Tasmania's Education Department has admitted knowing about a possible cancer cluster at a Hobart school for more than 2 years.

Aurora Energy consultants tested the Hazelwood site in Moonah for electro magnetic radiation after the issue was first raised by staff in 2006.

More tests were conducted earlier this year, because staff were still concerned their illnesses were linked to radiation emitted from a nearby transmission tower and substation.

The Education Department's Deputy Secretary, Greg Glass, says he accepts the advice that there is no link between the school and staff and student illnesses.

"In relation to both environmental factors at the school and also in relation to the electro magnetic radiation readings that there is no cause for concern in relation to the health and safety of students and staff at the school."

But the State Opposition has raised concerns about the adequacy of the radiation tests.

Concerned staff say the school was largely re-wired in the weeks before the testing was done.

The Opposition's Sue Napier had questioned Education Department Officials about the issue at a Parliamentary committee hearing earlier this year.

Ms Napier says she is unsure if the Director of Public Health had all the facts.

"If he hadn't been informed that there had been a re-wiring of certain sections of the school and that systems had changed then he wouldn't have been able to do a full and proper investigation."

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Hobart Mercury 13 August 2008

Focus of cancer, but testing clears school

DAMIEN BROWN

The number of cancer cases originating from a Hobart school is "off the scale", international radiation experts say.

Radiation consultant Don Maisch has been looking into the potential cancer cluster at Hazelwood School at Moonah since a teacher who contracted cancer came to him for advice two years ago.

Since then Mr Maisch has consulted other researchers around the world including US-based epidemiologist Sam Milham.

Dr Milham has examined other school cancer clusters and described the Hazelwood cases as a serious concern.

But the Education Department says it has conducted two separate tests that have shown the level of electromagnetic radiation exposure is not harmful and the school will remain at Moonah for at least another 12 months.

Tenders will be called at the end of the month to build a new $3.5 million campus at the former Wentworth School at Howrah which was promised in the 2005-06 State Budget. That is expected to be completed by September next year.

Hazelwood is located underneath a high-voltage transmission tower that services the Nyrstar zinc smelter at Lutana and on top of an electricity sub-station.

Long-serving staff at the campus have complained of health problems dating back to 1984 and a parliamentary committee recently heard three staff, including the principal, had contracted cancer since 2006 but there had been reports of many more.

Mr Maisch said the Education Department had acted responsibly when it learned of the cases, but added it was a "very, very sick building".

Education Department deputy secretary Greg Glass said the first complaint was received in July 2006 and tests were conducted the following month by Aurora Energy. They showed the radiation was below accepted levels.

Mr Glass said that following another complaint last year, more intensive testing was conducted earlier this year that again found nothing of concern.

"We can only go on what the experts say and there has been nothing that has shown that there is any cause for concern for either staff or students at the school" Mr Glass said.

When the school moves, the building is expected to be sold.

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WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers wants the Federal Communications Commission to require Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Alltel Corp. (AT) to adopt a nationwide safety program protecting people from harmful radio frequencies as a condition of their proposed merger.

At issue is the health of electricians, plumbers, and other workers who might be working near hidden cell towers without knowing it.

One way to mitigate that problem, according to IBEW Safety and Health Director Jim Tomaseski, is to make available to other employers the locations of the cellphone towers.

"If you're close enough to them, you can be getting burned and not even know it. You don't feel it. You don't see it," said Tomaseski.

"The problem is that these things are everywhere now. There's over a half a million of these cellular sites...They may be on the roof of your building," Tomaseski said.

Verizon and Alltel train their workers on how to avoid exposure, but other employers might not be aware of the problem, Tomaseski said. "As a painter, my boss just tells me to go do it."

IBEW also wants a third party to monitor the new company's nationwide plan as a condition of the merger.

IBEW is one of several entities filing comments in opposition to the deal. The merger would make Verizon Wireless, jointly owned by Verizon and Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), the largest wireless carrier in the country.

The EMR Policy Institute, a Vermont-based advocacy group, is bolstering IBEW's arguments about adverse health effects of radio frequencies. "Currently public health remains largely unprotected from the enormous amounts of electromagnetic radiation involved in this license transfer," EMR said in its comment to the FCC.

EMR has long argued that cell towers in close proximity to humans are dangerous. Calling FCC's guidelines on radio frequencies "superficial and arbitrary," EMR said the FCC should "initiate or request thorough and comprehensive research" on the towers' health effects.

Meanwhile, a group of competitor wireless companies is protesting the merger because it says the deal will harm its members roaming agreements with Alltel. These companies want the FCC to finish a rule on roaming rights before it signs off on the Verizon-Alltel deal.

One of the signatories to that comment is Leap Wireless International Inc. ( LEAP), which does business as Cricket. "Alltel is a large roaming partner of Cricket's," said Leap Government Affairs Director Laurie Itkin. "We're going to lose that with the merger."

Other signatories include the Rural Telecommunications Group, the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies, and several competitor companies.

Filing separately, Centennial Communications Corp. (CYCL) made a similar argument, saying the new company should be required to enter into roaming agreements with competitors both for voice and wireless Internet connections.

Verizon already has promised to give small, rural carriers the option of maintaining any roaming agreements they now have with Alltel after the merger.

Verizon also has said small companies that have roaming agreements with both Alltel and Verizon Wireless can opt for either agreement to govern all roaming traffic after the merger.

Consumer advocates also oppose the merger, arguing the deal is bad for competition.

Consumers Union Senior Counsel Christopher Murray said the merged company would make it more difficult for manufacturers to make mobile devices that can operate on different networks. "You add 13 million subscribers to Verizon's huge footprint...It makes it even harder for handset manufacturers to push back against exclusive terms," he said.

Several organizations have sent comments to the FCC supporting the pending merger, including Women Impacting Public Policy, which said women and minority business owners would benefit from increased access to wireless Internet.

The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy echoed those comments, saying the merger would speed the roll-out of new wireless Internet technologies that allow for increased download speeds.

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In the recent Omega newsletter, which I received just today (5 February), I have found with interest the following brief note signed by Don Maisch:
..."Occupational exposure to RF/MW and "Microwave sickness" (excerpt) Some months ago I was contacted by the Trade Union responsible for Australian crane operaters. They are receiving many concerns about health problems from crane operaters who were working at elevations close to active microwave antennas, such as mobile phone antennas on top of buildings.

From our discussions it was apparent that there seemed to be a connection with health complaints and working in close proximity to antennas. The symptoms were the same as those listed under the condition of "microwave sickness" in the Russian medical literature."...

I would be obliged to you for receiving more details about the symptoms and complaints which occured in the Australian crane operators and were related by them to radiation from mobile phone antennas. Perhaps an e-mail contact with Don Maisch would be helpful. We work for years on occupational exposure to microwave radiation and the above informations would be of great interest for us.

Best wishes. Sincerely yours,
Prof. Dr med. Stanislaw Szmigielski,
Department of Microwave Safety, Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Warsaw, Poland.

Cancer cluster school test doubts