Here is an update from today's (July 17)THE IRISH TIMES on the power-line protesting farmers in Co. Cork.

The broadsheet's environment editor, Frank McDonald, manages to write this report without one reference to the actual underlying cause of the dispute: the potential risk to health posed by the powerlines crossing their farms and being adjacent to family homes with young children.

Of course, it is obvious that any mention of the health damaging possibilities of overhead cables must be ignored to safeguard the Celtic Tiger's (Ireland's) economic interests. And in a lenghty News Feature article on electricity, also in today's IRISH TIMES
("Power Struggle"), its Science Editor, Dick Ahlstrom, makes this point blatantly clear in his opening sentence

"Ireland's capacity for wealth creation is critically dependent on a reliable supply of electricity."

Best, Imelda, Cork



THE IRISH TIMES, MONDAY, JULY 17, 2006

"POWER-LINE PROTESTERS FACE COURT: ESB ACTION AGAINST FIVE FARMER ACCUSED OF BLOCKING WIND FARM PYLONS

[by] Frank McDonald, Environment Editor

Five farmers who have been protesting against a
14-kilometre power line in west Cork are to appear today in the High Court in Dublin where the ESB is seeking injunctions to prevent them blocking access to their lands.

The five - Tadhg Coughlan, John Keane, Mary Keane, Jack Kingston and Susan Kingston - are members of Bantry Concerned Action Group, which has been preventing the ESB from installing poles and pylons for the 38 kilovolt overhead power line.

The line, which is intended to serve a proposed wind farm, would run through scenic areas between Colomane and Ballylickey, passing within 25 metres of some houses. Farm gates along the route are manned by pickets and there have been some stand-offs.

On May 23rd, the ESB obtained High Court injunctions against six other members of the action group, including its chairman, Joe Burke.

The injunctions prevent them from blocking access to their lands so that work can proceed on the erection of poles and pylons.

The power line is designed to provide a connection to the national grid for the proposed wind farm at Droumoureen, which is being developed by Ballybawn Wind Farm Ltd, a company controlled by Bantry-based businessmen Bob Murnane and Denis O'Shea.

Mr Murnane and Mr O'Shea have issued a civil summons against 23 named individuals from the action group seeking damages of €1.75 million in compensation for losses resulting from delays in the wind farm project caused by protests.

They have an uncontested planning permission from Cork County Council to erect 21 wind turbines with an output of 19.55 megawatts.

Last December, it sought permission for a revised scheme of 13 larger turbines to produce 40 per cent more electricity.

The local action group has not objected to the wind farm but wants the power line put underground "as is common practice throughout Europe".

An agreement was made last year to bury the line for four landowners in the Colomane area, to the exclusion of others The group has estimated the additional cost of putting cables underground at between €1.5 million and €3 million.

Quentin Gargan, the group's spokesman, said the ESB has a statutory obligation to connect to the grid at least cost, even though this would mean skirting a Sitka spruce forestry plantation and "cutting a 50 metre-wide swathe straight through native woodlands".

Referring to the Commission for Energy Regulation's set price of 5.75 cents per unit for electricity from wind farms, he said this was "lower than the price paid for electricity from gas and many other sources, and keeps the margins for wind farm operators very tight".

According to Mr Gargan, the commission should establish a higher price specifically to fund placing lines under ground.

"Already there are higher prices for electricity from offshore wind farms because of the higher construction and transmission costs," he said.

A spokesman for ESB Networks said it had no comment to make, in view of the court case. However, he noted that in granting the earlier injunctions on May 23rd, Judge Frank Clarke said it would be legally wrong for the ESB to choose the high-cost underground option.

Meanwhile, the action group is to hold a rally on Friday at Joe Burke's farm in Droumoureen. Farmers from as far away as counties Donegal and Wexford, including some who have been involved in similar battles, have indicated that they will attend.

Originalartikel von Dr. Eduard Christian Schöpfer
http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/egmr_mobilfunk_1.doc

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Artikel vom 20. Juni 2006 christian.schoepfer@sbg.ac.at schickt Ihnen folgenden Artikel:

Bereich: Gericht Datum: 20. Juni 2006

Das Gesundheitsrisiko Mobilfunk

Salzburger Nachrichten http://www.salzburg.com/

20.06.2006

Erste Entscheidung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte: Eine Chance wurde vertan

Dr. Eduard Christian Schöpfer In der aktuellen Ausgabe des "Newsletters" (Hg. Öst. Institut für Menschenrechte in Salzburg) findet sich die nunmehr erste Entscheidung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte (EGMR) zum Thema behauptete Gesundheitsgefährdung durch Handymasten.1 Der EGMR hat die Beschwerde mehrheitlich für unzulässig erklärt und damit seine restriktive Rechtsprechung in Fragen der Umwelt und Gesundheit fortgeführt.

