[EMR (Albert M. Manville, Cell Towers, EMF, Pets, Plants, Wi-Fi in Parks, Wilderness Organizations, Wildlife Conservation, Willie R. Taylor US Department of the Interior) – Site C (Adrian Dix, Costs, Democracy Watch, Independent Power Producers John Horgan, Kevin Aquino) – Smart Meters (Arcing / Explosions / Fires / Flashovers, BC Hydro, Corix, CPS Energy, CSA Certification, Damaged Appliances, Design Flaws, Howard Lerner, Installations, Insurance, Itron, Landis+Gyr, Lithium Batteries, Mike Donovan O&R Orange & Rockland Utilities / Rockland Electric Company, Safety, Senator David Carlucci, UL Protocol 2735) – Write to Popular Science re Sara Chodosh Article (AAEM, AAP, Anthony B. Miller, Beverly Rubick, Blood, Brain, Cancer, Cell Phones, Children, Doctor Devra Davis, EMF Scientist Appeal, Fertility, Health, Heart, Hypoxia, Industry Lobbyists, International Doctors’ Appeal, Joel Moskowitz, Marcus Schluschen Letter, Martin Blank, Martin L. Pall, RFR, Studies, WHO, Wi-Fi) | Campbell River & Nanaimo & Prince George & Salt Spring Island & Summerland, BC – Forest, Ontario – Palo Alto & Stockton, California & New City, New York & San Antonio, Texas, USA] & (videos)
1) BC Hydro’s argument that Site C is needed for additional power is hollow since BC Hydro’s predictions of increased need/use over the last decade or so have all been far over-stated. And, as the NDP noted last year, BC Hydro pays third parties NOT to produce energy. We are paying for energy not to be produced as well as for Site C to produce power that perhaps will never be needed. Why did Premier Horgan ignore this when he made his decision to move forward with Site C?
(click on photos to enlarge)
“When Horgan made his announcement of going forward based on cost analysis, there was no mention of the costs of paying independent power producers across the province not to produce power because of over-supply. According to the NDP’s Adrian Dix, in an interview with DeSmog Canada in 2016, Capital Power Corp. is being paid under contract $55 million a year until April of 2022 not to produce power.”
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/letters/hydro-paying-for-no-power-1.23131769
Here is the Desmog article referenced in the Times Colonist, provided by a member:
2) Another member sent this YouTube from Texas showing smeter installations which are much more carefully done than they are/were in BC. The comments are his.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0bq2Hn2vOo
“Look at the additional steps this installer has to do.
#1 Add jumpers so the customers do not lose power.
This step removes the power surge when the new meter is plugged in.
This step stops the arcing on the meter lugs and the customer’s meter base.
#2 This meter installer tested the customer’s socket or “jaws” on the homeowner’s meter base to insure there was enough tension to stop any arcing.
This step is also very important in reducing fires.
Might want to ask BC Hydro why these safety steps were not done in British Columbia.
The opening shot shows Corix rolling down the road.
It might be interesting to ask Hydro why these safety steps were NEVER done in British Columbia.
CPS Energy of San Antonio, Texas – I guess these customers in Texas are more important than the BC residents.”
The member also sent some videos of meter exchanges in BC, even a commercial by BC Hydro showing how an exchange will occur – and it omits steps. The comparisons are stark. We have to remember, in addition, that Corix hired people off the street who had no relevant work experience or training, gave them a few hours training before sending them out to do what a highly trained electrician/linesman normally does. It is no wonder that fires are occurring – often many months after the exchange – and some of these fires could be due to improper installations. In no instance should a meter exchange be done “live”. In fact, the CSA says that a meter base should never be used to cut power, and by so doing our meter bases risk losing CSA certification which could result in insurers refusing to pay claims should a fire occur at the meter.
“CSA C22.2 NO. 115-14 1.5 says “Meter-mounting devices, as covered by this Standard, are not intended to be used as load-making or load-breaking devices.”, meaning that electricity must be disconnected or turned off during meter exchanges. Aside from the obvious concern about the arcing and consequent pitting which occurs when contacts are made or broken under load, another concern is that one’s meter base could lose its CSA certification if it’s been used as a load-break device.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H4fvWcw-bQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27uZhs1NtKE A BC Hydro commercial showing a meter install.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Or2g4y76w This one shows the installer pounding the meter in which can cause damage. Instead a steady strong pressure, 100 pounds, needs to be pressed.
3) Despite meters failing, fires, and appliances, etc. being damaged during installations of smeters, this New York utility says smeters are safe…. Due to Senator Carlucci’s apparent interest in the safety issue (more than we’ve seen from any BC MLAs), I sent him some information about smeters and fires. My letter is below.
Smart Meter Installation A Safety Issue: Carlucci
“State Senator David Carlucci visited local homeowners in New City Friday to highlight a consumer protection issue, saying his office has received several calls about fires starting when Smart Meters were installed by Orange and Rockland Utilities. O&R officials said the meters are safe and reliable and installation problems have been rare.”
https://patch.com/new-york/newcity/smart-meter-installation-safety-issue-carlucci
http://www.news12.com/story/37159878/new-city-man-smart-meter-installation-damaged-home
4) From a member re. EMR being listed as one of the emerging issues affecting global conservation (see update 2017-12-29 (https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/2017-12-29-emr-named-as-one-of-the-top-emerging-issues-for-global-conservation/)
“It occurred to me to write to some of the wilderness organization, like Pacific Wild, and send them information on the dangers to wildlife of EMR. They should be a natural ally.
