EM Radiation Research Trust (RRT) commentary by U.S. Advisor Susan Foster on the Pittsfield, Massachusetts cell tower case: the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned the local Board of Health's cease-and-desist order against Verizon on federal pre-emption grounds — not on the science.
Foster describes residents' six-year fight over reported health problems near the tower and calls for Congressional reform of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
"Residents had raised concerns about symptoms they associated with radiofrequency emissions from a nearby cell tower. The local Board of Health attempted to take action, but the matter ultimately reached the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that federal law pre-empted the Board's order."
"I worked on this important case with the attorney who advocated for the residents in Pittsfield. A group of residents in a neighborhood named “Shacktown” has been fighting this tower for six years. [...] This was an important test case in the United States because we had a cluster of illness surrounding a Verizon tower that had been fully investigated by the Pittsfield Board of Health."
"The FCC is a revolving door of telecommunications executives, attorneys and lobbyists. Harm has been proven in the shadow of many towers at a fraction of what the FCC currently allows. Yet as long as the tower is within FCC limits, because of the preemption issue it can continue to operate no matter how many people are sickened or how many deaths occur."
"In spite of four deaths, nearly 20 people living around the tower becoming ill, multiple families being displaced with some of them sleeping in their cars at night to be away from their homes and in spite of the wildlife having left the neighborhood as soon as the tower was activated, the final judicial determination concluded these people had no rights."
Location
📍 Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States