Eine Schweizerin hatte bei den Gerichten erfolglos Beschwerde gegen den Ausbau einer Mobilfunkanlage erhoben. Vor dem EGMR machte sie Verletzungen ihres Rechts auf ein faires Verfahren, auf Leben und auf körperliche Unversehrtheit geltend.

Zur Nichtabhaltung einer öffentlichen Verhandlung stellte der EGMR fest, dass angesichts der Beurteilung hochtechnischer Fragen es nicht erwiesen sei, dass ein "Hören der Sache" in Anwesenheit der Beschwerdeführerin und von Zeugen und Experten die Meinungsbildung der Gerichte in entscheidender Weise hätte beeinflussen können. Zur Behauptung der Frau, das Mobilfunkantennenprojekt sei geeignet, sie in ihrer Eigenschaft als elektrosensible Person in ihrer Gesundheit zu beeinträchtigen, meinte der EGMR, dass eine Gesundheitsbeeinträchtigung durch Mobilfunkanlagen bislang nicht nachgewiesen werden konnte und mögliche Auswirkungen auf die Gesundheit zum Großteil spekulativer Natur (!) seien. Unter Berücksichtigung des weiten Ermessensspielraums der Staaten in Umweltfragen sowie des Interesses der modernen Gesellschaft an einem vollständig ausgebauten Mobilfunknetz bestehe daher keine Verpflichtung zur Setzung weiterer Maßnahmen durch die nationalen Behörden.

Fundierte Überprüfung wäre möglich gewesen Diese Entscheidung ist verfehlt:

1. Der EGMR hat neueste wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse bezüglich des Wirkungszusammenhangs zwischen Mobilfunk und Gesundheit nicht in Betracht gezogen, sondern sich mit dem Hinweis auf eine vom schweizerischen Bundesumweltamt veröffentlichte wissenschaftliche Studie aus dem Jahr 2003 (!) begnügt. Bereits ein Jahr später zeigte etwa die deutsche "Naila-Studie" einen Anstieg von Krebsfällen im Umfeld von Mobilfunksendern.

2. Im vorliegenden Fall hätten sich die Gerichte ein persönliches Bild über die "Sattelfestigkeit" der Pro-und-Kontra-Argumentation der Parteien machen sollen. Es wurden weder ein medizinischer Sachverständiger für Mobilfunk noch Zeugen zu Rate gezogen, darüber hinaus wurde der Antrag der Beschwerdeführerin abgelehnt, einen Messtechniker zwecks Vorstellung einer neuen Methode zum Nachweis gesundheitsschädlicher Auswirkungen durch elektromagnetische Strahlung vorzuladen.

Zwar mag ein durchgehend schriftliches Verfahren unter besonderen Umständen gerechtfertigt sein, im vorliegenden Fall ging es aber um behauptete Eingriffe in eminent wichtige Schutzgüter wie Gesundheit, Leben und körperliches Wohlbefinden. Die Gerichte wären daher zu besonderer Sorgfalt und Umsicht verpflichtet gewesen.

3. Die Hinweise mehren sich, dass Mobilfunk eine ernste Gefahr für die Gesundheit der Bevölkerung darstellt. Der Grad der vorliegenden Evidenz für eine gesundheitsschädigende Wirkung hochfrequenter Strahlung ist schon derzeit ausreichend, um weitergehende Reduktionen der Strahlenbelastung zu rechtfertigen. Bei dem derzeitigen Kenntnisstand zuzuwarten ist unverantwortlich und steht auch im Widerspruch mit dem völkerrechtlichen Vorsorgeprinzip. Danach sind die Staaten zur frühzeitigen Untersuchung und vorausschauenden Bekämpfung möglicher Gefahren für die Umwelt auch dann verpflichtet, wenn die strengen Voraussetzungen einer wissenschaftlichen Fundierung der Gefahr noch nicht erfüllt sind.

