UPDATE A handful of vocal residents in Pittsfield, MA logged what they are viewing as a victory when their latest legal challenge was not completely dismissed. The residents have been waging an ongoing battle against both Verizon and their local officials in their quest to pin health woes on a cell tower that the telecom erected in their Shacktown neighborhood. According to SpectrumNews1, the latest ruling allows the Pittsfield Board of Health some leeway in attempting to work with Verizon to make mutually satisfactory revisions.
So far, Verizon has held the upper hand in the dispute. The construction of the tower was deemed to have followed appropriate channels and received all approvals needed to complete the project. While some aesthetic gripes were voiced prior to construction, the noisy cries of phantom health concerns have kept the tower in the news since then.
Scott McCullough, the lawyer representing the agitants, noted that although the suit was not permitted to challenge specific political figures or zoning laws, it was not dismissed. “In legal terms, what the judge said is you can go forward with your case,” he noted. “It is simply that, as part of your claims that the order was wrongly rescinded, you cannot assert that the mayor or the city attorney violated specific ethics rules.”
There has been no ruling directing Verizon to remove the cell tower, which has stood for the last three years, reported SpectrumNews1. McCullough indicated that the legal challenge will continue to question the potential health impact of the tower on local residents. The World Health Organization continues to assert that cell towers do not present a danger to humans, but McCullough refuted the experts stating his belief that, “there is more and more awareness that radio frequency and electromagnetic frequencies radiation can make people sick.”
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