T-Mobile is setting its sights on installing a 30-foot, 5G antenna atop the OB Lifeguard Station, and lifeguards, plus community members, are vehemently opposed, reported Pt. Loma-OB Monthly. The community voiced their thoughts at an Ocean Beach, California Planning Board meeting earlier this month: “no radiation near our lifeguards.”
During the meeting, Chris Vanos, head steward of the San Diego Lifeguards Union, stood with a group of lifeguards and read the following statement: “[We] came here tonight to oppose the cell phone tower on Ocean Beach’s Lifeguard Station.
I’m asking the OB Planning Board to oppose it tonight for public safety, and also for the safety of our lifeguards…That [lifeguard] tower is built for public safety and water observation, and it should be used for just that.”
One resident spoke up that there’s no scientific evidence proving 5G is safe. Another resident, Jack Cardoza, referenced medical author Susan Foster’s findings in 2004, of the cognitive damage done to firefighters who had a wireless cell tower on their station. “If your body is constantly absorbing that (radiation), your immune system will be compromised, your functionality will be compromised… it’s a really serious issue,” Cardoza said.
Pt. Loma-OB Monthly reported that after intense discussion at the Planning Board meeting, T-Mobile’s request for a conditional use permit was denied. The permit request must now go before the City’s Hearing Officer for a public hearing; no date has been set. According to T-Mobile reps, if the permit is approved in early 2020, the 5G tower could be up and running atop the lifeguard station within the year.
December 20, 2019
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