I sent along this piece, which really annoys me: Wi-Fi in National and Provincial Parks! Not just in the USA.
There are many conservation groups that should be concerned about EMR, and most likely would be if they knew about the issue. I hope you will consider writing to some. Some are available here:
https://www.thoughtco.com/top-wildlife-conservation-organizations-4088567
Letters:
From: Marcus Schluschen (name given with permission)
To: sara@popsci.com ; letters@popsci.com
Sent: December 30, 2017
Subject: irresponsible article on cell phones
Dear editor,
The recent article: “Cell phones aren’t a public health risk, no matter what California says”, by Sara Chodosh, is a testimony to her lack of education, regarding radiofrequency microwave radiation.
Her article is slanted to such an absurd degree in favour of the cell phone industry, one is led to believe that she is a PAID cell phone industry lobbyist. People like her are referred to by the science community as: “hired guns”.
What do real medical scientists say, those who studied the biological effects of cell phone and WiFi radiation?
American Academy of Environmental Medicine
“The peer reviewed, scientific literature demonstrates the correlation between RF exposure and neurological, cardiac, and pulmonary disease as well as reproductive and developmental disorders, immune dysfunction, cancer and other health conditions. The evidence is irrefutable!”
In September 2010, the Journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine-Fertility and Sterility, reported that only four hours of exposure to a standard laptop using WiFi caused DNA damage to human sperm.”
“In December 2012 the American Academy of Pediatrics, representing 60,000 pediatricians, wrote to Congress requesting that it update the safety levels of microwave radiation exposure especially for children and pregnant women.”
International Doctors Appeal 2012
Scientific studies repeatedly demonstrate that electromagnetic fields can impair self-regulation and cause adverse biological impacts, including: increased permeability of the protective blood-brain barrier, changes in brain wave activity, unbalanced release of neurotransmitters and hormones (especially the increase in stress hormones), immune system impairment, damage to genetic material, and lowered fertility, to name only a few of the well-established examples. Oxidative cell stress—a major cause of many diseases— has been shown to be a central effect mechanism of radiation exposure.
Ms. Chodosh would be wise to see for herself, just how adversely cell phone radiation affects the human body. Non-ionizing cell phone radiation affects heart, the brain and the blood, as Dr. Beverly Rubick illustrated in her studies of blood so vividly. This undesirable biological effect is called Hypoxia (blood clumping).
To state it is perfectly safe to tape a cell phone to their face is the height of irresponsibility at a time when 236 scientists from 41 nations, who collectively published over 2000 papers on non-ionizing radiation, call for much tougher EMF safety guidelines in the International EMF Scientist Appeal to the United Nations and the WHO.
American Academy of Environmental Medicine
https://www.aaemonline.org/pdf/WiredSchools.pdf
International Doctors’ Appeal 2012
http://freiburger-appell-2012.info/media/International_Doctors_Appeal_2012_Nov.pdf
Does Short-term Exposure to Cell Phone Radiation Affect the Blood? – yes it does, most disturbingly it shows nasty hypoxia formations!
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/does-short-term-exposure-to-cell-phone-radiation-affect-the-blood/
International EMF Scientist Appeal
https://www.emfscientist.org/
To uphold journalistic integrity, it would be prudent of your publication to invite a rebuttal to Ms. Chodosh’s opinion piece by internationally regarded scientists, such as Dr. Martin Blank, Dr. Devra Davis, Dr. Joel Moskowitz, Dr. Martin Pall or the science advisor to the WHO, Prof. Dr. Anthony Miller.
A publication loses integrity when such irresponsible opinion pieces are allowed publication.
Kind regards,
Marcus Schluschen
_________________________________________________________________________
From: Sharon Noble
Sent: December 30, 2017
To: carlucci@nysenate.gov
Subject: Smart Meter fires
Dear Sen. Carlucci,
I just read about some smart meter problems in Rockland County. http://www.news12.com/story/37159878/new-city-man-smart-meter-installation-damaged-home I was intrigued to see that the fire coordinator asked inspectors if there had been other fires caused by smart meters and was told no.
I live in British Columbia, Canada, and have been researching smart meter fires for more than 3 years. We have ITRON meters but through my research I have been told by independent electrical engineers that all smart meters have similar components with similar design flaws that cause the meters to be fire hazards. I will list a few of the flaws that have been identified to me:
1) The meters are made of combustible plastic and ignite quickly. Analogs are made of glass and metal and are unlikely to combust.
2) Most meters have remote disconnect switches which have not been CSA or UL certified. These switches can arc, causing the meter to burn.
3) The meters do not have surge protectors and have been known to burn and explode when a power surge occurs. You can check online and find several incidents, e.g Palo Alto, California, Stockton, California. Forest, Ontario, Summerland, British Columbia.
4) Some meters have lithium batteries to maintain data when there is an outage. The lithium batteries might explode when they overheat or get wet.
There are many other technical flaws which I am sure an electrical engineer will explain if you can find one who has taken a smart meter apart and examined it closely. Even meters that have been UL certified have caused fires, e.g. Landis+Gyr. The UL protocol #2735 which is used to certify smart meters apparently is not adequate given the complexity of these devices.
Many of us contribute photos and articles about fires to a common website http://emfsafetynetwork.org/smart-meters/smart-meter-fires-and-explosions/ . I believe you and the fire coordinator will find this of interest.
Senator Carlucci, if you would like more information or would like to be put in touch with some electrical engineers, please let me know.
Regards,
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
Victoria, BC
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”
~ Albert Einstein