Dear Editor:
I write regarding the cell towers proposed for West Vancouver.
I am a retired independent telecommunication engineer, with more than 60 years experience working with and around radio transmission equipment and associated antennas. I have never been employed by a cellular telephone service provider and have no financial interest in any such company.
Recently, after attending an event at the Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver, I found a flyer on my windshield produced by the West Vancouver Cell Tower Action Group (CTAG). I commend them on publicly identifying themselves as a group.
The flyer expresses concern about the supposed harmful effects of radio emissions from the proposed cellular antenna sites, and urges people to protest against those installations.
Much has been published regarding studies of the possible harmful effects of radio emissions - many by persons having apparently little knowledge or understanding of the basic physics involved - most of which have concluded that "more study is needed."
My own conclusion, based on my years of experience and years of exposure, is that there is no harmful effect at the power levels permitted by Safety Code 6 - the Health Canada guideline for radio-frequency exposure, which Industry Canada uses in regulating and licensing all radio transmitter installations in Canada.
However, science will never completely resolve this issue; science can only establish degrees of certainty, or uncertainty, always searching for new and more revealing information. In the end, this can only be adjudicated through a political process.
My concern is that the political process will work properly only if the politicians involved educate themselves properly, using reason and common sense, not letting themselves be unduly swayed be emotions and the loudness of the voices championing one position or the other.
One final comment: If the protesters truly are concerned about the effects of radio emissions, they need to recognize that the radio field power density falls off as the square of the distance from the source - doubling the distance reduces the field power density to one-quarter. Therefore, a higher tower will result in less exposure than a short tower, for a given source of radio-frequency energy. You can't have it both ways - if you want less exposure, accept higher towers; if you want shorter towers, accept more exposure.
Bill Tracey
North Vancouver
