Title
Resolution introduced by Alderpersons Schultz and Spears at the October 16, 2019 Common Council meeting relating to small cell wireless equipment:
#16-R-19
WHEREAS, small cell wireless equipment is designed to boost cellular service from the existing wireless carriers and will enable those carriers to implement 5G technology by placing these installations on existing streetlights and utility poles; and
WHEREAS, concerns have been raised about the health risks of 5G technology including small cell installations. Studies have linked low-level wireless radio frequency radiation exposures to adverse biological effects including DNA single and double strand breaks, oxidative damage, disruption of cell metabolism, increased blood brain barrier permeability, melatonin reduction disruption to brain glucose metabolism and generation of stress proteins. This list warrants additional scientific studies before residents are put at risk; and
WHEREAS, the health hazards of 5G technology have been intensely debated at the federal level before Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). There does not appear to be any widely accepted definitive scientific study that proves one way or the other whether small cell installations - emitting extremely high or “millimeter wave” frequencies above 24 GHz - may have an adverse health impact, though in 2011 the World Health Organization classified radio frequency radiation as a possible 2B carcinogen; and
WHEREAS, the only applicable FCC standards for radio-frequency radiation emissions were set in 1996 and did not consider the use of modern wireless equipment like small cells that will be located close to residences. Mere compliance with the FCC’s outdated standards does not assure safety; and
WHEREAS, the State of Wisconsin has preempted local governments from regulating the installation of small cells as it relates to their potential health effects or proximity to residential areas; and
WHEREAS, the FCC ...
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