Group Joins Fray On Taller Towers On Queen Anne

A special-interest community group has entered the long-running controversy over radio transmission towers atop Queen Anne Hill.

Citizens Against Tower Expansion - or CATE - wants to prevent increasing the height of three towers at several locations generally near the old Queen Anne High School.

Beyond that, the group would like to see the towers moved to a remote area such as Cougar Mountain near Issaquah.

"What the stations want to do is unbelievable, that they want to put these towers in the middle of a pristine neighborhood," said CATE representative Jim Sullivan.

Sullivan said a rising public awareness about possible dangers from electrical sources is one reason the group formed.

Although proposals to raise the tower heights date back six years, a milestone comes at the end of this month when the period ends for public comment on KING-TV's environmental-impact statement. KING-TV wants to replace its 570-foot tower with one 919 feet tall.

Molly Hurley, city land-use specialist handling the KING-TV proposal, said that after the comment period ends her department will make a recommendation to the City Council, which will make a decision on the application.

Sullivan wasn't aware of the issue of electrical radiation two years ago when he moved to Queen Anne from Magnolia and bought a house on Nob Hill Avenue North near the towers.

Since then he's done considerable research and said he's become more and more alarmed, citing guidelines such as one prepared in March 1991 by the state Department of Health.

That study of electromagnetic fields, or EMF, concludes that "evidence suggests that excessive exposure to EMF may pose a risk to human health" and suggests a policy of "prudent avoidance."

Such a policy, says the department, means "taking reasonable action to limit exposure to EMF," but notes that "it is too early to recommend extensive changes to lifestyle or residence since we do not know if these changes would be beneficial or even necessary."

CATE and Sullivan argue that any risk is too much, questioning whether high EMF exposure at the new John Hay Elementary School on the hill might cause higher cancer rates there.

"How can you possibly defend doing something to a child?" asked Sullivan.

The towers have been on Queen Anne for about 40 years, put there to provide high-quality radio and TV signals to the Seattle area. What focused attention on them, said Don Wilkinson, director of engineering at KOMO, was completing the Columbia Center downtown in the early 1980s.

While the stations had anticipated the building might have an effect on transmissions to the south, none expected it to have a strong reflective effect on signals to the north and northwest, said Wilkinson.

"Our lifeblood is our signal to the public," said Wilkinson, and because of reflected signals the stations began encountering intense interference with those north and northwest broadcasts.

In 1986, KOMO, KING and KIRO applied to the city for permission to increase the heights of their existing towers.

Since then, the city's files have become dog-eared and filled with drawings, letters and other documents from both sides of the controversy.

While Sullivan cites a study by the state Department of Health to bolster his contention the towers pose a danger, Wilkinson also cites a finding by that department to argue the other side of the debate.

A department study, Wilkinson said, found the "incidence of birth defects is no different" around the towers of Queen Anne than in other areas of the city.

Attorneys representing the stations have argued that taller towers are actually good for the region.

"The proposal is . . . an effort by KIRO to live up to its public-service requirements as a broadcaster providing improved signals," wrote Richard Ford, representing KIRO.

Wilkinson says that if taller towers do anything they would tend to move the signals further from residents, actually increasing safety.

But CATE points to Spokane, where a school district is considering buying a tower site near a school because of concerns over child safety.

No such purchases have been proposed here, however, and Sullivan is seeking donations to possibly finance a lawsuit seeking to halt the tower expansions. CATE can be contacted through Sullivan at 282-3835 or by writing to Box 99411, Seattle, WA. 98199.