Subject: Cell Phone Tower Public Meeting in Toronto (Havas).. Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 190604 -0600 (CST) From: "Roy L. Beavers"To: emfguru -------------------------------------------------- ........Forwarded by EMF-L....... (Pleased to see that Sheela Basrur will be part of the following....) Roy Beavers (EMFguru) roy@emfguru.com .....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness..... NEW!!! Website... http://emfguru.com ...................People are more important than profits................. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 17:56:08 -0400 From: Magda Havas To: rbeavers@llion.org Subject: Cell Phone Tower Public Meeting in Toronto Roy, I thought that you and your emf readers might be interested in the public meeting organized by the Toronto Board of Health to debate siting of cell phone towers in the city. The information is below: -magda havas ******************** You are invited to attend a panel discussion: The Siting of Cell Phone Towers -- Dealing with Health Concerns in the City of Toronto Date: Monday February 7 Time: 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Place: Metro Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 308-309 In 1998, City Council requested that the Medical Officer of Health consider the adoption of a prudent avoidance policy on the siting of cell phone towers. This request was prompted by reports of potential health effects of the radio frequency emissions from cell phone towers. In December 1999, the Board of Health gave their support to a prudent avoidance policy which recommended that the levels of radio frequencies from cell phone towers in the City of Toronto be kept 100 times below the Canadian federal guidelines. The Board of Health asked the Telecommunications Steering Committee to incorporate this policy of prudent avoidance in the proposed Planning Protocol for the siting of cell towers. The Telecommunications Steering Committee set up a working group to develop a protocol in collaboration with industry and citizens, and to report to the Committee in May 2000. This protocol will set the guidelines that determine where cell phone towers can be situated within the City and still meet the radio frequency emission levels as set out in the prudent avoidance policy. The working group will forward the protocol to the Policy and Finance Committee and City Council for their consideration. At its meeting in October, the Telecommunications Steering Committee requested that Toronto Public Health invite experts to provide information to the Committee on the health impact of cell phone towers. The February 7th panel discussion will provide councillors and the public an opportunity to: Understand better the uncertainty that exists on the potential impact of low levels of radio frequency emissions from cell phone towers, and Discuss the appropriate response to this uncertainty. Tentative Agenda: Opening Remarks: Councillor John Adams Introduction: Dr. Sheela Basrur, Medical Officer of Health Panel presentations: Dr. R. Bradley, Health Canada Dr. Mary McBride, Member of the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel Dr H. Lai, University of Washington Dr. M. Havas, Trent University R. Macfarlane, Toronto Public Health Question Period Closing: Dr Sheela Basrur The panel will be chaired by Dr. Sheela Basrur, Medical Officer of Health. Community groups involved in this issue and industry representatives have also been invited to this meeting. For more information, please contact: Ronald Macfarlane, Resarch Consultant Health Promotion and Environmental Protection Toronto Public Health Tel: (416) 392 1560 ext. 87012 Fax: (416) 393 7418 Email: rmacfar3@city.toronto.on.ca Dr. Magda Havas Environmental & Resource Studies, Trent University, Peterborough Ontario, K9J 7B8 (705) 748-1232 phone (705) 748-1569 fax mhavas@trentu.ca email Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com