Responsible Electricity Transmission for Albertans

Presentation to Strathcona County CouncilFebruary 3, 2009

By: RETA – President Bruce Johnson, VP Kevin Melnyk, Secretary Bryan Bradley, Treasurer Rob Parry

WWW.RETA.CAAgenda Item #: 16.1Document #: LLS.61833.ppt

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Agenda

1. History of (proposed) transmission lines in Sherwood Park2. Responsible Electricity Transmission for Albertans - RETA3. RETA’s concerns:

i. Health ii. Safetyiii. Environmentiv. Property values

4. RETA’s request for Strathcona County to continue its opposition to above ground power lines

5. References

Especially when it comes to our children and their schools

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History

1. In 1988 the Colchester School Parents Association and Strathcona County (Reeve Iris Evans) defeated a proposal to build a transmission line in the eastern TUC.i. The County was very concerned the area would be “blighted” ii. They committed significant resources to defeat the proposal

2. Running a high voltage line right next to our schools, children, family, and houses was a bad idea in 1988:i. In the last 20 years hundreds of new houses have been built

bringing in many more families with children making it a really, really bad idea in 2009 !

ii. The County needs to defend these families.3. The province is responsible for the considerable confusion

surrounding the TUC which was originally purchased as a green belt:i. This was changed with no consultation or notification.ii. Residents purchased land at full prices with the understanding

nothing would be built over the pipelines.

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RETA

1. We are a community organization that believes above ground lines should not be built next to neighborhoods (where they do not already exist).i. This is what we mean by Responsible – the R in RETA.ii. We are not a NIMBY organization.

2. We are well organized and will represent the interests of all Strathcona County residents throughout the power line development and approval process:i. We are an incorporated society in Alberta with corporate access

number 5014463888.ii. We hope to join with other Edmonton area groups.iii. President Bruce Johnson.iv. Vice President Kevin Melnyk.v. Secretary Bryan Bradley.vi. Treasurer Rob Parryvii. Block Captain Leader Shirley Johnsonviii. Board members Connie Bradley, Bruce Hunt, Ernst Tamm, Wendy

Meier, John Kristensen, Jason Jobs, Gillian Jobs, Lisa Doucet ix. The above will stand for re election at the first general meeting.

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RETA’s Concerns – Putting Things In Perspective

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RETA’s Concerns – Health

1. No one can guarantee that these lines will not cause serious health problems in our community:i. In response to residents’ concerns about health and safety

Altalink and Epcor have said there are none;ii. They have referred us to a Health Canada publication from

2004 which states: “There is no conclusive evidence of any harm caused by exposures at levels normally found in Canadian living and working environments.” (Ref 1)

2. But that is not the same as saying that EMF will not cause serious health problems. In this publication Health Canada also states:i. They “are aware that some studies have suggested a possible

link between exposure to ELF fields and certain types of childhood cancer” and; (Ref 1)

ii. “More studies are needed to draw firm conclusions” because they believe the “evidence appears to be very weak”. (Ref 1)

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RETA’s Concerns - Health

1. As time passes evidence that power line EMF is a serious health risk is increasing, not decreasing:i. In more recent publications the federal and provincial

governments have disclosed studies linking EMF to childhood leukemia, mammary cancer in Sprague-Dawley rats, pregnancy loss, and brain cancer. Other studies raised concerns about neurodegenerative diseases but the government concluded the tests were “not convincing”. (Ref 3 pgs. 9, 10, 264-264).

ii. They admit that “there appears to be a small, but significant increased risk for young children exposed to very high levels of PFF”. (Ref 3 pg 265)

iii. Concerning the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s classifying power line EMF as a possible carcinogen they state “More studies are needed to draw firm conclusions” (Ref 3 pg 267).

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RETA’s Concerns - Health

1. Epcor and Altalink’s hand outs confirm our concerns.2. They have handed out a National Institute of

Environmental Health Services publication on EMF published in 2002. With respect to EMF causing childhood leukemia it states (Ref 4):i. “There is weak evidence for an association ” (pg. 18) and it

“sufficient to warrant limited concern” (pg. 17).ii. Various studies are tabled showing the increased chance of

getting this disease is between 41% to 341% (pg. 19).iii. That means the 6 in 100,000 chances a child under 4

has of getting leukemia (pg. 18) increase to between 8.5 and 26.6 in 100,000.

3. Childhood Leukemia, while the most studied, is only one of several fatal diseases that is statistically linked to EMF.

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RETA’s Concerns - Health

1. The studies we have shown are only the tip of the iceberg:i. In 1988 the Colchester Parent’s Association, with support

from the County, testified at the ERCB regulatory hearing presenting numerous health studies, and raising several safety, and environmental issues which are valid today. (Ref 10).a. For example, 3 key studies they referenced confirm the link

between power line EMF and childhood leukemia, and Non-Hodgkin's disease. (Ref 12, 13, 14)

ii. In June 2005 the British Medical Journal published a study that concluded:a. “There is an association between childhood leukemia and

proximity of home address at birth to high voltage power lines, and the apparent risk extends to a greater distance than would have been expected from previous studies” (Ref 11)

iii. RETA’s research continues…

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RETA’s Concerns - Health

1. Scientists need to stick to science; the residents of Strathcona County are the ones that should decide the value of their lives, especially when it involves their children.