4. Leben und Gesundheit sollten absoluten Vorrang vor dem "wirtschaftlichen Wohl des Landes" genießen, im Bereich der Umwelt und Gesundheit sollte der Ermessensspielraum der Staaten daher nicht ein weiter, sondern vielmehr ein begrenzter sein. Wenn der EGMR schon von einer modernen Gesellschaft spricht, sollte auch der Umwelt- und Gesundheitsschutz diese Eigenschaft besitzen. Derzeit ist dies leider weder in Österreich noch sonst wo in Europa der Fall.

1 Katharina Luginbühl gegen die Schweiz, Zulässigkeitsentscheidung vom 17. 1. 2006, Bsw. Nr. 42.756/02.


© SN

Url: http://www.salzburg.com/sn/archiv_artikel.php?xm=2114498&res=0

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Sackgasse 13, F-67075 Strasbourg
http://www.gigaherz.ch/1040



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=EGMR

Middels: Middels-Delegation beim Minister Thema: Hochspannung in Ostfriesland Middels.

Über das Thema „Hochspannungsfernleitungen in Ostfriesland“ ging es bei einem Besuch von Vertretern aus Middels im Niedersächsischen Ministerium für den ländlichen Raum. Jabine Janssen, Vorsitzende des Landfrauenvereins Middels und Kreistagsabgeordnete, ihre Stellvertreterin Ulrike Jannemann sowie Ortsvorsteherin Annemarie Martens aus Marcardsmoor und Kreistagsabgeordneter und Ratsherr Robert Henninga (Wiesmoor) waren am vergangenen Mittwoch nach Hannover gereist, um mit Minister Hans-Heinrich Ehlen zu sprechen.

Im Beisein von CDU-MdL Wolfgang Ontijd wurden die Mitglieder des Arbeitskreises von der Sachbearbeiterin für Raumordnung Frau Zeck über die derzeitigen Planungen informiert. Zurzeit und bis auf weiteres würde es keine Genehmigung für eine Hochspannungsfreileitung von Dornum nach Conneforde geben.

Der Grund: Es handele sich um ein Einzelvorhaben der Firma Windland. Es sei allerdings in Planung zukünftig die Energieableitung aus Offshore-Parks zu bündeln und über Schleswig-Holstein, sowie durch die Ems anzubinden.

Der Küstenraum Ostfriesland bleibt somit vorerst von Riesenmasten verschont. Der Arbeitskreis wies erneut auf die Notwendigkeit hin, die Grenzwerte für elektromagnetische Strahlen auf den internationalen Standard anzupassen.

Jabine Janssen forderte, dass das Ministerium für Verbraucherschutz in dieser Sache tätig werden muss und übergab Unterlagen über mögliche gesundheitliche Risiken und Schädigungen von Elektrosmog zur weiteren Berücksichtigung.

Ostfriesische Nachrichten Online-Ausgabe vom 16.07.2006; 22:00:00 Uhr

http://www.ostfriesische-nachrichten.de/neu/index_volltext.asp?ID=17429

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/oms_who_van_deventer.htm



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Deventer
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Repacholi

On behalf of Friends of the Earth, Kurt Lesser, Denmark, sent a letter to EU to complain about the installation of DECT, WLAN and other wireless systems in public places like libraries, trains, hospitals. A great number of people, especially the Electrosensitive, are now excluded from visiting these public places. This is handicap discrimination and a case of curtailing the human rights of many citizens.

The answer he received (after a long time) contained the usual arguments, but there are some points that may be of interest for some of you. So see the attached answer from EU.

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/e.u._answer.pdf


Sianette Kwee
Sensommervej 16
DK-8600 Silkeborg
Denmark

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WLAN, DECT in Schools and Kindergardens
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1579030/

Leading UK Cancer Charity takes on EMFs

While Michael $$$ Repacholi now tells the world that EMFs and ionizing radiation are not that harmful afterall - and may even protect against cancer, organisations actually working with cancer patients and looking for ways of saving lives have the opposite viewpoint. Message #508 [ http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2274828/ ] examined the Canadian Cancer Society’s advice on EMFs and now one of the largest childhood cancer charities in the UK, “Children with Leukaemia” takes head-on the issue of childhood leukaemia and exposure to power frequency EMFs.

