Dear editor
Why does BC Hydro have to install their "collectors" next to the Lindsay Manor apartments and the Port Hardy Secondary School? This "collector' is about 10 meters from six apartments.
This collector is used to relay Meter Read Data Information, Network Management, Time Synch and Mesh Network Message Management Signals. I will quote from BC Hydro's Smart Metering Program book: "The exposure from a Smart Meter — over its entire 20-year life span — is equal to a single 30 minute cell phone call."
What gives BC Hydro the right to strap a cell phone to you and your kids head and turn it on? This "collector" will be transmitting to approximately 1,000 Smart Meters. The math is really simple. The apartment building and nearby school will be radiated with 30,000 minutes of exposure.
What happens if you complain? If you call BC Hydro and complain, they will quote various Federal and Provincial Health and Safety departments and tell you how safe this radio transmitter is. I have a simple answer to that. Ask for that assurance in writing. When you complain, they send you to a hyper-link somewhere in the world to read how safe the transmitter is. Where is that hyper-link going to be if you or you children get sick?
BC Hydro is the only company that will not give you written assurances. They keep telling you to "trust" them. This collector will be sending and receiving messages all day and night to every smart meter in the grid. The collector transmits at 910MHz which is one of the frequencies to which the body is most vulnerable. It is unlicensed, which means it will also interfere with medical devices and appliances in our homes.
Even more important, this radiation pulses – not like natural radiation. It is this pulsing that causes the damage to cells, puts them under stress, and weakens their walls. Children, up to age 21, are considered most vulnerable, as are pregnant women and people with immune deficiencies.
BC Hydro's electrical sub-station is much further away from the high school. BC Hydro should consider using their property to mount this transmitter. Is it cheaper to put their customers at risk instead of their own employees? Please ask BC Hydro that question. Remember if BC Hydro promises anything, ask for it in writing. Only a written contract will stand up in a court room, not a verbal promise.
It has been brought to my attention that two more radio transmitters have been installed in Port Hardy. Number 2 is in the 8600 block of Lund Street, with the nearest business being Port Hardy Builders Supply. Number three is in the 5200 block of Beaver Harbour Road. That collector is now across the street from the trailer park.
Do we really need three unlicensed radio transmitters pulsing next to where our children live and go to school? Do we really need these transmitters this close to our bedrooms? BC Hydro, please move these radio transmitters away from our citizens.
Rick Kirkpatrick
Port Hardy