Why Is This Giant Cell Phone Tower Smack Dab in the Middle of an Elementary School Playground?!

[DeSwiss]

- It's times like these that I miss Molly Ivins. She once famously said that: ''Texas is Mississippi with good roads.''

I don't think they even do shit this sick and racist in Mississippi......

[NYC_SKP]

1. My guess is that someone is being paid for allowing it to be there.

I would expect the school board would be required to answer this question.

Unless there's an easement that exists on school property that allows it to be there, it's likely space that is being rented by whomever controls the tower to somebody, the school or somebody.

[itsrobert]

2. what's wrong with a cell tower on campus

Teachers/Facility don't use cell phones? How about parents picking up children? There are no homes near the school to use the cell tower? If they put it there, it must be needed there. If it wasn't needed it would not be there.

[midnight]

8. It is interfering with brain function.

[MADem]

9. Well, then, we're going to need to pull 'em all down, then...

They're near apartment buildings, parks and gardens, restaurants, playgrounds off school property, etc. etc.


http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/cellular-phone-towers

At ground level near typical cellular base stations, the amount of RF energy is thousands of times less than the limits for safe exposure set by the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and other regulatory authorities. It is very unlikely that a person could be exposed to RF levels in excess of these limits just by being near a cell phone tower.

When a cellular antenna is mounted on a roof, it is possible that a person on the roof could be exposed to RF levels greater than those typically encountered on the ground. But even then, exposure levels approaching or exceeding the FCC safety guidelines are only likely to be found very close to and directly in front of the antennas. If this is the case, access to these areas should be limited.

The level of RF energy inside buildings where a base station is mounted is typically much lower than the level outside, depending on the construction materials of the building. Wood or cement block reduces the exposure level of RF radiation by a factor of about 10. The energy level behind an antenna is hundreds to thousands of times lower than in front. Therefore, if an antenna is mounted on the side of a building, the exposure level in the room directly behind the wall is typically well below the recommended exposure limits.

Do cellular phone towers cause cancer?
Some people have expressed concern that living, working, or going to school near a cell phone tower might increase the risk of cancer or other health problems. At this time, there is very little evidence to support this idea. In theory, there are some important points that would argue against cellular phone towers being able to cause cancer. ...

[midnight]

16. Because there has been little to know study on children and their brain function one would think at

the very least the dept. of education and the community would error on the side of precaution, and not place this tower in the middle of a playground.

Below I posted a few paragraphs from your link:


"Studies in people

Very few human studies have focused specifically on cellular phone towers and cancer risk.

In one large study, British researchers compared a group of more than 1,000 families of young children with cancer against a similar group of families of children without cancer. They found no link between a mother’s exposure to the towers during pregnancy (based on the distance from the home to the nearest tower and on the amount of energy given off by nearby towers) and the risk of early childhood cancer.

In another study, researchers compared a group of more than 2,600 children with cancer to a group of similar children without cancer. They found that those who lived in a town that could have exposed them to higher than average RF radiation from cellular phone towers in the previous 5 years had a slightly higher risk of cancer, although not of any certain type of cancer (like leukemia or brain tumors). This study estimated the children’s possible exposure based on the number of towers in their town and how strong the signals were from the towers. It did not look at actual exposure of any individual child based on how far their home or school was from a tower. This limitation reduces confidence in the results of the study."

This link identifies the results of the study are so limited as to not provide the confidence that dismisses this location as harmless or not very harmless. So, at the very least lets keep these out of our children's play grounds.

[MADem]

21. You'll have to challenge the school board/superintendent on that score.

From my reading of the article, the safest place to be is right UNDER the thing. The signal goes outward, not downward, apparently.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

20. No it's not...

That's a ridiculous assertion. Non-ionizing microwaves have been in the air around us for damn near 100 years. Cell towers are no different from radio towers as far as the waves they use. The only difference is frequency.

However, you will noticed that the asshats who made this video are anti-science crackpots...

[itsrobert]

22. Yup, the video is made by crackpots

I agree.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

23. Cite, please.

I'm not trying to be provocative. Really, cite the peer-reviewed study or studies that support this supposition.

Thank you.

[wildbilln864]

3. k & r ! n/t

[jberryhill]

4. Maybe because local geography and coverage made it a good spot?

And presumably whoever owns the property - be it a school district or government entity - was agreeable to the terms offered?

There can also be in-kind exchanges Internet for the whole district for as long as they want the tower.

[drynberg]

17. My guess is some pol got a kickback...this shows "No Respect", no?

[Ford_Prefect]

5. The question is why are the children so close to the powerful Microwave

broadcasting antennas. The tower has a warning on it about the high powered radio waves emanating from the tower.

If you watch the whole video they explain the problems of over exposure to microwaves especially in regard to children.

