TOMORROW!! Help NJ towns stop telecom giants from installing cell towers
Belmar and Wanaque residents are fighting to block dangerous cell towers
The 5G whac-a-mole continues as telecom companies continue to push to erect toxic and unsightly cell towers in a neighborhood near you. But New Jerseyans are fighting back!
Tomorrow (April 18) concerned citizens are invited to gather in both Wanaque and Belmar in an effort to stop cell towers from going up in their communities.
Wanaque seeks to stop a cell tower from going up at the local high school
In Wanaque, NJ, parents have been leading an effort to stop T-Mobile from installing cell tower next to the Lakeland Regional High School.
The Lakeland Families Coalition is inviting the community to make a strong showing at a Wanaque Planning Board meeting this Thursday. The coalition anticipates a re-vote on the approval of the T-Mobile cell tower now that it has been discovered that previous votes may have been based on misleading legal advice from the town attorney (see below). It will be held in the Wanaque Borough Municipal Building @ 7pm.
These parents are trying to prevent a situation like this one…
Sprint shut down a cellphone tower on the campus of a California elementary school after some parents said it may be linked to several recent cases of childhood cancer. Those families at Weston Elementary School in Ripon claim the tower could have exposed their kids to harmful radiation. Sprint said the tower is safe and has operated well below federal safety limits, but the company turned it off anyway and plans to move it to a new location.
And, thanks to their efforts, there’s hope.
On February 15, 2024, the planning board voted to approve plans for the construction and installation of a 130 ft tower on the high school grounds, only 150 feet from the school building. However, one board member has since made a motion to rescind his previous after discovering that his vote was based on false information provided to the planning board by the town attorney.
In a notice from to Lakeland Families Coalition’s Dena Botbyl explains:
The planning board’s attorney told the board members that in deciding how to vote that night, they had to consider the fact that this board had approved T-Mobile’s application for a cell tower at Lakeland High School in 2010. The clear implication to board members was that because the board had approved the cell tower at Lakeland in 2010, it had to do so again in 2024. In fact, the board member who cast the deciding vote in favor of the tower explained his “yes” vote on the record, saying he only did so because he believed that since T-Mobile already had the right to build a cell tower at Lakeland at a site closer to the high school building, and by voting “yes,” at least the tower would be built further away from the building.
But the planning board attorney, Steven Veltri, gave misleading legal advice to the planning board. Under Wanaque’s Borough Code, T-Mobile’s 2010 site plan approval expired years ago and is void. It has no legal relevance…
We've demanded a revote at the next planning board meeting, and with this new evidence, there's no doubt the board's decisions SHOULD change, based on what Planning Board members said were the reasons for their votes on the record.
We must make sure that the Planning Board members are true to their words. We need to pack the Borough Hall on March 21* and demand that the Planning Board vote to reconsider its decision approving the cell tower and then hold a NEW VOTE with the clear instruction that the fact that the Planning Board had approved a different cell tower at a different location on the Lakeland property is totally irrelevant to the current application.
This victory isn't just for us; it's for everyone in Wanaque, Haskell, and Ringwood!!!
Huge thanks to our attorney, Robert Berg, and to every single person who's stood with us since December. (*the vote had to be postponed to April 18)
Supporting documents here. You can read some additional background here.
Why is this happening? And how come we have to fight so hard to stop it?
An NPR article from 2017 gives us a clue…
School districts — hard up for cash — are turning to an unlikely source of revenue: cell towers. The multistory metal giants are cropping up on school grounds in Chicago, Milpitas, Calif., Collier County, Fla. and many other places across the country.
The big reason: money. As education budgets dwindle, districts are forming partnerships with telecom companies to allow use of their land in exchange for some of the profits. (emphasis mine)
Belmar seeks to stop 20 cell towers from going up along the beach
Children’s Health Defense will be co-hosting a Town Hall in Belmar:
Join us for a Town Hall on April 18th to hear from Scott McCollough, CHD’s lead EMR and Wireless litigator, about the 5G towers going up on Jersey Shore boardwalks and why they are dangerous — we need you to get involved! These towers pose a serious threat to the environment, plants and animals alike.
Event Details
April 18, 2024, at 7 p.m. ET
Town Hall at The Taylor Pavilion
500 Ocean Ave N
Belmar, NJ 07719Big Telecom and Big Wireless are aggressively building a dense network of 5G towers along the Jersey Shore beaches and boardwalks. Children’s Health Defense needs your help in the fight to stop construction of these towers near fragile ecosystems, homes and recreational areas with no regard for the safety of residents and the environment.
Join the fight and meet us in Belmar, NJ — we’ll see you there!
Here’s how NJ.com frames it:
Despite Verizon’s reassurances, critics say the project would obstruct views, harm vulnerable wildlife and hurt property values in the 5,900-resident Monmouth County borough known for its boardwalk and beach. A Change.org petition asking Verizon to abandon its plans had more than 3,900 signatures as of this week…
Although electromagnetic radiation is not listed in the case as one of the potential detrimental impacts of the Belmar cell towers, both the Children’s Health Defense and Belmar Against 5G Towers websites list it as one of their concerns.
Scientists and public health organizations say there is no evidence establishing a link between wireless technology, including 5G, and cancer or other illnesses.
“No adverse health effect has been causally linked with exposure to wireless technologies,” according to the World Health Organization.
The Federal Communications Commissions has also previously said the possibility that a member of the general public could be exposed to excess radio frequency levels from wireless technology is extremely remote.
You can read background on the current legal battle here.
You can read explore more about the potential health impacts of cell towers and electromagnetic radiation here, here and here.
You can support CHD’s efforts here.
It’s happening everywhere.
While the FCC and telecommunications companies continue to cite research from the 90s to dismiss and deny the impacts of electromagnetic radiation, the evidence of harm is mounting.
Regulatory authorities have reserved a cozy spot for smart meters under the“safe and effective” umbrella based on decades old and obsolete research because the show must go on.
Let’s cancel the show.
If you’re able, consider showing up to support one of these communities tomorrow.
Many times in the past passed those expensive homes in Alpine NJ with a cell tower "disguised" as a pine tree and was shocked that health hazard was allowed to continue. Glad they are now being fought.
There's a potential cell phone tower (disguised as a tree) in the works at an elementary school here in Tucson. Sent this information to the group of people fighting it.