65-foot cell tower in Chandler golf community can't be stopped, despite health, home value concerns

Chandler will get a massive new cell tower in the middle of the upscale Sunbird Golf Resort retirement community, a project that officials unanimously approved despite pushback from dozens of residents who worried about everything from home values to radiation.

City leaders were forced to approve the tower. A 1996 law gives the Federal Communications Commission the power to “preempt” local governments from having any say in where those towers crop up.

The rule has frustrated communities from Tucson to New Hampshire ever since the FCC started using those powers in 2018. Residents call the towers eyesores and say they diminish property values.

Some also worry about the health effects of radiation emitted by cell towers, a concern that communications companies dismiss as wacky. But while experts don't have solid proof of any danger, there is widespread agreement more research is needed before conclusively determining the towers are harmless.

Cities “cannot take into account” any health concerns, real or perceived, when approving tower permits, according to Chandler City Attorney Kelly Schwab. Local governments only have a small amount of control over how the towers look and how tall they can be — nothing else.

The national issue has now landed on Chandler’s doorstep in the form of a 65-foot-tall tower dressed up like a pine tree. Three dozen Sunbird residents signed a petition opposing it, but the city would “very likely” face a federal lawsuit that could carry a “significant” cost if it heeded that request.

“(This) is an area that is highly regulated on the federal and state level, and the local level has been almost completely preempted in its regulation,” Schwab said. “We cannot prohibit these types of facilities. They have a right to be there.”

Not every resident who gave their take on the tower objected to it. Nearly 100 said they supported it during the public outreach process because it's needed to fill a cell service gap in the area, which causes calls to be dropped “regularly” and can prevent 911 calls from getting through at the community for seniors, according to a city memo.

But it’s the inability to even consider saying no that infuriates local governments. They have tried and failed multiple times to get the law overturned in court, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

That case law makes irrelevant the voices of those who could be most affected, people like Helen Mortimer, whose home will be in sight of the tower in Chandler.

“I don’t consider myself rich. My retirement savings are tied up in my home, which serves as my future nest egg,” Mortimer said. “When I went to several appraisers … they did tell me that my house would be devalued because of the cell tower.”

What radiation does the cell tower emit and why?

Humans are exposed to radiation every day from the sun, the Earth itself and radon, a radioactive gas that is released from the ground and is constantly present in the air. Radiation itself isn't necessarily bad or dangerous, depending on the type, how strong it is or the extent of exposure to it.

Cell towers emit radiation in the form of radio frequency waves, which they use to communicate with cellphones. The strength of that radiation for 4G towers is about twice what a microwave oven emits, but the new 5G towers give off radiation that's between five and 50 times higher energy than older cell towers.

Such towers emit "non-ionizing" radiation, meaning it's not strong enough to directly damage DNA, which is how scientists believe "ionizing" radiation from things like plutonium can cause cancer.

The FCC also has said radio frequency emissions for the elevated towers "result in exposure levels on the ground that are typically thousands of times below safety limits" set by health experts.

What does science say about cell tower health impacts?

But questions linger because studies bolster claims by both cell tower skeptics and supporters and the body of research is at best incomplete or inconclusive.

Some fairly recent studies from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and World Health Organization have found evidence of possible links between cell tower emissions and cancer risks. Another from the European Parliament found that the radiation from them is "probably carcinogenic for humans" and "clearly" affected male fertility.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, based on a review of studies before 2011, classified "RF radiation as 'possibly carcinogenic to humans,'" based on estimates of increased risk factors of some, but not all, types of cancer. A Taiwan study found a "slightly" higher risk for kids who lived near cell towers based on estimates, not direct measurements of exposure.

The National Institutes for Health in 2018 found "clear evidence" that radiation equal to what a 3G cellphone emits gave rats cancer, while an Italian study found a "statistically significant" uptick in tumors among rats. But both studies exposed rodents to the radiation all over their bodies for hours every day.

They are all part of what ProPublica called a "a growing body of research" indicating health risks in an extensive investigation.

ProPublica's investigation found that even a federal appeals court accused the FCC in 2021 “of ‘brushing off’ evidence of potential harm and failing to explain its reasoning." The court also said it was unsure if the agency even “considered any of the evidence in the record.”

And when residents of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, began reporting headaches and confusion after a cell tower was built there, Verizon's expert, theoretical physicist Eric Swanson, suggested the affected locals “have psychological problems” during a meeting with town officials, ProPublica reported.

But no U.S. government agency, foreign health group or international organization has claimed that health risks have been proven.

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Most population studies on the issue have found no link, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The agency looked at national cancer trends and reviewed studies published between 2008 and 2018 and concluded that there is "insufficient evidence" to show that radio frequency radiation causes health issues.

Neither the National Toxicology Program nor the International Agency for Research on Cancer has "classified the cancer-causing potential of RF waves from cell phone towers specifically," according to the American Cancer Society's roundup of the issue.

Lack of conclusive proof and inconsistent findings prompted the American Cancer Society to say “most expert organizations agree that more research is needed … especially for any possible long-term effects.”

Cell companies, federal agencies disregard concerns and uncertainty

Cell companies continue to scoff at anyone who questions the health impacts, as they did last month at a Chandler City Council meeting.

Michael Powers of Atlas Tower Group, which is partnering with Verizon to build the new tower, told city officials the FCC’s website “gives you links to other organizations that are at least demonstrably not crackpot ideas,” an apparent jab at audience members who had expressed concern over the health ramifications of cell towers earlier during that meeting.

Powers later said that he did “not direct that to anyone in this room," but not before his dismissive comment drew the ire of Councilmember Mark Stewart.

"Concerns from the neighbors about health, those aren't 'crackpot' comments,” Stewart said. “Those are important for these folks.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chandler forced to approve huge cell tower in golf community