ANTENNA = TOWER UPDATE |
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Pinnnacle Towers Inc =
purchased a 40-acre tower site at the summit of Eldorado Mountain for $9 =
million in December, 1999. The site is 200 feet from the Boulder County l=
ine and seven miles south of the City of Boulder. Agriculture-One Special=
Use zoning was approved by JeffCo in 1981. Pinnacle is an international =
radio frequency, antenna tower company based in Florida.
Construction of on=
e or two towers and the size of the transmitter-service building will be =
determined by response of Denver broadcasters. Pinnacle held a JeffCo req=
uired "community feedback" meeting at the county government bui=
lding on November 14. Of the 65 people who attended, estimated representa=
tion was: Eldorado's one tower Attorney Joseph Be= nkert of Littleton represented Pinnacle to answer questions raised by cit= izens who live near the tower site. "The site will accommodate both = analog and digital television and FM radio transmitters. The maximum heig= ht will be 450 feet, but the need for one or two towers will be determine= d by broadcast stations who commit. Other limitations will be to avoid th= e Boulder Quiet Zone and maintain EMR emission limits." Benkert responded =
respectfully to all citizen concerns, especially the visual impact. "=
;Towers are visible. We can construct the transmitter building to blend i=
nto the rock outcroppings, but towers, wherever they are located, are vis=
ible." The site is adjace= nt to Boulder and JeffCo open space land to the east and south. The neare= st residential area, Plainview, is one mile south and 1500 feet below the= tower site. "Unlike Lookout Mountain, there are no homes at the tow= er site and none at the same altitude as the antennas," Benkert said= =2E View of open space from Eldorado
View of foothills population from Lookout Mountain A study conducted = by professional scientists and engineers for Canyon Area Residents for th= e Environment (CARE) included residential population near the sites as a = factor. Lake Cedar Group (Denver TV stations) did not consider residentia= l population in its evaluation. CARE recommends several "alternative= " sites to densely populated Mt. Vernon Canyon. The CARE study is av= ailable on www.c-a-r-e.org.=
More than 30 towers and 1000 devices top Lookout Mountain Broadcasters pressure JeffCo to permit adding DTV on Lookout CBS (Westinghouse)= -owned KCNC-TV channel 4 wants to mount a digital transmitter that would = send radiation directly into a home 150-feet west. The "stub tower&q= uot; is now used for microwave transmitters adjacent to the station’= s 825-foot tower on Cedar Lake Road. Entravision Holdin= gs’ KCEC-TV channel 50 wants to add a million-watt DTV transmitter t= o their rental space on Tribune’s KWGN-TV tower within 200 feet and = at the same altitude as Buffalo Bill’s Grave on Lookout Mountain Roa= d. CARE filed a petition with the FCC requesting denial of licensing KCEC= digital channel 51 on Lookout Mountain. The tower site was= first a real estate home office, adjacent to a railed "funicular&qu= ot; to market residential lots, in 1912. The Lariat Trail, Buffalo Bill&#= 146;s Grave and the Pahaska Lodge are listed on the National Register of = Historic Places and receive over 500,000 visitors annually. On September = 3, 1999, President Clinton declared Buffalo Bill’s Grave and Museum = "an American Treasure that documents and illuminates the history and= culture of the United States" and should be protected and preserved= =2E Gannett’s KUS= A-TV channel 9 has apparently withdrawn a request to install a digital tr= ansmitter on a radar tower that was never permitted by Jefferson County. = The weather radar device is said to use 1.5 billion watts! These antenna appl= ications (and zoning violation enforcement listed below) have been superv= ised by JeffCo Zoning Administrator Mary Bunn who permitted FOX-31 to add= digital and KRMA-TV channel 6 to add microwave digital relay device with= out public hearings. KRMA-TV Channel 6 slips an "exchange" thru JeffCo CARE discovered a = new microwave device on the KRMA-TV tower in June, 2000. The station clai= med to "replace" a mesh dish (of undisclosed size, age and powe= r) with "same type antenna." The "exchange= " does not comply with JeffCo zoning resolutions. The new, solid whi= te, 6-foot wide microwave device has an Effective Isotropic Radiated Powe= r of 338.8 watts and exceeds the 18-inch limit permitted by JeffCo for op= erating below 200-feet above ground. JeffCo planner Tim Carl approved the= "exchange" on August 2, 1999 (two weeks after supertower denia= l). The new dish is fo= r a different use. It relays digital signals from the KRMA’s studio = in Denver to Lookout and back to a DTV antenna on the Republic Plaza roof= top in Denver. Analog and digital television are different technologies. = The digital spectrum can be split into multiple channels for a variety of= uses, including wireless "interactive." KRMA engineers admitted in p= leadings filed with the FCC in 1990 that the Channel 6 tower is already &= quot;stressed" from too much weight which increases the risk of &quo= t;tower fall" on five family homes. The non-conforming tower (on a r= esidential zoned lot) does not comply with set-back requirements on Color= ow Road, which is used by residents, hikers, cyclists, runners and visito= rs to historic Boettcher Mansion (National Register of Historic Places) a= nd Lookout Mountain Nature Center on 110 acres of JeffCo Open Space. JeffCo sued Bear C= reek Development in 1999 for installing an analog television transmitter = in "exchange" for cable TV "relay" microwave devices = on Mt. Morrison. The tower operates with a "special use" permit= on Agriculture-zoned land, surrounded by public park land. JeffCo cites FM Stations for exceeding limits on Lookout Mountain Radio stations exc= eeding radio frequency electromagnetic emission limits were cited by Jeff= erson County with a demand of compliance by November 15, 2000. Clear Chan= nel’s KISS and KALC, Tribune’s KOSI and KKHK, and Public Radio&= #146;s KCFR and KUVO are said to be operating below licensed power levels= to comply with public exposure limits. Colorado Public Ra= dio expanded media power by purchasing KVOD-AM for $4.2 million in August= while the KCFR-FM and KUVO-FM transmitters continued to threaten public = safety. The CPR transmitters operate on the KRMA-TV channel 6 (PBS affili= ate) tower a few hundred feet from popular public facilities. Leo Cirbo, = FCC director of the Lakewood, Colorado office, claims there is an active = "investigation" of the KRMA-TV, KCFR-FM and KUVO-FM tower. CPR attempted to c=
omply in August by changing the spacing of the FM antennas, but groundlev=
el radiation became more severe at the county-owned Boettcher Mansion (ev=
ent center) and the Lookout Mountain Nature Center. 500,000 annual visitors view Channels 2 and 50 from historic Buffalo B= ill's Grave. Both stations want to increase electromagnetic radiation by = adding HDTV. Value of the publi= c buildings and property, visited by an estimated 100,000 annually, are e= stimated at more than $10 million. CPR claims the historic metal mesh fen= ce surrounding the 115-acre "nature preserve" is causing the pr= oblem. The mansion’s listing with the National Register of Historic = Places includes the metal fence erected in 1917.
EMR emission repor= ts filed with the Federal Communications Commission in 1986, 1997, 1998, = 1999 and 2000 verify the violations of the 1991 ANSI Standard. The statio= ns have not been cited by the FCC which has renewed all licenses and appr= oved new licenses. FCC Enforcement Bu= reau rules do not allow licensing any station when public radiation limit= s are exceeded in the proposed tower area. CARE’s Antenna Tower Comm= ittee recently discovered that the FCC knew of exceeding radiation limits= when it provided DTV licenses and "construction permits" for f= ive digital television transmitters on December 2, 1998, the day of the f= irst JeffCo public hearing for Lake Cedar Group’s proposed "Sup= ertower" addition to already saturated Lookout Mountain. Beginning in March=
, 1998, CARE has filed several petitions requesting that the FCC deny lic=
ensing any additional antennas without a comprehensive environmental impa=
ct statement in compliance with the following federal laws: CARE recently lear= ned that the FCC informed the broadcasters that it planned to conduct an = audit of transmission devices on Lookout in August, 1998. KCNC-TV removed= an unlicensed auxiliary transmitter operating on a "stub tower"= ; before the FCC arrived. The station was not cited by the county or FCC = for violating local and federal laws. FCC collaboration = with broadcasters is similar to the FDA colluding with pharmaceuticals, t= he EPA colluding with industrial water polluters, or OSHA colluding with = employers. Federal regulatory agencies are reported by the media, except = for the FCC responsible for broadcasters and other wireless providers. Th= e media uses the First Amendment right to report on issues of choice. The= re is no national oversight of the FCC. Radio frequency in= terference in the Greater Golden area has increased since News Corp’= s FOX-31 added a digital TV transmitter to its Lookout tower in 1999. On = October 17, 2000, CARE’s most recent filing was requesting enforceme= nt of FCC public policy for preventing severe interference. National courts bombarded with antenna tower litigation<= /p> The Advisory Counc= il on Historic Preservation, formed in 1966 as part of the National Histo= ric Preservation Act, has apparently influenced denial of some wireless a= nd digital TV antenna installations. Part of the Advisory Council’s = responsibility is to protect properties listed with the National Registry= of Historic Places from negative impact by federally financed or mandate= d installations. ACHP has requested comprehensive Environment Impact Stat= ements for several proposed tower sites. The FCC has threatened to file l= itigation against ACHP to support antenna clients. National Tribal Hi= storic Preservation Officers have determined that some proposed tower sit= es would cause a negative impact on historic Tribal properties. ACHP is a= ttempting to support Native American claims by requesting EIS evaluations= =2E National League of=
