The phrasing Bill Bates uses to describe the electromagnetic field measurements he found at an Addison home three years ago is not what you`d call reassuring.
”The place was red hot,” said Bates, lab supervisor at the University of Illinois-Chicago`s electrical engineering department. The university measures the levels of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) for anyone who requests the service. This particular family had read stories and seen a report on television suggesting an enhanced rate of childhood cancer for children exposed to excessive levels of electromagnetic fields from high-voltage power lines and other sources.
”She was so scared she was shaking when we got there,” said Bates, whose staff has measured hundreds of homes in the past three years. The transmission tower lines stretched less than a football field from the family`s home.
”He told us if we lived in the house next door (closer to the lines)
he`d tell us definitely we should move,” said the homeowner, who asked that her name not be published.
Bates took the readings using a simple device-a box with a needle fluctuating on a scale like a metronome and a wand that captured the electromagnetic field strengths. He registered levels in the plus-20 milligauss range in some parts of the house and yard.
Was that high? Typically, UIC engineers when checking homes see from 3 to 5 milligauss (the unit of measurement for the fields created by AC power is the gauss; ”milli” is the measurement in thousandths).
”We had just built the house and we didn`t know what to do,” said the woman, who has three small children. ”He said where we are it`s an enormous issue, but there`s no proof. I lost so much sleep over it. We go on vacation and you think, `Great, they`re cancer-free for two weeks.` ”
The subject of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and whether they pose a danger to health, particularly that of children, is under more scrutiny than ever by university researchers, utility companies and state and federal governments.
The American public`s first pangs of fear were felt in 1989 with the publication of a series of articles in The New Yorker magazine by Paul Brodeur, who later expanded his work into a book titled ”Currents of Death.” Brodeur marshaled research suggesting links between cancer and the electric and magnetic fields emanating from common electrical current-not just high power lines, but everyday household appliances.
The research went back to a Denver study 15 years ago that suggested a connection between cases of childhood leukemia and EMFs.
Many other studies followed. An EPA draft report reaffirming the cancer-EMF relationship was leaked to the media in 1989, then strongly recanted by the agency.
Utility companies reassured their customers. Careful use of household appliances-the electric can opener emitted the highest readings (66 mG) in studies-became the theme of the official technospeak buzzphrase ”prudent avoidance”: Don`t sit too close to the TV; move the bedside clock away from your head.
But what about power lines? Electromagnetic fields decrease dramatically with distance. Is there a health threat if a home, public school or other public place where people are exposed for very large amounts of time stands close to power lines?
”To this point it appears the issue is still far from being resolved,”
says Ron Johnson, Commonwealth Edison district superintendent in Crestwood.
”As a company, we support the research (that is being done), because if they do find something, obviously it won`t just be Commonwealth Edison that changes the way it does business. It`ll be the whole world.”
Meanwhile power lines are a common sight in both the rural and developed areas of Du Page County, and community activists have taken tough stands in both Du Page and Kane Counties regarding proposals by Commonwealth Edison to erect more high-voltage lines in residential neighborhoods.
The Wheaton City Council recently passed an ordinance prohibiting major substations in residential neighborhoods, and residents in Naperville and Aurora organized to help scuttle a proposal for a new school in District 204 that would be constructed near power lines.
In Kane County, Com Ed announced Sept. 1 that it was shelving plans to build a string of 138,000-volt electrical towers through Blackberry Township. The plan had been opposed by a community group called No Power Towers, an organization that began a year ago with nine landowners of the property the towers were slated for, and has grown to more than 1,000 people today.
Com Ed said the $4 million project was put on the back burner due to current financial restrictions within the company, though No Power Towers claimed at least a partial victory since the utility would have had to condemn the land to get right of way when the owners refused to sell, inflating the cost of the project.
Perhaps the area`s most divisive issue, though, is Com Ed`s plan to erect 138,000-volt lines along three miles of the Illinois Prairie Path, the biking and hiking trail in western Du Page County.
In March, the Du Page County Board backed citizens concerned about the power lines` EMF emissions by voting in favor of a proposal re-routing the lines along the East-West Tollway.
The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has said the plan would not be acceptable, however, in part because it would interfere with future tollway expansion.
Com Ed has proposed a compromise plan affecting three miles of the Prairie Path from the Eola Road substation to Williams Street in Warrenville, as opposed to the original seven miles, and according to Com Ed Glenbard district manager Alan Wozniak, ”That is the best route available.”
Said Wozniak, ”The power is needed for the residential and commerical expansion both in Wheaton and the Warrenville area. We run the risk of having outages of electricity because basically the system is loaded as far as it can go.”
The $15 million project is slated to be ready for operation in 1994, and though the Du Page County Board opposes the measure and plans to file a petition of intervention to the Illinois Commerce Commission, the utility ultimately possesses the right of way through the region.
”In my opinion,” said Naperville attorney Robert Heap, a County Board member, ”running these high-tension wires with the EMFs surrounding them every inch of the way is not the right thing to do. It may cost more money (to re-route the lines), but if we`re dealing with people`s lives and the unknown effects, I don`t know if money should be that much of an issue.”
Com Ed points out that no definitive cause-and-effect relationship between the EMFs and cancer has been established.
”In this day and age, no matter what you propose, there will be some special interest group that will oppose it,” said Com Ed Aurora district manager Bob Berdelle. ”We can`t let that be the obstacle. If it`s the right thing to do, the decision needs to be made to do it.”
When the Addison homeowner made the decision to build on a beautiful site she and her husband chose, she barely noticed the electrical tower.
Now, she said, ”If I was to do it again, I wouldn`t build it there. Every time I look out the window I just wish I could knock it down.”
