1) Some good ideas from a member who fought to get and got an analog replacement.
“I would recommend that anyone getting a meter exchange that is fortunate enough to receive another analog, that they contact Measurement Canada (MC) via email as soon as they have the new meter number.
They can then ask MC to provide the “seal expiry” or “re-certification seal” date. MC will request this from BC Hydro…get them to ask for a copy of the email that BC Hydro sends to MC. It should contain a screen capture of the database that BC Hydro uses to verify seal expiry dates. I have provided you, Sharon, with this info already.
This way BC Hydro can’t swap out the meter (we hope) until it expires again. At the very least, the residential customer has proof of when the seal expires.
Personally, I would recommend that all correspondence with BC Hydro or FortisBC be done via email so that there is a record of every conversation. This is how I did it and ended up with a CGE Analog meter in January 2016 that doesn’t expire until 2021. My emails stretch back as far as September 2015, but I actually fought getting a $$meter for 1.5 years.”
2) A MAJOR STUDY: In Italy, large studies have shown that exposure to magnetic fields can enhance cancer development. New studies are tackling RF exposure from cell towers, etc. There has been consistent misdirection by agencies like ICNIRP (the agency driven by industry and the military that sets guidelines to exposure that many countries like USA and Canada follow) with people heading it (the vice chair) trying to stop research. Electromagnetic fields (EMF) were classified as a 2b carcinogen in 2001 after studies showed relationships between high powerlines and leukemia.
““We have confirmed the old epidemiological observations of Milham, Wertheimer and Matanoski regarding the increased risk of lymphoma/leukemia and mammary cancers, as well as the more recent study by Cardis,” said Morando Soffritti, the director of the project, in an interview with Microwave News. Soffritti was referring to the pioneering work of Sam Milham, Nancy Wertheimer and Geneveive Matanoski from 1979 through the 1990’s.
Magnetic fields can “enhance the effects of a well-known carcinogen,” said Fiorella Belpoggi, the scientific director of the Institute, in an e-mail exchange. Soffritti, the former scientific director, is now the honorary president of the Institute and continues to work on this and other projects. Their paper will appear in an upcoming issue of the International Journal of Radiation Biology and is now posted on the journal’s Web site….
ICNIRP has never accepted the possibility that there may be any type of cancer risk —to the breast, brain or blood— from EMFs or RF radiation.”
http://microwavenews.com/news-center/ramazzini-animal-study
3) Given this major study, this document by Jerry Flynn is even more pertinent.
4) Non-smeter, but a “must read” for every parent and grandparent. Please share with other parents and your children’s teachers. There are many children in BC who are sick, like this mother’s, and the school boards are being told by Dr. Perry Kendall that Wi-Fi is no problem – he said “I’ve never said it’s safe”, yet he is implying that it is. Misleading those who are bound by their contracts to safeguard children’s health. These children are exposed to Wi-Fi radiation all day and then come home and are exposed to it all night as they sleep near the $$meter on their bedroom walls.
“…my own two children were irreparably harmed after industrial strength wireless networks were installed in their public charter and public district schools here in Rhode Island. These installations were accomplished without parental notification about the class 2b carcinogen (electromagnetic radiation) being emitted by the WiFi access points and other wireless devices (laptops, SmartBoards, etc.). Parents were never given the facts about these installations, and as a result it took a long time to make the connection between the progression of my children’s symptoms and the radiation being emitted by the wireless devices in their schools. Unfortunately by the time the pieces of the puzzle fit together, the damage was already done and my kids had developed what I’ve been told will be a lifelong, permanent and disabling sensitivity.”
– http://haltmasmartmeters.org/the-elephant-in-the-classroom/
Letters:
From: X
Sent: February 26, 2016
To: norm.macdonald.mla@leg.bc.ca
Cc: Adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca; john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca; Sharon Noble
Subject: Smart meter exchange
Dear Norm,
This is a follow-up to the copy of my letters to/from BC Hydro regarding exchange of our analog meter in the very near future. I know of other people in and around Golden who are very unhappy with this situation also.
