Canary In The Coal Mine: City of Battle Creek Water Department

Showing posts with label City of Battle Creek Water Department. Show all posts

Friday, February 5, 2016

Freedom, Democracy & Smart Meters in Battle Creek, Michigan

To the City Commissioners of Battle Creek, Michigan, on Tuesday, February 2, 2015, I spoke:

When you said "yes" to smart meters, did you realize you were taking away our freedom of choice in regards to being exposed to wireless technology?

Did you realize that you were denying us a democratic process with public awareness and public input on what you were planning on doing?

Did you realize that some people were ALREADY avoiding or limiting exposure to electromagnetic fields because of KNOWN sensitivities?

Did you realize that some men, women, and children were having immediate and severe adverse health reactions after smart meter installation?

We used to think lead paint was safe, and asbestos, and smoking cigarettes. Medical doctors used to ADVERTISE cigarettes! That is, until nay-sayers started to surface.

Those who profited from lead paint, asbestos, and cigarette sales scrambled for evidence that their products were safe.

You have scrambled to find information about smart meters and safety.

With lead paint, asbestos, and cigarette smoking, eventually the actual documented proof of harm could not be denied, and was finally accepted.

Proof of harm done by smart meters has also been documented. There are 1000's and 1000's of case studies done by independent medical doctors and scientists who have nothing to gain EXCEPT PUBLIC HEALTH.

They claim we are headed toward a public health crisis in regards to our exposure to wireless radiation, including smart meters.

I KNOW the harm because I experience it.

We have not gone ONE generation with all these cell towers, antennas, cell phones, smart meters & other wireless gadgets, INCLUDING baby monitors. We have not gone one generation with baby monitors.

If you are to error in regards to Public Health in Battle Creek, is it not best you error on the side of caution?

It's a matter of freedom... HEALTH freedom. Having to pay for that freedom, is not free.

Thank you for listening. May you all truly be blessed!

The video link to the entire City Commission meeting is here, and my comment starts at about 55:30.

I was not the only one who spoke about smart meter Tuesday night. A few other people complained about the new "smart" radio transmitting water meters. And one woman threatened the City with a Class Action Lawsuit.

There was quite a bit of discussion among the Commissioners and the City Manager at the end of the meeting regarding the new utility meters and what the City of Battle Creek Water Department has done in regards to lack of notifications to customers before installations.

And the story continues...

For more information about new utility meters and the "opt-out" meters that are also causing physical harm please see:

EMFScientist.org

Conclusions from BioInitiative Report

Smart Meter Education Network in Michigan

Take Back Your Power

Smart Grid Awareness

Thursday, January 21, 2016

If You Do Not Have A Thorough Understanding...

Pulling up the drive after the Battle Creek City Commission meeting last night, I saw a beautiful bushy-tailed fox running off into the brush. Fox is a "good omen," and portends, among other things, "a new world opening up," and "the world is growing and shapeshifting itself into new patterns that will be beneficial," per Ted Andrews in the book Animal Speak. Perhaps the end of the smart meter and smart grid agenda is closer than it currently feels to me...

I gave two comments last night at the commission meeting. The video of the meeting is here. My first comment was brief and begins at about 11:40. It was in response to two different Commissioner comments that were spoken at the end of the previous commission meeting. This is an approximation of what I said in my first comment:

In the minutes from the last City Commission meeting, commission comments, it says Commissioner Sherzer requested supporting documentation on the safety of the wireless water meters. I had done that once also...

At this point, I was interrupted by the Mayor, followed by a discussion between Commissioner Helmbolt and City Attorney Jill Steele. After about four minutes they allowed me to continue:

Commissioner Sherzer asked about documentation about the safety of the wireless utility meters, and I wanted to say that I had already requested that (in the past). The City Clerk had turned it into a Freedom of Information Request on my behalf, and waived the fee, and she said that the Water Department has indicated they have no documents from independent parties related to the meters. My request was denied. No independent third-party. No documentation.

And then also it was Commissioner Owens that asked (about notification regarding smart meters), she had not been notified that a smart meter was installed on her home.

That has been the experience of a lot of people. I gave a copy of this law (to the Public Works Director, Perry Hart), it's a State and Federal law, stating that it's unlawful for anyone to install a transmitting device on anyone's home without their consent. Yet the (City of Battle Creek) Water Department has done it numerous times.

So, that's all regarding my comments for Consent Agenda. Thank you!

My second comment begins at about 41:55 in the video, and here's an approximation of what I said then:

What if all this new and so-called “smart” wireless technology is really not-so-smart?

What if governmental regulatory agencies really are in cahoots with wireless agencies and are ignoring the medical doctors, scientists, and engineers who are stating that there IS proof that biological harm is occurring, even at extremely low frequencies?

Remember, governmental regulatory agencies ignored warnings about the harmful effects from tar and nicotine in cigarettes at first, though some of you may not be old enough to know or remember that. But it was a big thing.

What if greed is again usurping the safety of us all in regards to smart meters, cell phones, cell towers, antennas, and wireless technology in general?

Is it going to take a generation, like it did with the tobacco industry, for safety issues with wireless technology to be acknowledged and widely accepted?

When you, the City Commissioners of Battle Creek, were asked to approve smart meters in Battle Creek, did you realize that you were being asked to approve a new technology that has NO long-term testing proving safety?

Do you thoroughly understand the wide spectrum of electromagnetic fields?

Can you tell me which, if any, electromagnetic fields are beneficial to human biology?

Can you tell me exactly where thermal or noticeable heating of molecules begins?

Smart meters pulse micro-bursts of radio frequency microwave radiation through our homes and our bodies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Can you tell me what the World Health Organization says about electromagnetic fields and cumulative effects?

If you do not have a thorough understanding of something, you have absolutely no business saying that it is safe for others. That is why I am asking you to please reconsider your decision to allow smart meters in Battle Creek.

I will end with a quote from Martin Luther King:

'Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our souls when we look the other way.'

Thank you for listening ~ May you all truly be blessed!

At the end of the meeting, Commissioner Sherzer mentioned having around 70 pages of information regarding smart meters. He suggested Mr. Kenefick, who has also commented on smart meters, and I sit down together with him so that he could explain the perspective the City of Battle Creek has, and perhaps address a few of the issues we've brought up. Mr Kenefick requested that the documentation be emailed to us prior to sitting down with Commissioner Sherzer (excellent suggestion), to which Sherzer stated that he would have to check to make sure that was okay.

However... as I've told someone one Twitter:

"Your papers hold no weight against many people's actual experience after smart meters were installed (with a link to my blog post, Others Like Me)"

For more information please see:

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

And The Story Continues...

At the January 5, 2016 City Commission meeting, the City of Battle Creek was introducing a Resolution that would allow water customers to have the transmitter part of their new "smart" water meter installed at a distance, up to 100 feet, from their home. I gave an impromptu comment about that Resolution at about 29:00 here. This is the approximate script of what I said:

I’m here to speak about Resolution 47, the remote placement of the device that is the transmitting part of the new water meters. While this is a Band-Aid, it definitely does not address the real issue of smart meters.

Smart meters are not proven safe. We have not gone one generation with the level of radio frequency that we are exposed to today. There is only a small percent of the population, about 3% in the United States, but up to 12% in other countries, that actually feel the effects of the radiation. Like myself, it took about 6 months before I started feeling pain from my cell phone. And it took about six months after we had encoder-receiver-transmitter gas meters installed for me to start feeling the pain again in my phone ear, and then a plethora of other symptoms to develop.

But, like I’m saying, this is a Band-Aid. All we are doing is moving the radiation a little bit further away from our living quarters, which, hey, that is good, because the pulsing, these meters pulse radiation, and it’s numerous times a minute. Even though some of them say they only wake-up once a month, when the meter reader drives by or when they go to collect the information, they pulse all the time.

Our gas meters, we were told by the company, pulse 10.67 times a minute. And these micro-pulses, what they do, whether you feel it or not, it’s when we sleep that the body heals and repairs, it’s kind of hard to go anywhere these days without experiencing wireless radiation. You go into Meijers and they have WiFi. So we’re constantly being bombarded everyday by this, but we need to have a safe environment where our body can actually shut-down, rest and repair.

Now, having one of these meters 100 feet or so away from our home will help, but we’re still blanketing the environment with more and more radio frequency than we’ve never experienced before. We have not gone one generation with the amount of wireless technology we have today. And even the government says that the studies for non-thermal radiation, that which is radiated by these smart meters, the electronic meters, the wireless meters, the encoder-receiver-transmitters, studies are inconclusive, yet when you look, when you do searches there are studies coming up all over the world.