2. Risk = Probability X Consequencei. The realm of the scientists is the Probability side of this

equation. While some have concerns about various aspects of existing studies all call for more testing.

ii. Evaluation of the consequence is a value judgment that residents of Strathcona County and their representatives have the right to decide for themselves. We know the names of the (potential) unlucky few in one hundred thousand; they are more than just small numbers to us.

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RETA’s Concerns - Health

1. Common sense dictates that if you don’t know for certain that it will not cause serious health problems, then don’t build a 20 story 500 kVa power line near our schools and houses.

2. Other countries/respected authorities have already legislated/memorialized this:i. The International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety

passed the Benevento Resolution resolving to institute the Precautionary Principal which states “when there are indications of possible adverse effects, though they remain uncertain, the risks from doing nothing may be far greater than the risks of taking action to control these exposures. This shifts the burden of proof from those suspecting a risk to those who discount it”. (Ref 7 Pg. 1)

ii. The Precautionary Principal has been adopted by the European Union (Ref 8) and The World Health Organization. (Ref 9)

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RETA’s Concerns - Safety

1. High voltage lines can greatly increase the risk of potentially catastrophic failures when run alongside pipelines like the ones in the eastern TUC.

2. High voltage lines can cause enough current to deliver a fatal shock through metal objects below.

3. High voltage towers have fallen over in ice storms and tornadoes.

4. Colchester school is caught in the cross hairs.

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RETA’s Concerns - Environment

1. Millions of birds are killed hitting power lines in North America each year.i. This type of environmental disaster can be seen at Altalink’s

line near Big Lake in Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park

2. Our community, in particular the routes proposed by the AESO, contain many water ecosystems:i. Some are natural, some have been built by planners and

developers for surface drainage.ii. They are all home to thousands of migratory birds including

Canada Geese, Tundra Swans, Great Blue Herons, Pelicans, and many more species.

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RETA’s Concerns - Alternatives

1. The AESO, Epcor, and Altalink seem to have no interest in even looking in to alternatives.

2. RETA believes there are several other good options:i. Run the line underground if it has to pass through areas of

higher population density. Very high voltage lines have been safely and economically built and operated in Denmark, Japan, and China.

ii. The Heartland Project line could be run alongside the NE Alberta Development to Fort McMurray line that is to run from Wabamun, northwest of Edmonton, and then north to Fort McMurray, all through areas of low population density.

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What We are Requesting from Strathcona County

1. To date our County Councilors have provided excellent support – THANK YOU.

2. RETA requests Strathcona County to oppose, as it did in 1988, the building of above ground high voltage power lines near residential areas where they do not already exist (such as the eastern TUC and Hwy 21).i. As a reminder, in 1988 the County’s efforts were very

significant, including support in the way of lawyers, communications, administration, meeting facilities, and funds to hire a health expert.

ii. The effort required will be bigger this time because we will be challenging Altalink, EPCOR and the AESO.

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Thank You

Are There Any Questions ?

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References Continued

1. Health Canada, It’s Your Health, Electric and Magnetic Fields at Extremely Low Frequencies, Updated April 2004.

2. Federal-Provincial-Territorial Radiation Protection Committee – Canada, Response Statement to Public Concerns Regarding Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMFs) from Electrical Power Transmission and Distribution Lines, November 8, 2008.

3. Federal-Provincial-Territorial Radiation Protection Committee – Canada (ELF Working Group), HEALTH EFFECTS AND EXPOSURE GUIDELINES RELATED TO EXTREMELY LOW FREQUENCY ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS - AN OVERVIEW, January 2005

4. National Institute of Environmental Health Services, EMF Electric and Magnetic Fields Associated with the Use of Electric Power, June 2002.

5. World Health Organization, Fact Sheet No 322 Electromagnetic Fields and public health Exposure to extremely low frequency fields, June 2007.

6. University of Victoria, Faculty of Law (Nadine Wu Clinical Student), Regulating Power Line EMF Exposure: International Precedents, April 22, 2005.

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References

7. International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety, Benevento Resolution, February 2006.

8. COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION on the precautionary principle, 02.02.2000.

9. World Health Organization, Precautionary Framework for Public Health Protection (Draft for Review), 2 May 2003.

10. Colchester Parents Associations County of Strathcona, Submission to Energy Resources Conservation Board Re; Application No 8800953, November 1988.

11. British Medical Journal, Gerald Draper, Tim Vincent, Mary E Kroll, and John Swanson, Childhood cancer in relation to distance from high voltage power lines in England and Wales: a case control study, 4 June 2005.

12. Environmental Health Perspectives, Samuel Milham Jr., Mortality in Workers Exposed to Electromagnetic Fields, 1985.

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References

13. International Journal of Epidemiology, Nancy Wertheimer and Ed Leeper, Adult Cancer Related to Electrical Wires Near the Home, 1982.

14. Environmental Health Perspectives, David A. Savitz and William T. Kaune, Childhood Cancer in Relation to a Modified Residential Wire Code, 1993.

Note: Reference Documents have been saved electronically.Saved on the H: Drive, which is accessible by all County staffH: DrivePresentation Files2009 GeneralRETA References - 090203 Council Meeting

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