new cell tower recently erected in Finland? My wife and I have been experiencing non-stop ringing in our ears coinciding with this event. My is further effected with a constant, almost heartthrob, pulsing in my left ear. Doctors find nothing and I've just had a full hearing test accomplished with no satisfaction on the matter.
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