September
9, 2008. Mr. Leo Chick, 2603 Hull Rd., Leslie, MI 49251-9557, died
Tuesday, 9/9/08, of apparent heart failure.
Mr.
Chick spent five years in Europe during World War II defending
freedom and justice for people throughout the world. After returning
home, he married his wife Vernita. They purchased the farm where they
lived and raised two daughters.
Mr.
Chick challenged a power company for building nine 46,000-Volt
lines on an old easement that ran between his grain and machine
storage building and his dairy barn. He proved that the power company
had breached an agreement signed when the line was built which
gave assurances that the installation would comply with all
requirements of the National Electric Safety Code (NESC) adopted as
law by the State of Michigan and would not put any electricity
or electromagnetic fields onto the farm.
With the
help of engineers Mr. Chick proved, that the lines violated
requirements of the National Electric Safety Code
for clearance of a grain storage building. He also proved
that the lines were radiating electricity for at least 600 ft
parallel to the lines and exceeded "Hazardous Energy"
Directives for Enforcement of the Electrical Power Generation,
Transmission and Distribution Standard, of OSHA (Occupational
Safety and Health Administration), U.S. Department of Labor.
When Mr.
Chick developed dizziness (vertigo), headaches, burning eyes,
muscle pains, and twitching while working near the lines,
local doctors diagnosed his condition as heart arrhythmia and
hypertension. They recognized a nerve-involvement could not
explain the muscle-pain and nerve involvement. Mr. Chick
had knowledgeable engineers and animal scientists measure
the EMF exposure near the lines and found electric current was
flowing through his body when he touched the door of the grain bin or
was standing in his usual workplace under the lines.
Mr.
Chick contacted a doctor who had studied sensitivity of
humans to electromagnetic fields because local doctors had no
knowledge of the effects of EMF on health of humans. This doctor was
a cardiologist and thoracic cardiovascular surgeon who had treated
patients suffering from electrical exposure. The doctor gave Mr.
Chick a 2-4 milliGauss EMF challenge while
observing changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and heart rate
variability via EKG tracings. EMF exposure caused the same
effects as diagnosed by local doctors. The level of EMF exposure was
less than the utility calculated to be under the 46 kV lines
where Chick had first observed the illness.
Mr.
Chick believed that others may be exposed to similar electricity
and should be warned that it could affect their health, so he took
his story about the breach of contract to a local
newspaper, and to a farmer's newspaper for publishing. The
utility was notified immediately of the article and threatened
to sue for disclosing his dilemma to the farm organization. After
four years of struggle, expenditure of most of his lifetime
retirement savings he was under the duress of further
lawsuit and agreed to a settlement that did not result in the
transmission lines being moved 800 ft to the south line fence as
he had offered to the utility without cost at the beginning.
However,
Mr. Chick's scientific contribution to understanding of factors
causing heart arrhythmia, hypertension, and neuromuscular tremors
will be recorded in medical history as an important breakthrough
in medical knowledge.
Mr.
Chick was an honest and benevolent patriot who had fought
for peace and justice so others could enjoy the freedom of speech and
press guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution, but he fought for and was denied such justice on
his own farm where he was fighting for the rights of family,
neighbors, and visitors to enjoy their property without risking their
health.
In
recognition of his citizenship and personal achievements the Jackson
Citizens Patriot published an article calling him "a
Passing Generation." It is for us the living to insure that his
sacrifice was not in vain.
Leo
Chick, Leslie, MI, reads 96 volts induced on a wire
under nine
46,000-Volt Overhead Transmission Lines
where
he developed vertigo, heart arrhythmia,
hypertension,
and muscle pains while working.
Photo
courtesy Shocking News, EMF, East Lansing, MI.
