Telus Communications has proposed a 45-meter-high (148 ft tall or similar height of a 15 story building) cell tower at 1609 Green Lake Road, Okanagan Falls. Site Code: BC109948 is slated to be built approximately 1000 meters away from Okanagan Falls Elementary and many residential homes are in close proximity.  This huge tower would be in plain sight at the Shuttleworth Creek entrance to the beautiful channel trails.  

According to published peer reviewed literature, people who live within 400 meters to a Cell Tower will have a much higher chance in developing cancers and other serious diseases. This will not only impact ourselves but also the health of our children. Studies have found that children living near broadcasting towers have TWICE the rate of leukemia of children living more than 7 miles away. It interferes with sleeping patterns, concentration, and their development.

The World Health Organization has listed radio frequency (RF) radiation emitted by cell phone towers as a possible carcinogen, meaning possible cancer cause. So yes the radiation is harmful. The closer you are physically located to a cell tower, the more harmful it is.

Health Effects: The microwaves from cell phone towers can interfere with your body’s own EMFs, causing a variety of potential health problems, including:

Headaches
Memory loss
Cardiovascular stress
Low sperm count
Birth defects
Cancer 
References: 

https://ehtrust.org/cell-tower-radiation/​

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/cell_phone_towers_238

Cancer rates more than tripled among people living within 400 meters of cell phone towers or antennas, a German study found.  Those within 100 meters were exposed to radiation at 100 times normal levels.  An Israeli study found risk of cancer quadrupled among people living within 350 meters (1,148 feet) of a cell phone transmitter—and seven out of eight cancer victims were women. Both studies focused only on people who had lived at the same address for many years.

Other studies have found that levels of radiation emitted from cell phone towers can damage cell tissues and DNA, causing miscarriage, suppressing immune function, and causing other health problems.

Reference: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/cell-tower-safety/

The proportion of newly developed cancer cases was three times higher for those living within 1300 feet (400m) of a cellular transmitter compared to those living further away. In addition, they found that the patients became ill with cancer on average 8 years earlier.

Another important observation from the research is that for the first 5 years of living near a cell phone tower, the risks were no different than someone living far away from one. However, in years 6-10, the cancer risks jumped more than threefold for those living a quarter of a mile or less from a mobile tower. Even more concerning, the average age of diagnosis was much younger. Risk for breast cancer, prostate, pancreas, bowel, melanoma, lung, and blood cancer all increased substantially.

The risks for breast cancer were most significant for those living in the inner area, with an average age of 50.8 year for a cancer diagnosis compared with nearly two decades later (70 years of age) for those in the outer area.

Reference: https://www.cancer.org/healthy/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/cellular-phone-towers.html

Even from the American Cancer Society itself. At this time, there’s no strong evidence that exposure to RF waves from cell phone towers causes any noticeable health effects. However, this does not mean that the RF waves from cell phone towers have been proven to be absolutely safe. Most expert organizations agree that more research is needed to help clarify this, especially for any possible long-term effects.

Compilation of research studies: https://ehtrust.org/cell-towers-and-cell-antennae/compilation-of-research-studies-on-cell-tower-radiation-and-health/ 

It's our responsibility to make sure that we do everything in our power to protect our loved ones. As a community, we need to come together to put a stop to this before it impacts the health of ourselves, our parents and our children. 

After speaking to many parents and neighbours who have voiced concerns, we decided to move forward with action to oppose the tower and with this petition. So, we are asking for your help, for our fellow community members to say NO to the tower going up while there is still time. Please stand with us, speak up and make it loud. The companies involved didn’t want you to have a voice, they did the bare minimum to inform us.  Only those residences within 1 kilometre were notified formally by lettermail. Now is our chance to speak up and stop the tower!

Public meeting scheduled March 28@5pm at the Okanagan Falls Rec Center multipurpose room.

Thank you!