NAHANT — The discussion on a wireless special permit to upgrade the Crown Castle cell tower continued on Tuesday night as the Nahant Planning Board brought in Isotrope LL RF Engineer Michael Lawton to provide expert-level insight and hear his thoughts on whether there is any cause for concern.
The tower has been a topic of conversation among the Board and has recently caused what Board member Rob Steinberg referred to as “potential alarm in the community,” given the possible dangers of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF), including headaches.
In Nahant, the current tower is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood and behind the police station. Even Lawton admitted that, if exposed, the risk is there. As a result, he says there have been towns, though Lawton did not specify where exactly, that have gone about getting a report done that “calculates, based on the antennas, the height, the number of carriers and the frequencies that will be used, the exposure on the ground, or projected exposure levels six feet on the ground.”
If the renovation is completed and carriers are added to the tower, he says it will “absolutely” change the result of the test.
“Looking at the plans of the facility, what I noticed was T-Mobile, through their mergers and acquisitions, have ended up with two levels on that tower facility. One of them is vacant. There are antennas there, but those antennas are not transmitted. Second from the top is the one that they’re proposing to change, and then the third one is Verizon. So there are three carriers in this license in this area right now – T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon,” Lawton explained, adding: “AT&T would, since it would be a special permit for a new carrier on the tower, would then have to provide an exposure study that shows the aggregate of all three, the two that were there, plus themselves.”
It’s information that could prove to be valuable to the Board as they go about deciding how they want to move forward. After an hour going over the ins and outs of the permit and the modifications mentioned in the application, the idea to hold a public meeting with Nahant residents was also brought up by several members of the board. The Board, however, did not come to any final decision or vote.
When asked if he saw anything “detrimental,” Lawton ultimately admitted, “If this came before me, I wouldn’t have any concerns with it.” However, he did agree with Steinberg that informing the public on the matter could be useful.
“I think a public hearing might be a good opportunity to let people talk and listen as well,” Lawton said.
