According to a study on Microwave and Radio Frequency Radiation Exposure (see www.mountshastaecology.org/17other01cellphones.html) "even at low levels of this radiation, there is evidence of damage to cell tissue and DNA, and it has been linked to brain tumors, cancer, suppressed immune function, depression, miscarriage, Alzheimer's disease, and numerous other serious illnesses." Research from the United Kingdom indicates that children are at the greatest risk, due to thinner skulls and an accelerated growth rate. Not only will this tower be within 50 feet of my children's bus stop and a few hundred feet of my home, it will also be only some hundreds of yards from the home of the Barnegat Jr. Bengals and in close proximity to a large number of homes and businesses along and adjacent to Route 9, Gunning River Road, Lower Shore Road and the old part of town.

I learned that over 100 physicians and scientists at Harvard and Boston University Schools of Public Health have called cellular towers a radiation hazard. Unfortunately, the U.S. standard for radiation exposure from cell phone towers is among the least protective in the world. (see www.mountshastaecology.org/17other01cellphones.html). Some European countries have legislated levels that are 10,000 times more protective than ours; it's a matter of requiring telecommunications companies to comply.

The more I read, the more I realize that this one cell tower doesn't affect just my family, but hundreds of families in Barnegat. I'm amazed that such a major decision can be made without informing the community at large! This isn't the same as informing owners within a few hundred feet that a residence or business is going to be built. Cell towers have potentially far reaching consequences and accordingly, should be treated far differently.

Now that my immediate world is threatened, I'm looking around and I realize that many such towers have already sprouted in our landscape and with little or no public discussion. I begin to wonder, just how many of these waves already bombard us as we live, work, and play? Why aren't we consulted about the number and placement of these towers that are so likely to adversely affect our lives and worse, the lives of our children?

I invite anyone who is concerned about the placement of a cell tower on Lower Shore Rd. to join us at the Barnegat Township Planning Board meeting on Tuesday, February 27th at 7:30 PM in the Barnegat Municipal Building at 900 West Bay Ave. in Barnegat.

We have an awfully short time period in which to act, and only one meeting in which to oppose this site. I realize that we need cell towers, but feel that they should be sited as far away from human habitation and activity as possible. Let's find another site.

For more information call Jamie Griffin at 609.290.8760/jgriffin003@aol.com
Visit:
www.mountshastaecology.org/17other01cellphones.html
www.emrnetwork.org/siting/orion.htm
www.wave-guide.org/library/studies.html