A bill is pending in the California Assembly that will be heard in two separate committees on Wednesday, June 28th. If it passes and becomes law effective January 1, 2018, nearly all cell towers or masts may be sited by telecom carriers without any local control. In a flex of corporate power and influence over the legislature, an amendment was added to the bill at the 11th hour to grant a pass to macro towers, allowing cell towers of multiple shapes and sizes to be sited without cities or local residents having any say in the matter. In what is the first exemption based on health in the US, the California legislature has granted an exemption from Senate Bill 649 to the firefighters. They will be exempt from automatic placement of cell towers on their stations. The California firefighters have experienced often disabling symptoms following installation of towers on their stations and thus agreed to undergo SPECT brain scans and other neurological tests in 2004. This study was organized by Susan Foster, a US Advisor to the UK EM Radiation Research Trust, and following the results which showed brain abnormalities in all six men tested, Susan wrote the original version of Res. 15 which passed the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) in August 2004 calling for further testing and a moratorium on the placement of cell towers on stations in the US and Canada. Susan and others opposed to SB 649 believe the passage of this bill would truly be a tipping point from which there would be no return.

Her letter to the California Assembly Members can be found here.