I send this link for your information. Please check it out. The NDP should be able to hold the Liberals accountable for their promises. Please help (my first request).
http://www.peacearchnews.com/news/189112621.html
I know this newspaper article is from 2013, but it states the promises that were publicly made by Liberal politicians at the time of the “Meter Choice Program”. We have paid legacy meter fees for our choice of an analog meter and now, after those payments (almost $6 million per year in revenue for BC Hydro from an estimated 15,000 households enrolled with analog meters), we no longer have a choice. If we had wanted a “radio-off” meter, we would have made that choice to begin with and saved money, but we did not. BC Hydro has discontinued the “batch” certification of analog meters so that when the seals expire, the meters must be removed from service. Then BC Hydro can tell us, as they do now, that they have no more analog meters for replacements and can’t help us. BC Hydro has just thrown away the analog meters they took off peoples’ homes (told to me by Measurement Canada staff). What a waste of money and resources! Apparently Smart Meters have a life of less than 10 years. Our first analog meter (replaced on June 4, 2014 because the seal expired after Hydro stopped re-certifying analog meters) had worked well for 33 years. Analog meters are still available in other jurisdictions, so BC Hydro could get them for us. We would purchase our own, but they won’t allow them on our homes.
I know that in the past, Leslie from your office, told me that there really weren’t many fires from smart meters. I need to follow up on that with you. Over the past few years, there have been many cases of fires that were not properly investigated because BC Hydro took the meters away before they could be examined by proper officials. The investigations should be done by a private firm, at arm’s length, and one that cannot be bought by those who have the power to control things. I believe, from the evidence collected by Sharon Noble of the Coalition to Stop Smart Meters BC, that smart meters present a real danger. I have seen video of fires that are just on the meter and still the fire was not caused by the meter. Please check out the link to the Coalition in BC — click on the heading Fires and you will have lots of choice. I strongly urge you to read it:
I am asking you, Norm, and the NDP to present a bill to parliament which stipulates that BC Hydro cannot remove the smart meter where there has been a fire, until a complete and honest investigation is done by the proper, independent authorities (my second request). Why would any politician not support such a bill? They would have to explain themselves.
Taking away our right to protect our home space is very hard for many people — we need someone who will stand up for us. We do not take our democracy lightly but believe that it should work for our protection. That is why we spend countless hours writing letters and reading for information that is not always available in the conservative media. I am sure we would rather be getting on with our lives. A very good book that is available at the Golden library is “Doubt is their Product” by David Michaels. Dave and I have just read it and, though it doesn’t deal with the wireless industry (published in 2006), the facts of how industry sells us uncertainty so that we become immobilized and unable to fight back, is the same as it was for tobacco, asbestos and other hazardous products. I highly recommend it.
I look forward to hearing from you in regard to my two requests. Thank you.
X
___________________________________________________________________________
25 February, 2016
Hello Mr. Sanders,
We recently received a letter dated February 16, 2016 advising us that our analog meter is expiring soon and needs replacing, at #####. We have a number of concerns/requests that we would like to discuss with you prior to any meter exchange.
1) For the reasons I outline below, we will only accept an analog meter on our house, not a digital one.
2) We acknowledge BC Hydro’s assertion that our meter’s certification is expiring soon, and will provide unrestricted access to our meter for an exchange for another analog meter. However, we request an appointment with an installer to have the exchange done, for the following reasons:
3) We would like the meter exchange to be done by a fully qualified BC Hydro employee (with identification), and NOT a Corix employee please.
The timing of the meter exchange is awkward as we will be out of the country from March 7-April 7. We will not permit our meter to be exchanged without our presence for the reasons outlined above. If an appointment could be made for next week, or during/after the week of April 11, that would be much appreciated.
I can be reached during the day at ——
We appreciate your attention to our situation.
XX
Sharon Noble
Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
