To the Editor,
The proposed cell tower on the Regional District of Nanaimo site, at 4600 Hammond Bay Rd., is causing quite a concern for the parents and staff of Hammond Bay Elementary School, which sits less than 200 metres from the site.
There are numerous studies and individual experiences out there that have proven that these cell towers could have negative health effects in people who spend a considerable amount of time within 400 metres, with children particularly at risk.
However, there are just as many studies out there claiming that they are safe in the short term.
I have not come across any studies that have been able to prove for certain that long-term exposure to these cell towers have no ill effect. How do you know what to believe, or who to believe?
The Vancouver School Board has a policy in place that states that a school can not be within 300 meters of a cell tower.
Nanaimo school district does not presently have any such policy.
The indisputable fact is long-term exposure effects are unknown.
How can we, as parents, knowingly expose our vulnerable children to this unknown for six or more hours a day for eight years of elementary school when we just don’t know the long-term effects that this tower could have?
It is our hope that the Nanaimo school district will adopt the same policy as the Vancouver school board, but increase the distance to 400 metres to be safe. The risk of the unknown is just too great.
N. and S. Wolff
Nanaimo
