This is an excellent introduction to wi-fi radiation in schools, the science, government response, and how the radiation compares to ambient background and cell tower levels.
“Convenience is not an acceptable reason to risk the health and safety of children.” Learn more about wi-fi in schools: WiFi in Schools.com Learn more about the science: BioInitiative.org
Customers all across the United States have reported being harmed by utility smart meters. In Indiana, a mother of three small children can’t live in their home because a bank of smart meters gave her debilitating health problems. In California hundreds of customers have reported headaches, ringing in the ears, heart palpitations, sleep problems and more.
Customers report flames shooting from outlets, burned out appliances and fires after smart meter installation. Meanwhile in some states, the utility companies and their regulators response is to charge more money (opt-out fees) to avoid smart meters and they ignore the health and fire hazards.
The US Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) is a federal agency that will take complaints on utility smart meters from all US states.
Last year the CPSC recalled 1.3 million GE dishwashers due to “15 reports of dishwasher heating element failures, including seven reports of fires, three of which caused extensive property damage.”
Here’s the information you will need to provide:
You will also need to provide a description of who you are, for example, consumer, health care professional, a government agency; your name and mailing address; and permission to publish your Report on SaferProducts.gov. Finally your verification that the Report is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief.
Record the time and date of the call and the name of the person who took your complaint. Write down the receipt number they give you. Keep this information for your records.
Once the CPSC receives your complaint they will send a report back to you for your review and consent. It will then go to the manufacturer where they will have to respond in ten days. After that depending on the number of complaints the compliance office receives, they will decide if the products should be recalled!
* PLEASE NOTE: If you hope, or plan to file a lawsuit for damages there is a two year statute of limitations, so registering and providing a date of harm will start that clock. (If so, you might also want to consult a lawyer regarding timing)
Initial smart meter complaints sent by email to the CPSC were troublesome. Calls to the CPSC today (6/25/13) confirmed that the CPSC is taking reports on smart meter harms. If your complaint was rejected please persist and follow up with a phone call. Also we learned in order to reach a decision for a recall they may work with other federal agencies such as the Department of Energy, or the FDA. Be assured however that the CPSC is handling smart meter complaints.
On Wednesday, June 19, the Sedona City Council held a special workshop regarding Arizona Public Service (APS) plans to deploy utility smart meters in Sedona.
Sedona Smart Meter Awareness (SSMA) is raising awareness about the cost, privacy, health and safety hazards of utility smart meters. APS and SSMA presented information about smart meters. Both sides were given equal time. Only ten public speakers were allowed due to time constraints, however all spoke in opposition to Smart Meter deployment. The meeting was standing room only. The entire discussion, including the presentations and council discussion is available by video here, see part 3A,.
Nancy Baer, SSMA representative said, “APS representatives seemed to be in over their heads when Councilors began asking questions. Sedona Smart Meter Awareness created a solid, fact-filled PowerPoint presentation delivered by Warren Woodward. All concerns were thoroughly covered: health, safety, privacy, and cost.”
In response to the question of federal requirement to install smart meters, APS confirmed, “There’s been no federal mandate for us to move in this direction.”
APS currently has a proposal on file with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to charge opt out consumers $75 upfront and $30 more added to their monthly bill. Every councilor objected to that proposed fee.
At the conclusion of the workshop, Councilor Barbara Litrell introduced and Councilor Dan McIlroy seconded the motion to:
“..direct the staff to prepare a statement for the Arizona Corporation Commission that expresses concerns, on behalf of our Sedona citizens, that Smart Meters have not been proven safe and until such time as definitive proof exists the Arizona Corporation Commission should allow the Sedona community to opt out without penalties.”
On a 4-3 vote, the City agreed to file a letter requesting community opt-out without penalties with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Warren Woodward said, “In addition to violating health, rights, trespass and wiretap laws, APS will be violating the City’s nuisance ordinance if they install ‘smart’ meters in Sedona. APS should not be immune from law just because they are supposedly regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission. We asked the City to enforce the law. Their motion is a first step.”
Sedona currently has no smart meters deployed there.
Today the San Francisco Chronicle confirmed utilities are giving customers smart meter data to the government and third parties. Reporter David Baker writes, “Phone records and e-mail aren’t the only kinds of personal data that government agencies can collect on Americans. They can look at your home’s energy use, too. And that information can be revealing.”
Smart meters are a surveillance tool, best described by Jerry Day in this video– which has reached over 1.7 million viewers. And now we have proof that if you have a smart meters on your home, your privacy: what you do in your home, or if your not home, when you cook, watch TV, or if you get up in the middle of the night is provided to third parties for “legal” purposes when requested. The smart meter data when analyzed shows a detailed pattern of your life.
The Northern California ACLU writes, “transparency reports filed by the California utilities companies and obtained by the ACLU of California show that a significant amount of data about the energy use of Californians is also ending up in the hands of third parties. In 2012, a single California utility company, San Diego Gas & Electric, disclosed the smart meter energy records of over 4,000 of its customers. “
The “privacy” rules, adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) allows disclosure of smart meter data for legal purposes, or pursuant to situations of imminent threat to life or property. San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) disclosed the records of 4,062 customers. PG&E disclosed 86 and SCE disclosed one.
“In 4,000 of those [SDGE] cases, the information was subpoenaed by government agencies, often in drug enforcement cases or efforts to find specific individuals, according to the utility. The other 62 disclosures came as the result of subpoenas in civil lawsuits. Some of the released information focused solely on billing information, account addresses and other data that could be used to locate an individual.” David Baker- SF Chronicle
According to the ACLU “a single legal request can potentially result in the disclosure of millions of customers’ records.”
More: ACLU website.
