History of Lookout Mountain Antenna Tower Land

No Accountability for Health Concerns

• 1986 Judge Zimmerman voided a County
  Commissioner approval of the Channel 20 tower
  on Mt. Morrison because it did not consider the
  interference impact.
• September 22-26, 1986. After years of residents
  requesting a study of radiation levels from radio
  frequencies on Lookout Mountain, an EPA
  investigation reported that “the only broadcast
  source on Lookout Mountain that operates above
  300 MHz is KDVR-TV, Channel 31” which “requires
  five times more power output at the transmitter
  site.” This was a warning of future dangerous
  levels. But, JeffCo officials have always trusted
  industry reports of radiation levels and industry’s
  claim of being within legal limits.
• FCC news report 3/10/87 “FCC releases EPA
  Report on radio frequency radiation exposure levels
  at Lookout Mountain, CO.” The EPA conducted the
  investigation on September 22-26, 1986 directed by
  20-year EPA scientist Richard Tell. Except for high
  readings for KYGO (which moved to Squaw Mountain
  in 1989), many EPA recorded 1986 “hot spots”
  that became out of compliance in 1992 (when
  radiation limits became 5 times more stringent)
  and were still “hot” in 1998 when Lake Cedar Group
  first proposed a Supertower.
• In 1986, the KRMA-TV / KCFR-FM / KUVO-FM
  transmitters on residential Colorow Road produced
  power densities exceeding the legal limit adopted by
  the FCC in 1992 (EPA reported 350 to 425 uW/cm2).
  JeffCo approved five new homes and a $2 million
  Lookout Mountain Nature Center adjacent to the
  tower in the mid 1990s.

• The 1986 EPA study recorded KWGN antenna farm at 50 - 100 uW/cm2 and 273 uW/cm2 on
  public Lookout Mountain Road. The Lariat Trail, Lookout Mountain Park, and Buffalo Bill’s Grave
  were listed with the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 1990. JeffCo approved expansion
  of the KWGN site on November 13, 1991 without any NEPA compliance.

"Suit Blames Radio Waves for Cancer"

Denver Post (11/26/1989)
After 15 summers working at the Lighted Lantern square dance camp on Lookout Mountain, Beryl and Maelma
Main purchased the business in 1977. They lived in a cabin adjacent to the KYGO-FM transmitter on a 30-foot
tower every summer for 20 years. Main was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Feb. 1986. In Sept.
1986, the EPA reported "hot spots" up to 4,400 microwatts per square centimeter caused by KYGO.

Jefferson Pilot Communications moved the KYGO transmitter
to Squaw Mountain in 1988. The Mains were examined by
Dr. Robert Becker, a medical professor and author of several
books on the health hazards of electromagnetic fields. The Post
quotes Becker alleging that the transmitter was the source of
Main’s cancer as “… a result of prolonged exposure to the
high field strengths of radio-frequency radiation produced
by radio station KYGO-FM.”

The Post article stated that Denver attorney Bruce DeBoskey
filed the suit in U.S. District Court against Jefferson Pilot
Communications alleging that “extremely high and
unreasonably dangerous levels of energy from the "tower”
caused Main’s cancer. DeBoskey is quoted saying “A study of
people living next to radio towers in Honolulu found a
‘significant’ increase in cancer rates compared with rates
among other Honolulu residents living farther away… Another
study in San Francisco found that, between 1973 and 1985,
children under 15 in the city’s Noe Valley and Eureka Valley
neighborhoods developed cancer at twice the expected rate
for children in the Bay Area. The search for the potential
cause centered on the Mount Sutro tower, a massive 977-feet
high with a fork-shaped transmitter at the top-shared by nine
television stations and four FM radio stations—caused similar
‘hot spots’ at the Lighted Lantern property.”

The Post article also mentions a Polish study showing twice the incidence of all forms of cancer among soldiers
exposed to RF and microwave radiation between 1971 and 1980. Another source for the article is Louis Slesin,
editor and publisher of Microwave News. Slesin maintained that the industry usually settle such suits “…if
there is any chance of losing at all. That way, no case law is written. The documents are sealed and both
sides agree to keep silent. Then the next plaintiff has to start from scratch.” Slesin supported “a standard of
100 microwatts per square centimeter, one-tenth of the level found at the Lookout Mountain, which was
withdrawn under pressure from the broadcast industry in 1984.” The Main case was settled before a federal
magistrate on February 26, 1990.

• Planning & Zoning 1990 memorandum by Kevin Nichols (1983-1997): “Existing tower operators need
  new facilities... It seems like amortization (for removal) would work if the period is reasonable, given the
  investment.... Due to the proximity of homes and varied topography, many antennae are on the same
  horizontal level as homes. While NIER levels are currently below the ANSI standard used by the FCC and
  Jefferson County, there are levels on Lookout Mountain that exceed the limits used by other jurisdictions
  such as Multnomah County, Oregon and the State of Massachusetts.”
• A 1991 letter to KRMA-Channel 6 , assistant county attorney Clare Levy (1989-1999) denies a request
  to “strengthen the tower” for more antennas. “As you are aware, the Commissioners have directed the
  County Attorney’s Office to develop zoning regulations that would require removal of nonconforming
  telecommunications towers after a designated grace period.... As part of this regulation, the Board
  would also like to prevent nonconforming towers from being strengthened and prevent the size of
  antennas and height of towers from being increased.”