Revolt news234 of 8.9.07 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. Hans Karow of the Coalition to Reduce
Electropollution (CORE) in Canada reports enquiries from Mr. Kin Hing
Tong , a Canadian registered engineer, regarding EMF
guidance and ICNIRP implementation in Hong Kong (APPENDIX A). We would
be pleased to hear of any citizens' groups in those countries.
2. We get an increasing range of powerlines-related enquiries from many
countries. As the law and procedures vary between countries, it would be
helpful to identify citizens' reference points in each country. I would
be pleased to hear your suggestions. Hans has agreed to be a contact for
Canada.
3. The BioInitiative Working Group launched 31 August its important
Bioinitiative Report: A Rationale for a Biologically-based Public
Exposure Standard for Electromagnetic Fields (ELF and RF). The
participants are mostly highly reputable scientists, from several
countries, who have dissented from the establishment view of ICNIRP and
WHO.
4. The Bioinitiative Report says existing public safety standards look
to be thousands of times too lenient, and need to be changed. It says:
"It is no longer acceptable to build new powerlines and electrical
facilities that place people in ELF environments that have been
determined to be risky. These levels are in the 2 to 4 milligauss
range." (That is 0.2 to 0,4 microtesla.) The report recommends a safety
factor, with an interim planning limit of 0.1 microtesla for homes near
new lines, and 0.2 microtesla for other new construction.
5. Those recommendations in the Bioinitiative Report would mean burying
new National Grid lines anywhere they would come within about 200 metres
of homes. Even on NG data as supplied to SAGE, for an average of 400 and
275 kV lines and calculated under optimal balance conditions, and
averaged over time, the fields would be well over 0.1 microtesla at 100
metres. In realistic practical conditions a separation of around 200
metres would be needed.
6. News from Kamionki in Poland is at APPENDIX B. The citizens objectors
are putting forward constructive proposals for an acceptable solution
for the powerline. We wish them well in their negotiations. If only
power companies would engage in meaningful consultation, which means
being prepared to pay a little more than the minimum, many of these
conflicts might be prevented. It is always more difficult and damaging
to the company's reputation once confrontation has set in.
7. News from Ontario is at APPENDIX C. A controversial scheme to build a
new high-voltage power line is left on the table after a report from the
Ontario Power Authority and could become an October election issue.
8. Snips from news@all-energy96 are at APPENDIX D.
*****
*****
APPENDIX A Notes from Kin Hing Tong about Hong Kong.
The power company, CLP POWER HONG KONG LIMITED that I am fighting with
is
partly owned by the US energy giant Exxon. As the 1998 ICNIRP
guidelines cooked
up by the energy industries is now the only guidelines recognised by the
Hong Kong
Government, it's almost hopeless to fight the power company.
On one location, readings over 100~200 micro Telsa were read in a living
room
which is separated from a bank of 10 KV power transpformers by a wall of
regular
thickness. Engineers from the HongKong Government and CLP POWER still
insist
its safe because the limits specified by ICNIRP is over 800+ micro
Telsa. The TV set
in the living room is not feeling comfortable because the color is
slightly distorted.
They are now placing another bank of 132KV power grid switching
equipments
next to another living room on the ground floor, which is also only
separated by a
wall.
In Hong Kong,132 KV power grid cables are laid all over the city under
SIDEWALKS
at a depth of 1.4 to 2.5 meter with Government approvals. (132KV power
grid cables
are laid only in 2.5 to 3.00 meter deep concrete trenches in the middle
of the road in
Sidney Australia).
If I cannot find any "reputable" regulations to challenge the Hong Kong
Government, I
can now only collect data and use it to challenge the government when
something
bad actually happened in the future. Some 132KV cables were buried
under the the
sidewalk right in front of a school.
... and earlier ...
My understanding is that the 1998 ICNIRP EMF exposure guidelines is for
"LIMITING"
exposure for short or not so long durations.
Is there any new guidelines for PROLONGED (IN TERMS OF YEARS) exposure
to
EMFs issued by national or international agencies.
I am living in Hong Kong. The power company (CLP Power Hong Kong
Limited) is
now laying a 132KV grid transmission cable under the sidewalk.( They are
actually
laying this kind of underground 132KV cable all over Hong Kong. (....
To all
prospective tourists who plans to pay a visit to Hong Kong: Beware!!! )
The depth of the cable is about 2 to 2.5 metre below ground level. (At
some location
is only 1.5 M). the cable is only one meter from the front door of my
apartment.
The apartment building shares a common wall with the adjacent power
substation,
The living quarters of the apartments on the ground floor is separated
from 10KV
and 132KV equipments by a 200~300mm wall. The high voltage equipments
are
standing right next to this common wall.
Please tell me where I can find codes, guidelines, or advice to argue
against the
power company on the improper installation of these equipments.
*****
*****
APPENDIX B News from Krzysztof Kuklinski from Kamionki in Poland
In the municipality of Kornik near Poznan the inhabitants of three
villages - Kamionki, Skrzynki and Borowiec - have been protesting
against the construction of a huge 70m high power line for several
years.
Now, after half-a- year long talks, the local authorities made a
statement in which they were definitely in support of a more beneficial
solution to the society. The investor, however, made a statement in
which he threatens the authorities with a trial.
The Statement no 1/2007 of the City Council in Kornik dated July 11th
2007 refering to a position on a running of a power line 2x400KV +
2x220KV on the area of Kornik Municipality, including geodesic confines
of Skrzynki, Borowiec and Kamionki.
