Revolt news233 of 30.8.07 and other issues are sent bcc and free. To subscribe or unsubscribe simply email me. Email addresses which fail for three consecutive issues will be removed in any case. For your convenience, these news issues are usually in plain text for easy transmission. For further information please see . Statements made by me as editor or by other parties and quoted for information do not necessarily represent the views of Revolt. Criticism of government and industry, and grievances from members of the public, are in the nature of Revolt's work, though we try to give credit where it is due. Revolt is strictly non-party-political and regrets any offence which may be inadvertently caused. 1. Dermot Finnigan continues to call for a response from National Grid on the question of need for a wayleave and compensation (news231.1 etc.). National Grid has a 400 kV line very close to his boundary, with no wayleave over his land. Even if the line does not oversail his land directly or when in "swing" under the wind, there is a safety margin restricting activities and buildings on his land, as set out in a 58-page document which Dermot says is part of the Home Information Pack. We would like to hear from any other home owners with a nearby power line who may be affected by this safety margin. 2. Another enquiry asks if anyone has experience of NG refurbishment interfering with their business. In this case it is a fishing business on land with three 400 kV pylons under an easement. Please contact Keith on 01227 760574. Do easements all provide for negotiated compensation for lost business income due to refurbishment? 3. Dods Monitoring passed on from Children with Leukaemia: Scottish Parliament - Written answers report published 14 August 2007, on health and EMF from powerlines, is at APPENDIX A. 4. Following the public meeting in Armagh on the proposed Tyrone - Cavan 400 kV interconnector (news228.3), a group has met in July and is to be launched in September to press for total line underground in Northern Ireland. Watch this space. 5. Meanwhile NIE has met with Armagh City Council and has written to residents within 1 km. It was expected that NIE would submit an application for planning permission in July. It seems that has now been delayed due to the many news items and other individual objections. 6. A contact suggests NIE is pursuing the interconnector because NIE's parent company Viridian owns two power stations in Huntstown in Dublin and wants to export power to NI, though NIE does not mention this in its press releases. 7. News@all-energy issue 95 was received in August: nothing of special interest to Revolt. 8. Highland Council is reported as protesting about SSE-SHETL seeking to pass on costs of the Beauly-Denny inquiry to customers (APPENDIX B). 9. Passed on from Powerwatch: the German government has called for preferring wired rather than wireless wi-fi connections, on precautionary grounds regarding possible health effects of EMF. 10. The Environmental Law Foundation, in association with R & R Urquhart solicitors are holding an event "Running an Environment Campaign and the Law", to be held 6.00 - 7.45 p.m. on 18 September at the Palace Hotel, Inverness. For details email or see . ***** ***** APPENDIX A Scottish Parliament written answers 14 Aug 07. Health Mary Scanlon To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended distance is between electricity pylons and homes or schools. [S3W-2339] Nicola Sturgeon The operators of overhead power lines are required to maintain safe conditions in compliance with the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity (Amendment) Regulations 2006. Provisions for ensuring the necessary clearances from overhead conductors are in Electricity Supply Industry's Standard 43-8, "Overhead Line Clearances". The necessary clearance at a specific location will depend on several factors, including local structures, and the construction, design and operating voltage of the line. There are no similar regulatory controls pertaining to distance for exposures to electric and magnetic fields, but operators must ensure that exposures for members of the public do not exceed the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Mary Scanlon To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any proven evidence linking childhood leukaemia to the proximity of electricity pylons. [S3W-2340] Nicola Sturgeon Some studies have associated proximity of residence to high voltage power lines and the risk of childhood leukaemia. However, the Radiation Protection Division of the Health Protection Agency advises that the epidemiological evidence is not strong enough to justify the firm conclusion that electric and magnetic fields from power lines cause leukaemia in children. ***** ***** APPENDIX B BOSSES RAPPED FOR PASSING ON £7M COSTS 08:50 - 16 August 2007 Highland planning chiefs yesterday issued damning criticism of electricity transmission operator Shetl for intending to pass on the estimated £7million cost of the Beauly-Denny public inquiry to customers. Planning director John Rennilson has stated in a letter to industry regulator Ofgem: "Shetl have thrown money at its case and it now appears that they expect consumers to bail them out. "The council's view is that it is not acceptable." The council yesterday agreed to demand at this month's resumption of the hearing that three stretches of the power line within Badenoch and Strathspey's boundaries should be buried rather than be carried many miles on pylons twice the size of the existing structures. ***** ***** APPENDIX C EMF precaution from German government. Approx translation of a key sentence: "The German government generally recommends to reduce as much as possible personal exposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields - i.e. to favour as much as possible the use of traditional cable/wire solutions rather than wireless connections, using waves". If the MOA or the HPD-RPD or the DH have the resources, a full translation of the document would be useful for us all to consider. ***** ***** -- Mike O'Carroll