The Charity has produced a pdf pamphlet, “Understanding the causes of childhood leukaemia”. To quote in part from the pamphlet being distributed in the UK:

“A link between childhood leukaemia and electricity supply was first revealed in 1975. Three decades on, the evidence continues to strenghten but we still don’t understand the underlying mechanisms, To take the research forward, we plan to go back to basics, working with a small number of families, visiting homes, taking measurements and making observations to see if we can identify any common factors in the homes of children with leukaemia. This may lead to new avenues of research that will help us to understand the link between electricity and leukaemia. We are looking for families to take part in this study. If you think you might be able to help, please give us a Call on 020 7404 0808 - and ask for Edward, Larry, Maggie or Pippa.”

The following is from the website of “Children with Leukaemia” http://www.leukaemia.org/ourwork4page.htm :

“Leukaemia claims more young lives than any other disease in the UK . And although we are getting better at treating the disease, the incidence of childhood leukaemia is increasing at an alarming rate.

The reasons for the increasing incidence remain unknown. In fact we know very little about what causes leukaemia in children. We know that it is not inherited. But acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, the most common type of childhood leukaemia, does appear to be initiated in the womb. Exposure to infections, chemical pollutants in air, food and water, natural radioactivity and non-ionising radiation such as electric and magnetic fields have all been implicated in the initiation of the disease.

The only way that we can have any hope of halting the increasing incidence is to understand more about the factors involved and the mechanisms by which they exert their damaging effects.

In September 2004 we hosted a major scientific conference to encourage the development of further research into the causes of childhood leukaemia. Invited speakers from the UK , Germany , Sweden and the USA reviewed the latest scientific research in this area, examining the possible factors associated with the development of leukaemia and other childhood cancers.

The conference attracted multi-disciplinary delegates from around the world, encouraging the sharing of information, theories and ideas, helping to identify research priorities and stimulating further research in this crucial area. For more information about our International Scientific Conference, visit our website http://www.leukaemiaconference.org

Electromagnetic fields and childhood leukaemia

The first major study linking electromagnetic (EM) fields to childhood cancer was published in 1979. This study found that children with leukaemia were more than twice as likely as their healthy counterparts to have lived in homes near high voltage power lines.

EM fields are produced not only by power lines but by electrical wiring, installations and appliances in the home. More than 20 studies on childhood cancer and exposure to EM fields from different sources have now been published. But for many reasons it is difficult to establish the association with leukaemia in a single study. Combining results in a ‘pooled analysis’ overcomes some of these difficulties. When this has been done (Ahlbom et al 2000, Greenland et al 2000), the results clearly show that long-term exposure in excess of 0.4µT is associated with a doubling of leukaemia risk in children. The UK Childhood Cancer Study carried out in the 1990s showed a trend of increasing incidence with increasing exposure but the study was not powerful enough to provide a statistically significant result.

On the strength of the epidemiological data to date, the UK National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have independently concluded that electric and magnetic fields are possible human carcinogens. NRPB guidelines now caution against prolonged exposure at 0.4µT.

Exposure to fields of 0.4µT is relatively uncommon, affecting perhaps 0.5 per cent of children. But for these children it is imperative that we understand more about the risks involved. To this end we are investing funds in a programme of research at the University of Bristol where scientists are investigating the association between electromagnetic fields and childhood leukaemia.

Our research projects at the University of Bristol

Electromagnetic fields have an electric component and a magnetic component. Much of the work to date has centred upon the magnetic component. But scientists in the Physics Department at the University of Bristol have compiled substantial evidence that the electric component may be just as important.

The team, led by Professor Denis Henshaw , has confirmed that most high voltage power lines emit electrically charged ‘corona ions’. They have discovered that these corona ions are able to create new particles of air pollution by attracting gaseous pollution molecules. The tiny ‘nano-particles’ that are created are capable of penetrating deeply into the lung and passing into the bloodstream. Those created by corona ions by their nature contain electric charge and so are even more likely to deposit in the lung.

The team has developed sophisticated equipment for studying the behaviour of corona ions and pollutant particles. They are now using this equipment to record detailed measurements around power lines in different locations in order to find out more about the scale of the threat from this source.

But the physical demonstration of the presence and amount of these materials has to be associated with real demonstration of their effects on health. A team in the Oncology and Medical Physics Department is carrying out an epidemiological study to investigate this. Professor Alan Preece and team are using new mapping techniques to assess the importance of the location of cancer diagnosis address in relation to power lines. The new techniques enable them to estimate actual exposure to electromagnetic fields rather than just proximity to the power lines and to assess the importance of being downwind or upwind of these lines, examining the combination of effect with airborne pollutants.”

END

Source: http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=520



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Repacholi
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=leukaemia