On the basis of §26 passage 2 point 3 of the Statute of Kornik
Municipality passed with the Act no III/20/2002 dated December 10,2002
the City Council in Kornik support the position established by the
special Working Group in connection with the running of a power line
2x400KV + 2x220KV on the area of Kornik Municipality including the
areas of Skrzynki, Borowiec and Kamionki villages and states that the
most reasonable solution would be as follows:
1. the power line should come into the municipality of Kornik from
the municipality of Mosina
on the forest areas in the distance not shorter than 800m from the
existing buildings.
2. the pylons from 48-52 should be dismantled and the line should
run from the border with the
Mosina Municipality through the forest in a distance not shorter than
800m from existing buildings.
3. this investment should be continued through forest paths (on
high of “ Dł ugie” housing estate in a distance not
shorter than 800m from existing buildings) until the best possible
technical connection with the existing pylon 58.
4. on the areas of Borowiec and Skrzynki villages an underground
electric cable should be put instead of overhead high-voltage power
line.
5. in place in which it is not possible to correct the running of
lines or replace them with underground cables, because of technical or
terrain problems, the investor should pay compensation to the
inhabitants according to the value of the whole property.
6. immediate talks with the municipality of Mosina should be taken
in order to work out a mutual position on the best connection of lines,
taking the benefit for both municipalities into consideration.
7. to enter into negotiations with the investor as soon as possible
in order to finalise the building intentions according to the above
points.
With the aim of completing the building intention by PSE S.A as quickly
as possible, the City Council makes the alternative running of power
lines 2x400KV + 2x220KV possible - in agreement with the investor- on
the area of Kornik Municipality, but this solution should cover the
guidelines defined in points 1-6 of the present position.
*****
*****
APPENDIX C News from Ontario.
ONTARIO POWER AUTHORITY PLANS
Controversial power line in east end remains option
JENNIFER LEWINGTON
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF, Globe & Mail
August 31, 2007
A controversial scheme to build a new high-voltage power line through
east-end
neighbourhoods may not be necessary after all, according to a new report
on Ontario's
electricity future.
But the latest word from the Ontario Power Authority hasn't dampened
political sparks over the
issue in the run-up to the Oct. 10 provincial election.
In a report released this week, the OPA leaves the controversial power
project on the table as
one of several options to feed the city's electricity-hungry downtown
over the next 20 years.
In its filing to the Ontario Energy Board, the agency says aggressive
conservation and new
small-scale electricity generation (by various providers) could possibly
do the job instead.
From The Globe and Mail:
If a new power line is required by 2015, OPA would then evaluate three
alternate routes. A
26-kilometre line south from Markham, through Scarborough and Riverdale,
to the Port Lands
has been on the drawing board for months.
As well, OPA invited Brookfield Power, a private company, to submit
proposals to build a cable
under Lake Ontario to deliver power from either Bowmanville or Niagara
Falls to downtown. All
three projects would cost about $600-million and deliver between 600 and
700 megawatts of
power.
Fierce critics of the land route criticize the OPA report for not taking
the east-end route off the
table and for not earmarking specific funds to boost conservation in
Toronto.
"It is not only a power document, it is also a highly political
document," says New Democratic
Party energy critic Peter Tabuns, whose Toronto-Danforth riding includes
the possible land
route.
"It tells me an election is very close," he says, suggesting the power
line could play a role in
the upcoming election for east-end Toronto ridings.
City councillor Paula Fletcher (Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth), said that
despite the OPA's call for
conservation and small-scale electricity generation (from multiple
sources), she questions if
these options are at top of the list for OPA and the Liberals.
"If you like sweets, this is a good fudge document," says Ms. Fletcher.
But Ontario Energy Minister Dwight Duncan accuses Mr. Tabuns and Ms.
Fletcher of
"fear-mongering."
The minister says his reading of the OPA report is "there is no need for
a third line" because
Toronto has two already, "and if we do conservation and distributed
energy, there are lots of
ways to avoid it."
He described the underwater route as "intriguing."
Richard Legault, president of Brookfield Power, said "we are keen and
very happy to provide a
solution to this."
Feasibility studies on the underwater cable could take a year or two,
but the ultimate decision
on routes and demand rests with OPA and the Ontario Energy Board.
Without commenting directly on the land route, he calls an underwater
cable line a "lower
impact solution."
The OPA has set a provincewide target for conservation of 5,000
megawatts over the next 20
years, with no firm target yet for the city.
Toronto Hydro already is making big strides in conserving power. Since
2005, the city-owned
utility has conserved 250 megawatts of power and has a contract with OPA
to save another 90
megawatts by 2010, says spokesman Blair Peberdy.
The utility has reined in peak demand use by residents and businesses
for three years in a
row. The OPA, whose report goes to the Ontario Energy Board for
approval, will not make a
firm decision on a third transmission line until 2010.
*****
*****
APPENDIX D Snips from news@all-energy96
1.1.Doubt cast on renewable energy targets (cont'd from issue 95)
Renewable power is set to grow far more slowly than the government has
predicted, according to a new analysis of the UK's energy mix and
greenhouse gas emissions. It will represent only 5 per cent of the
country's electricity in 2010, up just 1 percentage point from the 4 per
cent recorded last year, says a study by consultancy Cambridge
Econometrics. The government's long-held target envisages 10 per cent of
electricity coming from renewables by 2010. However, the study found
that with new policies in place, the UK could produce 12 per cent of its
electricity from renewables by 2015
1.2.The Energy Minister's view
Malcolm Wicks, energy minister, in conversation with Christopher Adams
and Ed Crooks of the Financial Times.
3.1.Linking the Scottish islands - Ofgem
Presentations from Ofgem's Connecting the Scottish Island Workshop in
Glasgow
3.3.Pylons 'will drive customers away'
Building large electricity pylons in the Cairngorms National Park could
hit businesses in the area, according to a report
Current Beauly-Denny Inquiry programme at
*****
*****
--
Mike O'Carroll