On behalf of the Osoyoos Indian Band, Chief Clarence Louie announced today that he and all Band Council members have signed a governing document prohibiting Fortis BC, the local utility company, from installing Smart Meters on the approximately 703 homes and businesses on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve.
“Having been presented with science-based evidence, the Band Council and I are convinced that Fortis’ proposed wireless smart meters in meshed-grid networks have potential to harm our children and our environment. No scientist on the planet has been able to verify the safety of these extremely dangerous devices that emit microwave radiation 24/7 in perpetuity and which cannot be turned off.”
“As Chief of the Osoyoos Indian band, my first duty is to protect my people, our future generations and our lands. For that reason, the Band Council and I believe we need to err on the side of caution and respect the world’s leading independent scientists who say – and have evidence to prove – that electromagnetic radiation, especially pulsed radio and microwave frequency radiation is harmful to all living things.”
“I am proud of our Council for standing up and voting to prohibit the installation of smart meters on our lands in order to protect not only our own people, but all the peoples who reside and work on the Osoyoos Indian Band lands.”
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oversees the “safety guidelines” for public exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation (wireless) from a myriad of common devices now in use in many homes and communities. Industry routinely points to these guidelines as proof of safety, however they were only designed to protect from thermal harm, and only for thirty minutes of exposure.
A majority of wireless devices, (cordless phones, cell phones, cell towers, wi-fi routers, baby monitors, smart meters and more) constantly emit RF radiation, 24/7.
The FCC says it’s now taking another look at their guidelines, (See FCC proposal) These guidelines were created in 1996 and they have not been reassessed since then. They also state they “have confidence in the current exposure limits and notes that more recent international standards have a similar basis.”
Phillip Janquart of Courthouse News Service recently wrote an article on this issue and he recognized the BioInitiative 2012 Report, “with over 1800 new scientific studies, indicating current guidelines are inadequate to protect the public from physical harm, which warns that cell phone users, pregnant women and young children are at particular risk.” He further noted the following:
“There is a consistent pattern of increased risk for glioma (a malignant brain tumor) and acoustic neuroma (a tumor near the ear) with use of mobile and cordless phones. Epidemiological evidence shows that radiofrequency should be classified as a human carcinogen,” Dr. Lennart Hardell, of Orebro University in Sweden.
New studies also purportedly link phone radiation to sperm damage, according to the BioInitiative report.
“Even a cell phone in the pocket or on a belt may harm sperm DNA, result in misshapen sperm, and impair fertility in men. Laptop computers with wireless Internet connections can damage DNA in sperm,” according to the BioInitiative report.
The report added there is “strong evidence” that EMFs can increase the risk for autism and alter brain development of fetuses.
“This has been linked to both animal and human studies to hyperactivity, learning and behavior problems,” according to the BioInitiative report.
Dr. David O. Carpenter, co-author of the BioInitiative report, said “there is now much more evidence of risks to health affecting billions of people world-wide. The status quo is not acceptable in light of the evidence for harm.”
* * * * *
The FCC does not want to impose an “undue burden on industry”, but is seeking comments on whether the limits should be “more restrictive, less restrictive or remain the same,” but purely as a matter of “good government.”
The EMF Safety Network will be submitting comments on this proposal which are are due by Sept. 3, 2013. More on this subject later…
Earlier this month California state legislators grilled the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on it’s lax safety oversight and financial problems. President Michael Peevey was caught by a TV investigative reporter at a winery conference, instead of answering questions at a senate hearing in Sacramento: Peeveys Priority: Senate Hearing or Napa Winery? Legislators voted to wipe out the CPUC’s $1.4 billion budget to “force the regulatory agency to justify how it spends its money.”
On Thursday May 23, PG&E customers continue to demand safe utility oversight from the CPUC. President Peevey started off the CPUC business meeting by saying since everyone had been there before he’d skip the safety instructions for the building.
Garril Page, of Marin County was one of a group of PG&E customers who spoke at their business meeting during public comments. She said this:
“Lax oversight and failure to regulate too-cozy utilities… How often does this require restatement before there is corrective action?
It is not Jack Hagan’s military mind we need, but a surgical strike at the head of the CPUC, to stop unsafe, unreliable conditions, abuse of funds and fiscal improprieties.
The public is threatened by deferred maintenance of utility infrastructure, improperly regulated, radiation-spewing devices, overburdened power poles loaded with snooping, profit-producing, data collectors that topple and burn.
The CPUC used bureaucratic box-checking to conceal the number of exploding underground vaults. How will the truth about power pole fires be hidden?
The truth about Smart Meters is being revealed despite the CPUC’s apparent indifference to scientific research and aversion to public testimony.
No amount of a carcinogen is safe, radiation effects are cumulative, the damage is irreversible, and for the privilege of toxic exposure we are charged opt-out fees.
The California Public Utilities Commission: where the public gets burned and corporations get rate increases.”
Bravo Garril! There were many other terrific speakers too.
President Obama could not have picked a worse nominee than Tom Wheeler to head the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Wheeler has obvious industry ties and conflicts of interest:
The FCC regulates the nation’s airwaves and all communications plus its accompanying infrastructure. The FCC sets the “safety” standards for radio frequency radiation (RF) used in all wireless devices. The standards are inadequate and obsolete because they do not address long term health effects, and they were created before cell towers, cell phones, wi-fi and “smart” meters.
Importantly, the FCC is set to update these RF “safety” standards soon. With trillions of wireless products in use today, babies, children, adults, animals, the environment, and future generations are all at risk from chronic exposure to wireless radiation based on inadequate safety standards.
With a wireless industry leader as the head of the FCC there’s little chance for safe oversight. These crucial decisions will threaten us for decades to come.
MORE INFO: