Biological health and safety must be accounted for when placing cell towers- currently it is not. The FCC…

Biological health and safety must be accounted for when placing cell towers- currently it is not. The FCC is not a health and safety agency, nor are they versed in biological harms from exposure to RF EMF from wireless base stations and devices. I have been injured and have a medical diagnosis of injury and disability from exposure from RF EMF from a cell tower base station, and it has upended my life, given me migraine like blinding ice pick headaches, nausea, dizziness, palpitations, insomnia and forced me from my home, having to sleep in my car and in makeshift accommodation to avoid exposure to let my body recover. Those injured by cell towers and smart meters should not be considered "collateral damage" and "the cost of doing business" as we were called. Health and safety cannot be guaranteed, and this docket shows the science and mechanism of harm. Those sharing their stories are the evidence of this harm and we deserve to be protected, assisted and made whole. The FCC does not track those injured by wireless. There is no registry, no avenue for redress or avenue to be made whole. In our case, our home was rendered uninhabitable by our Board of Health due to the nuisance, toxin and hazard emitted from the wireless transmitting facility built at the top of our neighborhood. We have been in litigation for over six years, more recently in the Supreme Judicial Court, who less than three months ago ruled that a uniform network is more important than the health and safety of those living in communities with wireless base stations- despite the science, the testimony of our doctors and subject matter experts and our lived experiences of injury and harm. The FCC prevents health and safety from being considered when siting a tower- but what is worse is those injured once the tower starts transmitting have no recourse. In my neighborhood, a resident commented that when she learned about the tower she had no feelings either way, but started developing insomnia and headaches once it started transmitting. She spent time at her boyfriend's house not near a base station and the insomnia and headache resolved. She returned home and so did her symptoms. This was the story of so many of our neighbors who testified to our City Council, Board of Health and our legislators. Soon we learned this was the story of many communities and individuals who had a wireless facility constructed near them or on their apartment buildings or school. This is backed up by studies of symptoms near cell towers, which return to normal baseline levels of illness at around 1640 feet. The FCC has all of these studies on file and have had them for years and years. Yet no action has been taken. Yet the FCC argues this is safe because the levels measured in my neighborhood are a small percentage of the FCC's antiquated 1996 exposure standards based on 80's science before the smartphone was invented and before towers were widespread. We have literally testified next to wireless representatives that towers were meant to built on the sides of highways and mountain tops. Now they are being built 100 feet from our children's bedroom windows and our babies are sleeping with vomit buckets because they are being sick in the middle of the night, experiences rashes, headaches, insomnia and dizziness to the point they are walking into the wall- so ill that their teachers are commenting they can't focus or stay awake in class, that they are passing out when sitting under a wireless access point, that 911 is being called to take them to the hospital when exposed to the wireless after it was "turned up" to accomodate more devices. This is inexcusable that our lives, our children and seniors lives are being upended because of being made ill from wireless exposure. Those who are suffering are not invisible. The FCC needs to work with our physicians whose goal is to protect our health. Literally our doctors wrote that they swore an oath to protect health, and with these exposures they simply cannot do their jobs because constant, 24/7 ongoing exposure is in direct conflict with the precautionary principle. And we have moved far beyond precaution. When a tower is placed in your neighborhood and 17 people come forward formally and publicly, and several more come forward informally and everyone agrees that the harm is from the cell tower, but no one knows how to help because of the FCC's rules and standards, there is no recourse, no action, no accountability and no help for those sick, displaced, suffering and now disabled due to their exposure. Our only medical remedy and recourse is to reduce exposure, but when we live next to a tower that is transmitting 24/7, and the source of the injury, the only option we have is to move. Many of those retired, on a fixed income, low income, or families simply in this economy cannot move. The choice is our homes or our health. If we pick health, we have to find somewhere else to go without wireless. Our Boards of Health have advised not to mistake ubiquity with safety. Many of us injured must constantly advocate for disability accommodations both in school, in the workplace and in our community buildings like the library or City Hall. We must hire attorneys, provide medical documentation and go through the test of if the accommodation to have a low RF environment is reasonable or not. Not everyone can afford to do this process, and those who try are told the FCC binds their hands. We should not have to fight for safety in our own homes. Our houses should be safe. We should be able to follow our doctor's orders in our own homes. If someone is disabled and installs a ramp to access their home, no one should remove the ramp. Yet when a tower is placed next to our homes, the RF is trespassing onto our properties and into our bedrooms and creating an environment that triggers life altering symptoms and our homes are no longer healthy or safe. The wireless company has essentially removed our ramp and now we must struggle to access and function within our homes. RF EMF is a hazard, carcinogen, nuisance and toxin- and we do not consent to ourselves or our children or our neighbors being involuntarily exposed. Unlike other sources of wireless, we cannot turn this off, limit our exposure or put it on a timer. We have no power, no control, no say and no recourse and this must change. The FCC's goal is to roll out telecommunications infrastructure to ensure everyone has connectivity, but this should not continue to be done at the expense of everyday Americans' health, safety, homes, families, neighborhoods, communities or our well being. We love, use and depend on our technology. We've learned that to be healthy, we need to do this safely so we are not sick. Cell towers near homes, exposing children, seniors and vulnerable populations is simply not safe. The FCC needs to revisit section 704 of the Telecommunications Act to ensure health and safety is considered when siting towers, and that there is a accountability and action for those sick, displaced and suffering. Given everyone agrees the 877 South Street Pittsfield Verizon cell tower should be moved, and land owners have offered alternative locations, perhaps the FCC should have a fund for communities to relocate injurious towers to safer locations, or a program where the FCC intervenes when people are injured. All I know is that the more we share our story, the more people reach out to us with stories of their own of wireless harm. Every state has a group or an organization. Every community knows of someone impacted. We will keep asking for help until we can live safely, full time in our homes without symptoms of wireless exposure. Thank you for your attention and your timely action in creating remedies for those harmed, and preventing others from being harmed through updating the TCA to reflect the lived experiences of those injured, the science, medicine and NH Commision Report recommendations for cell tower and wireless safety. The work has been done and the solutions have been proposed. Please listen to these experts. With gratitude, Courtney