Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Living Safely and Protecting Your Health / Letter to the Minister / Two types of smart meters / Cell phones and their danger / Recall: Rocket™ Internet™ Sticks

W.E.E.P. News

Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic Pollution News

7 July 2010

Living Safely with Electromagnetic Radiation: A Complete Guide for Protecting Your Health

For the past year and a half I have been busy writing a book and I have just published it. The title is Living Safely with Electromagnetic Radiation: A Complete Guide for Protecting Your Health. Milt Bowling did the technical review and Dr. George Carlo wrote the foreword. I wrote it because I felt that people might be interested in reading about EMR rather than listening to me talk about it.  I have attached a description of the book from my website www.EMFSafeHome.com

Jim Waugh

Letter to the Minister

From: Hillar Kalmar

Sent: May-10-10 10:01 PM
To: Yamamoto.MLA, Naomi
Subject: Clean Energy Act

Dear Ms. Yamamoto,

I am writing to express my concern over a provision of the Clean Energy Act which is currently before the legislature. My specific concern is that this piece of legislation, as written, apparently does not give homeowners the choice to opt out of using the proposed wireless meters, which are known to emit radiation that is unsafe.

Citizens across North America are concerned about the increased electromagnetic pollution such wireless meters will generate, without regard to a person's age or health.

The California Public Utilities Commission has been asked to mandate providing citizens with the ability to opt-out (refer
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/EFILE/A/116285.htm ) and included below is a letter from an Ontario resident which details the negative health effects from such wireless meters.

My understanding is that the Clean Energy Act, intended to be passed this session, exempts smart meters from any public discussion and, if this is indeed the case, I think it's disgraceful.

Please do your utmost to ensure that people are given the choice of safeguarding their health.

Respectfully,
Hillar Kalmar

Subject:
REF: 53987

Date:
Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:53:59 -0700

From:
Minister, EMPR EMPR:EX <EMPR.Minister@gov.bc.ca>

To:
kalmarh@shaw.ca

CC:
Minister, IGR IGRS:EX <IGR.Minister@gov.bc.ca>, Cindy.Verschoor@bchydro.com

Hillar Kalmar

pc:       IGR.Minister@gov.bc.ca

Cindy.Verschoor@bchydro.com

Dear Hillar Kalmar:

Honourable Naomi Yamamoto, Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations, has forwarded me a copy of your email of May 10, 2010 in which you express your concerns about electromagnetic radiation from smart meters.  As the newly appointed Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, I am pleased to respond on behalf of Minister Yamamoto.

The Clean Energy Act (CE Act), which was passed by the Legislature and became law on June 3, 2010, includes a provision requiring BC Hydro to install smart meters "in accordance with and to the extent required by the regulations" by the end of the 2012 calendar year.  This requirement is set out in Section 17 of the CE Act, which is available at http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th2nd/3rd_read/gov17-3.htm#section77.  While the regulation governing smart meters, including the extent to which they must be installed, has yet to be enacted, it is the Government's intention that every BC Hydro customer will have a smart meter.  There will not be a choice to opt out of BC Hydro's Smart Meter Program.

Smart meters will record both the amount of electricity consumed and when it is being consumed.  They will be equipped with wireless transmitters that communicate information about consumption to BC Hydro and to customers through in‑home feedback tools such as in-home displays or over the Internet.  Smart meters will give rise to multiple benefits, including the ability to save electricity and money, new rate options to promote conservation and faster outage detection. 

In addition, smart meters are an integral first step in BC Hydro's Smart Grid Program, which is intended to upgrade and modernize the electricity grid.  The Smart Grid Program will result in further benefits, such as theft detection, improved reliability, and the ability to accommodate new forms of renewable electricity generation, including electricity generated by residential customers through BC Hydro's Net Metering Program.  It will also help BC Hydro to accommodate electric vehicles and pave the way for future innovations.

The safety of workers, contractors and the public remains BC Hydro's highest priority.  I understand from BC Hydro that although radio frequency fields vary depending on the technology used, radio frequency exposure from wireless electricity meters is very low.  In fact, the components of a smart meter will emit radio signals similar to commonplace appliances, such as AM or FM radios and garage door openers.  Any device that BC Hydro installs must meet Health Canada's Safety Code 6, which governs human exposure to radio frequency and electromagnetic fields.  At a distance of one metre from a wireless meter, the exposure to the electromagnetic field drops to 3,000 times lower than the exposure limit set by Safety Code 6.  As an additional precaution, BC Hydro intends to include a metal backing on smart meters to direct radio frequency fields away from living space, almost eliminating emissions toward homes.

Given your concerns about the health effects of smart meters, I would recommend that you contact BC Hydro directly, as it is keeping track of customer concerns about smart meters in an effort to address them wherever possible.  If you wish to express your concerns, please contact Ms. Cindy Verschoor, Manager, Communications and Public Affairs, Smart Metering Program, BC Hydro, at Cindy.Verschoor@bchydro.com.

I trust this information addresses your concerns.  Thank you for writing.

Sincerely,

Original Signed By

Bill Bennett

Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources

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Two types of smart meters

Hi 

Dan and I thought all of you may be interested in knowing that there are two types of smart meters.  The one that is being installed across Ontario that Dan and others are sensitive to and an other type, one that is hard wired to your phone system.  Although to date we have not been granted an exemption, our local power company has agreed to install the hard wired non emf meter.  They will pay for the meter and we are required to pay $50 per month for the dedicated Bell phone line for the meter.  This is a solution that will enable us to live in our home and we will continue the battle regarding the exemption.    I am certain that you feel as we do that we should not be forced to pay for the phone line however that issue needs to be resolved in a different forum.

Kelly

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Cell phones and their danger

Dafna Rachover is an Israeli living in the U.S and suffers from EHS, with an idea to establish the first village in America for EHS people.  Her husband who wrote this article, teaches at Prinston university.

----- Original Message -----

From: Dafna Tachover

Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 1:33 AM

Subject: Richard's Article About the Dangers of Cell Phones - it will help you understand the truth

Following is an article by Richard that was published today, July 5th, about cell phones and their danger.

http://www.lfpress.com/comment/2010/07/02/14587546.html

Thanks

Dafna Tachover

Submitted by Iris

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Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)

Recall: Rocket™ and Fido Internet™ Sticks

Health Canada Issues Recall Notice for Rogers Rocket™ Stick and Fido Internet™ Stick - ZTE MF636 USB Modem

This recall involves the mobile wireless device model ZTE MF636 USB Modem distributed by Rogers Communications Inc. (under both the Rogers and Fido brands). The mobile wireless device is a USB stick that fits into a laptop to provide wireless Internet access.

Testing by Industry Canada and private sector laboratories has revealed that the device does not meet the radio frequency exposure limits established by the federal government and referenced in the Radiocommunication Act and its regulations.

Health Canada is of the opinion, based on the review of test results and its assessment of current science, that the past and current use of the device should not pose immediate or long-term health concerns. While test results exceeded the exposure limits of Safety Code 6, they were well below the threshold at which harmful health effects might occur.

Nevertheless, Health Canada supports the recall and encourages all consumers to take the corrective action outlined below.

November 26, 2009

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