There are countries that have banned and outlawed WiFi in schools which utilize radio frequencies very similar to the smart meters. There are countries that have banned WiFi in schools. Why? Because children, and the elderly, and pregnant women, are more susceptible to this pulsed radiation than regular adults, however about 3% of the population in the United States are like me and feel, if not immediate effects, within a short period of time, harmful effects.

So, I just want to say that this is just a Band-Aid. We are not addressing the real issue of the harm that these wireless devices create. And it could take 10 to 20 years. Cancers don’t develop overnight. It takes 10 to 15 to 20 years for cancers to develop.

I’m just saying that this is a Band-Aid. Even though it’s going to get it away from our sleeping areas, perhaps, and allow us to do some healing and repairing, we’re still poisoning ourselves with this.

Thank you for listening. May you all be blessed.

Later I gave a General Public Comment, at about 70:00 into the recording, where I said:

Regarding what Mr. Dopp said, the FCC is not a health regulation agency. They service the wireless industry.

Wireless utility meters and smart meters are a source of non-thermal electromagnetic radio-frequency radiation, which means, they do not generate heat. Because they don’t generate heat, there is no early warning, no physiological means by which most people can feel and recognize that they are being affected at a biological and metabolic level by a wireless utility meter.

There are no government standards (in North America) that establish safe human exposure limits for non-thermal radiation, that which is utilized by the new wireless water meters. When utility companies insist that the levels of electromagnetic radiation their products radiate fall well within government limits, they are referring only to the limits for thermal radiation, not non-thermal.

On May 11, 2015, 190 scientists from 39 countries submitted an "International EMF Scientist Appeal" to His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. These scientists have collectively published over 2,000 peer-reviewed papers on the biological and health effects of non-thermal electromagnetic radiation. The Appeal now has 217 scientist signatures.

Dr. Martin Blank, from the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University, says, (quote):

"We are scientists and engineers, and I am here to tell you - we have created something that is harming us, and it is getting out of control! Putting it bluntly, they are damaging the living cells in our bodies and killing many of us prematurely.”

There are videos of live blood analysis that clearly show the harmful effects from non-thermal smart meter radiation. Subjects have blood samples taken both before and after a 2 minute exposure to smart meters. All samples show damage to red blood cells, yet most test subjects feel nothing.

The important thing is that no one has been able to show conclusively that smart meter radiation is safe. And in 2011 the World Health Organization reclassified radio frequency electromagnetic radiation as a “possible carcinogen,” which means that the wireless devices the City of Battle Creek Water Department, and all of our utility companies are installing, may cause cancer.

The City of Battle Creek’s mission statement says, in part, that they want to ensure a safe community, yet admit to having no documentation proving the safety of their new wireless utility meters. Perhaps it is time to re-write the mission statement, or, review your approval of wireless smart meters.

Thank you for listening. May you all be blessed.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

While Government Agencies & Utility Companies Skirt the Issue of Safety...

My General Public Comment at the December 15, 2015 Battle Creek, Michigan, City Commission Meeting:

The City of Battle Creek Water Department, and ALL of our utility companies, have claimed that their new wireless utility meters fall within FCC guidelines for safety.

This is from a published FCC bulletin:

“In general, while the possibility of ‘non-thermal’ biological effects may exist, whether or not such effects might indicate a human health hazard is not presently known.”

“Not presently known,” means that they really don’t know.

A PDF available online called Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission Is Dominated by the Industries It Presumably Regulates, by Norm Alster, Harvard University, says:

“…consumer safety, health, and privacy, along with consumer wallets, have all been overlooked, sacrificed, or raided due to unchecked industry influence.”

Campanelli & Associates, P.C., anti-cell-tower lawyers in New York State, pose the question on their web site: Isn’t the FCC protecting us? Their answer:

“No. To the contrary, the FCC has employed, and continues to employ its power to assist the wireless industry…”

In May of this year the City of Battle Creek announced they were installing a dozen or so new utility poles for the new water meter read system antennas, though the link to that announcement is no longer working.

Our modern world is creating an electromagnetic soup filled with electrical pulses, radio frequencies, and wireless signals that emit damaging radiation. Many peer-reviewed scientific studies draw conclusions that particularly young children and pregnant women are most at risk. See Bioinitiative.org.

Professor Martin Pall, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences at Washington State University, with eight international awards for his work, is also calling for action against common emitters of electromagnetic pollution. He says that these devices are a biohazard which need to be abolished.

While government agencies and utility companies skirt the issue of safety, the City of Battle Creek Water Department, can not produce any proof that the new wireless utility meters are proven safe. No one can, because such evidence does not exist.

Unless the new wireless utility meters are proven safe, do you really think it is moral and just to charge a fee to those who do not want the new meters because they either just don’t want them or are getting sick from them?

Thank you for listening ~ May we all truly be blessed!

The video link to the meeting is here, and I begin speaking at about 46:22.

References:

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

If You Live In Michigan...

If you live in Michigan, the time to do something

about your freedom of choice is now!

[Updated October 31, 2019: If you live in Michigan, please see THIS post. Thank you! As of today, we are working on getting new legislation for analog utility meter choice re-introduced.]

Utility companies in Michigan are installing wireless "Smart Meters" all across our state, sometimes without our knowledge and/or consent. This is a violation of our fundamental property rights, yet they are getting away with it!

[Update: Some companies are saying that they do not utilize "smart meter" technology in their gas meters. However, I have personally found that what they are are calling AMR - ERT (automatic read - encoder receiver transmitter) natural gas meters, extremely harmful to my health, eliciting many adverse symptoms. When asked for proof that their devices are safe, they sent me propaganda from the manufacturer, those who stand to profit from the AMR - ERT devices.]

Because I am sensitive to radio frequencies (found out in 2013 with a cell phone), this is very disturbing. Not everyone is electrosensitive, but about 10% of the population have more adverse effects, while 35% have less adverse effects and may not even know they are being affected by radio frequencies.

There are lots of propaganda charts circulating that state smart meters emit only a fraction of the radiation of a cell phone. That statement is not proven and is being challenged by professionals.

The radiation from Smart Meters

may be about 100 times that of cell phones...

This video of Daniel Hirsch, California radiation expert, and UCSD instructor, and this video of Professor Glenn Chase, faculty alum at USC, California State, Monterey Institute of International Studies and Naval Post-Graduate School, explains why the radiation from a Smart Meters is about 100 times that of a cell phone.

It's no wonder my "phone ear" started hurting again after SEMCO Energy lied to us three times in order to install two of their AMR meters here, meters that pulse over 10 times per minute, over 600 times per hour.

There are no studies proving the safety of smart meters,

while evidence continues to surface

saying they are not so safe.

When asked about the safety of smart meters, utility companies, including the City of Battle Creek Water Department and SEMCO Energy, send out propaganda from the manufacturer of the smart meters. And now the City of Battle Creek Water Department admits that they are not in possession of any studies proving the safety of their new wireless water meters.

There are several other issues with Smart Meters. Many are concerned about their safety because Smart Meters have been known to catch fire and/or explode.

There was a house fire in Portage, MI, on Bellaire, where witnesses and the owner of the home explained that the new smart meter, installed only a few days prior, was the first thing they saw on fire. However, the Fire Marshal ruled the smart meter out as the cause of the fire (which has been a common scenario when a fire starts after smart meter installation).

Smart metering is a hackable system and will put our privacy at risk. (Analog meters are not hackable.) Here's an article about how the FBI found "smart meter hacking surprisingly easy."

Even if you're already called your representative in the past regarding electronic utility meters, they haven't heard from enough of us yet!

We've had the old 100% analog meters for over 50 years with none of these concerns. Why "fix" something that's not broken, with something that is unproven to be safe on many levels?

It's not too late to let your representative know how you feel, even if you already have an electronic and/or smart meter!

It took me about two minutes to call my Michigan State Representatives - Please do the same!

Find your Michigan State Representative here by using your address and zip code. Call anytime, evenings or weekends if you just want to leave a message, yet still, have your voice heard.

Phone calls carry more weight than emails. If you want to write, call first, then follow-up in writing.

Our representatives are here to represent us,

it's their job!

Always be respectful. Here's what you can say:

Hello, my name is ___________, and I'm one of your constituents / I live in (city / county).
I'm calling about the no-fee Analog Utility Meter Choice Bill now in the Energy Policy Committee.
I want you to support this legislation that will protect my property rights and give me a safe and reliable analog meter choice.
Also, please speak to your colleagues in the Energy Policy Committee and encourage them to support this Bill, because it's for The People.
Thank you!

It's very simple to do, and our State Representatives need to hear from us in order to know how we feel.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need help finding your state representative, I'd be happy to help you!

Time is of the essence! Please make that call now!

Thank you and bless you!