Cities and National Association of Counties have filed a petition with t=
he FCC to enforce federal laws that require EIS of proposed tower sites. =
See more at The U.S. Supreme C= ourt has been asked to overturn the Telecommunications Act preemption cla= use. Local attorney Deb Carney has volunteered many hours assisting New Y= ork attorney Whitney Seymour representing grassroot citizens to overturn = the Telecom Act’s preemption clause. "The Tenth Amendment precl= udes Congress from treating state and local legislative bodies as puppets= on a federal string," Seymour wrote in a brief filed September 7. According to Micro= wave News (Sep/Oct 2000), the brief also requests overturning the FCC= 6;s radio frequency/microwave (RF/MW) exposure limits. "Noting the l= ack of any funding for RF/MW research at the EPA, they argue that the fed= eral government has not fulfilled its responsibility to ensure that such = limits are based on adequate research." Seymour, a former = U.S. District Attorney for New York, represents Citizens for the Appropri= ate Placement of Telecommunications Facilities. To download docume=
ntation about the above, see the CARE website: www.c-a-r-e.org EPA considers public access to environmental pollution monitoring A poll conducted i= n April, 2000 by Princeton Survey Research Associates found that nine of = ten Americans want government to fund research of environmental causes of= disease and were dismayed when they discovered no federally funded, syst= ematic monitoring and evaluation exists. The U. S. Environm= ental Protection Agency recently announced plans to develop Environmental= Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) program. Th= e goal is to assist communities in providing sustainable public access to= environmental monitoring data and information that are communicated in r= eal-time (or timely), useful, and accurate in the largest U.S. metro area= s. Deadline for public comment is February 21, 2001. Environmental moni= toring consists of the systematic measurement, evaluation, and communicat= ion of physical, chemical, and/or biological information intended to give= insight into environmental conditions. EMPACT seeks to assist the Americ= an public in day-to-day decision-making about their health and the enviro= nment. The 1996 TelCom Ac= t unleashed 110,000 more antennas to be installed nationwide. The EPA doe= s not monitor radio frequency electromagnetic radiation emissions and is = not considering it with EMPACT planning. Microwave News rep= orts that the only EPA budgetary expense for EMR monitoring has been to a= ssign one staff member, Norbert Hankin, to work on radio frequency/microw= ave (RF/MW) radiation half time. Senator Joseph Lieberman asked the Gener= al Accounting Office to investigate the status of mobile phone safety res= earch in October, 1999. Before accepting the candidacy for U. S. Vice Pre= sident, Lieberman wrote the EPA (May, 2000) seeking details of the agency= ’s RF/MW activities. The reply was "EPA has no current or pendi= ng research studies on RF radiation health effects." Five years ago, a = Senate panel cut $350,000 from EPA’s budget with instruction that &q= uot;EPA should not engage in EMF (electromagnetic frequencies from electr= ic power lines) activities." While the panel appeared to be targetin= g EMF, the agency stopped all radio frequency/microwave (RF/MW) radiation= programs. American news media (controlled by the primary RF/MW polluters= and primary advertisers) selectively reports research about electrical p= ower lines that emit a tiny fraction of high-power broadcast transmitters= =2E To learn more abou=
t EMPACT, see es.e=
pa.gov/ncerqa/rfa/empact01.html |
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| Contact CARE Committee | |||||||||
![](3D"images-111500/antenUpd-Resident-Ch4-.jpg") |
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| O= ne resident lives only 150 feet from a short microwave tower where KCNC C= hannel 4 wants to install a high-power HDTV transmitter. | |||||||||
![](3D"images-100500/frmNatCentr2000.jpg") =
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| K= RMA-KCFR-KUVO tower of expanded use, 2000 | |||||||||
![](3D"images-100500/ColorowRd97-160px.jpg") |
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KRMA-KCFR-KUVO tower on Colorow Road adjacent to historic Boettcher Mansi=
on and Lookout Mountain Nature Center.
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View of KWGN tower from Buffalo Bill's Grave and Museum
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