Page One

Open Letter to the Berkeley City Council: 

I am writing about the issue of the RF frequency meter readings submitted as evidence in the people’s appeal from the Zoning Adjustment Board decision to grant Sprint a use permit for cellular antennas at 1600 Shattuck Ave. The appellants found data suggesting that existing levels of such radiation, even before the installation of three new proposed antennas, exceed the FCC safety standards.  

Though many people believe and scientific studies conclude that the Federal Communications Commission regulations permit imprudent levels of radiation as it is, the regulations govern and the appellants have not raised that issue. 

Questions were raised by Sprint and the consultant they paid regarding the implications of the fact that the appellants had not tested the meter used for calibration, though brand new.  

As a person trained in science myself, I recognize that the data produced cannot be considered to be conclusive. However, the data must be taken into account as it raises the reasonable question of whether or not RF radiation exceeding FCC standards at the site presently exists. The fact is that a serious question exists, and there is data that clearly supports getting it answered in a conclusive manner. 

Dr. Shahruz, who borrowed and operated the meter, testified that the more sophisticated meter available to be borrowed would have cost him $300 to calibrate. Hardly a level playing field with the resources Sprint brings to bear. 

Nevertheless, the data produced is valuable because it demonstrates the reasonable necessity that the issue of cumulative radiation levels should have been studied as part of any competent engineering study. The failure to run such studies by the firm contracted to do the report is clear evidence of the inadequacy of the study.  

The need to establish present ambient levels is a no brainer. The failure of the Sprint paid consultant is more evidence to support my belief that the author of the study was biased in favor of Sprint. The entire effort appeared to be to show that the application should be approved. This is no surprise since the cellular industry is the bread and butter of the people who contract to do these things.  

In theory, city staff should be assuring the independence and fairness of the study. It is my understanding that the firm hired, apparently using either Sprint’s own equipment or equipment funded by Sprint, conducted the study with a city staff person in attendance.  

The problem is that from the time I first discovered the Nextel stealth application, which led to a couple of communities joining together to get passage of the cellular ordinance, city staff at several levels have been consistent advocates of the cellular industry. The present study is shot through with holes and omissions. The city staff, with an agenda opposed to and flagrantly violating the ordinance passed by the lawfully superior city council, is cozy to the cellular industry and is this flawed study’s cheering section.  

It is the city’s duty to the people to study this issue in an unbiased way. I do not trust the “independent” contractor nor do I trust the city staff to protect the legitimate interests, rights and welfare of Berkeley’s citizens. I think that the city should be required to allow a representative of the people’s appellants to be present as such studies are being done. I nominate the People’s Electrical Engineer, Dr. Shahram Shahruz, to be the peoples monitor in the future. For a variety of reasons I call upon the city council to keep its covenant with the people and uphold the people’s appeal to deny the placement of the antennas in a heavily populated area very near schools, residences and otherwise heavily used areas.  

Leonard Schwartzburd, Ph.D.