[Major Nikon]

6. "Dangerous" "High power"

In the case of cellular and PCS cell site transmitters, the FCC’s RF exposure guidelines recommend a maximum permissible exposure level to the general public of approximately 580 microwatts per square centimeter. This limit is many times greater than RF levels typically found near the base of cellular or PCS cell site towers or in the vicinity of other, lower-powered cell site transmitters. Calculations corresponding to a “worst-case” situation (all transmitters operating simultaneously and continuously at the maximum licensed power) show that, in order to be exposed to RF levels near the FCC’s guidelines, an individual would essentially have to remain in the main transmitting beam and within a few feet of the antenna for several minutes or longer. Thus, the possibility that a member of the general public could be exposed to RF levels in excess of the FCC guidelines is extremely remote.

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/human-exposure-rf-fields-guidelines-cellular-and-pcs-sites

[AtheistCrusader]

12. Yeah, the sign means 'don't climb this while it's on'.

[TheNutcracker]

7. There was a democrat in Tampa Fla helping to place cell towers on elementary property!

[doc03]

10. The school is probably receiving a monthly

lease check from the cell phone company.

[Historic NY]

13. Comes out to a 33k a year....

we won a few fights with sighting here. Obviously the question should be made to the school board.

[Quixote1818]

11. No more harmfull than a radio tower

It's non-ionizing radiation much like radio waves and radar. They don't cause damage to DNA.

[Major Nikon]

18. Much less so

Cell phone towers just don't put out that much power and they put out even less power in urban areas. This particular one appears to be about 100' in the air, which means the kids are going to receive higher levels of radiation from their parents' cell phones.

[Mark Baker]

19. And less because of this tower

Since cell phones adjust their output power to the minimum they need to communicate with the tower, the presence of this will reduce the output power of every cellphone in the area

[Quixote1818]

14. The two ignorant kids who put out this video have a plethora of anti-science shit videos

They sound like Alex Jones with their dangerous anti-vaccine, anti Gov. BS. For fucks sake I am so sick of these kind of spoiled ignorant kids who have no clue what things were like 150 years ago when people lived to the ripe age of 45 before vaccines and the Gov. working so hard to protect people.

[Historic NY]

25. Call it crack pot but would you trust the corporations

Last edited Mon Jan 12, 2015, 04:39 PM - Edit history (1)

that wrote the telecommunications law of 1996 that Congress approved. When I say law every little nuance in the testing and the reporting too. You can't even question towers placements. Local governments and planning are powerless. Pretty much they could put one in your neighbors yard w/o the need for local. approval.

People are afraid of them. I end up dealing with them because there are only a few instances that placement can be defeated. Historic Preservation is what I deal with and it pretty broad, but it does become one of the final determinations used. With towers come ancillary buildings and equipment. I have fostered a good working relationship with the companies seeking to place them now. We have had some horrible locations picked, mostly because they didn't bother to do their homework in advance.


http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/tower-and-antenna-siting

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. I knew it was going to turn out this was a minority school....

Someone needs to see who got kickbacks from the telecommunications company.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

24. Location, location, location.

Last edited Mon Jan 12, 2015, 01:43 PM - Edit history (2)

Minority, majority - makes no difference. Also, I believe the word you are looking for is "rent," not kickback.

As of January 2005, seven Fairfax County Public Schools facilities have cell phone base station antennas.

They consist of six schools and one administrative center. They are:

Centreville High School
Chantilly High School
Langley High School (2 towers)
South Lakes High School (2 towers)
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Westgate Elementary School
Lorton Administrative Center

Langley is in one of Fairfax County's wealthiest per capita ZIP codes. It's where the offspring of CIA employees attend school.

As for Jefferson, people are standing in line to get their kids into the place. If they are not Fairfax County residents, their locality's school board is charged tuition. It's often rated the best or second best high school in the country.

Loudoun Students To Continue At Thomas Jefferson

Posted: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 10:49 am | Updated: 12:38 pm, Wed Sep 25, 2013.

The Loudoun County School Board voted unanimously last night to extend its contract for Loudoun students attending Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County for next school year.

Students who are attending Thomas Jefferson this year and will return for the 2014-2015 school year will be charged $14,000 per pupil for tuition. Students who will be new to Thomas Jefferson next school year will have a tuition rate that will cover a portion of the renovation costs for the school. The tuition rate for new students will be $16,074, to be paid by Loudoun County Public Schools.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

26. The one article is from a decade ago and the other is about tuition.

[Sienna86]

27. The school district gets money, that's why.

Sad but true.

[DeSwiss]

28. That.....

...I can believe.

- Vending machines with sugary products, out. Microwave towers, in.

''We're gonna give you a disease one way or another......''