Green Ink Brigade II

Flicking through the pages of the Western Gazette this week, the letters pages were relatively calm, but this letter caught my eye. It's worth reprinting in full, the writer's words in italics, my fisking in bold

"Now what do you need if you're a Blandford householder in a conservation area? You need a whacking great 3G base station over six storeys high with another five to follow glowering over the Georgian rooftops."

So what's the point of this? Is he saying that only people in a conservation area deserve to be "protected" from mobile phone masts?

"And what do you need if you're a frail elderly person in a Blandford nursing home? You need a base station pumping out radiation from 50 yards away to resonate with the brain waves in your flagging neurones and break up the DNA."

Oooh, I think I saw that on a Star Trek episode.

"And what do you need if you're a Blandford houseowner? You need 20 per cent knocked off your housing equity."

Ahh, it's a pity the poor houseowner time

"Why? Don't ask me. Ask Blandford Town Council."

But I'm sure he's going to tell us why.

"Residents of the conservation area flocked into a recent town council meeting with our well-founded fears. Also present was Phil Holdhurst of Savilles whose job it is to plant a base station among us."

Remember, one man's well-founded fears is another man's superstitious claptrap.

"My research, from an early report on the USA Environmental Protection Agency which stated that mobile phone masts were a B1 carcinogen risk factor..."

Now, it's getting interesting. I went to the EPA site and all I could find on the site was a piece saying that the control of radiation from what they call cellular telephone towers is the responsibility of the Federal Communications Commission. So I doubt that the EPA have reported anything on the matter. I went over to the FCC site and here's what they have to say.

"ARE CELLULAR AND OTHER RADIO TOWERS LOCATED NEAR HOMES OR SCHOOLS SAFE FOR RESIDENTS AND STUDENTS?

As discussed above, radiofrequency emissions from antennas used for wireless transmissions such as cellular and PCS signals result in exposure levels on the ground that are typically thousands of times less than safety limits. These safety limits were adopted by the FCC based on the recommendations of expert organizations and endorsed by agencies of the Federal Government responsible for health and safety. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that such towers could constitute a potential health hazard to nearby residents or students."

Enough said.

"...to the recent Dutch TNO report which found headaches and nausea even worse near 3G base stations, is that these things are very dangerous."

I couldn't find any such report on the TNO website but it's not surprising that if you live next to something that you think is going to cause headaches and nausea that's exactly what you will experience, it's not evidence of anything other than a placebo effect. If someone points me in the direction of a report which has double-blind testing, a decently sized sample and a statistically significant effect then I'll believe them.

"As a healer I am extremely sensitive to this sort of radiation and begin to feel nauseous if it resonates in my body."

Did you know that James Randi has a standing $1 million prize for anyone who demonstrates paranormal ability, being able to sense RF at the levels even near a base station would qualify for that prize, so why hasn't he applied?

"Back to the council meeting. Mr Holdhurst knew no more about the health risks than the boy doing the paper round knows about the Guardian's views on GMOs. Also Crown International had not bothered to produce a photographic mock-up of what the base station would look like - something which takes a few minutes on a computer."

There are no proven health risks, there's not much else to know.

"The council turned down the application. Of course, they only have an advisory power these days but it was a small victory. And then, when Crown International bestirred itself to produce the mock-ups (which we judged to be several metres too short) the town council reversed its previous judgment and concluded that what we all need for our greater well-being is a 20-metre base station in our midst."

"Thank goodness for the professionals at Nordon who quite rightly judged that conservation area and a 20-metre base station mast are completely incompatible."

I'll be fair here, a mast in a conservation area, should be denied planning permission unless it's able to blend into the surroundings, but bringing in spurious health "risks" is just plain lying and it causes people to feel ill, hardly ethical behaviour for a healer.

"As for the unprepossessing loads of idiots on the town council. If the best they can do to protect the interests of the town and fellow citizens is to wish a huge irradiating mast in our midst shouldn't they be disbanded altogether?"

I'll pass no comment on the Blandford Town Council, having never met any of them, but calling people idiots because they disagree with him tends to suggest that he's lost the argument.

"All one can say is that if Blandford Town Council in its advisory capacity were advising fleas on how to suck blood, no one would be scratching."

I'm not bright enough to decipher his passing shot.

In the interests of fairness I'm going to email him this post with the invitation to have a right to reply.