Reconsider plan to build cell tower in San Rafael

What if your home was randomly selected to receive significant toxic exposure — day and night, for the foreseeable future? When AT&T and St. Luke Church in San Rafael jointly applied for a new 30foot tall installation with nine antennas — disguised as a bell tower — this was, effectively, the question nearby residents faced.

There is ample scientific evidence that shows that close proximity to a cell tower significantly increases the risk of cancer and other diseases. I have seen research that says 1,000 feet is considered the minimum safe distance. The homes near the church are much closer than that.

Consider the ruckus if I created loud noise outside your home, day and night, without stopping. It wouldn’t be allowed. I also couldn’t shine a bright light directly through your window or create noxious fumes outside your home. That would be an understandable nuisance and the fumes would be a toxic threat. We have laws against that.

But consider the poor folks who, seemingly overnight, will wake up to find a new cell tower feet from their homes. There are no laws to protect them.

This invisible, odorless threat — a carcinogen — has, so far, slipped through the net of public safety. Championed by powerful telecom advocates and lobbyists, the money and power is on the side of the corporations, not on the side of the people.

A tower this size in a residential neighborhood sets a dangerous precedent for all towns in Marin. I ask the church leaders to look at the scientific literature, and then ask themselves if the money earned from the tower is worth the potential harm it could cause neighbors and parishioners.

— Rachel Gaunt, Mill Valley