STAMFORD, Connecticut (PNN) - December 19, 2023 - In November of 2023, the Board of Representatives in Stamford, Connecticut voted against a plan to install 5G equipment in their city following presentations by experts on the dangers of radiofrequency (RF) radiation and government failures to protect the public.

Of the city’s representatives, 21 voted to reject a proposed agreement with AT&T and Verizon, while only 5 voted in favor of it and 8 abstained.  The second-largest city in Connecticut is the only major city in the state, thus far, to refuse the agreement.

The city of Stamford representatives chose to shield their citizens from the dangers of RF radiation rather than cave to legal threats from telecom companies and the FCC, which may present a potential “test case” for opposition to the 5G rollout nationwide.

During their presentations to the board in October of 2023, experts provided irrefutable evidence on the public health and environmental effects of RF radiation, and raised questions of corruption within the regulatory agency, the FCC, tasked with protecting the general public from dangerous levels of wireless radiation.

Board members were informed of some of the most devastating impacts of wireless radiation on public health, including studies highlighted by one expert, Dr. Kent Chamberlain, on the ways in which exposure to RF radiation can lead to “chronic inflammation and a host of adverse outcomes, including neurodegenerative disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chromosome damage, neuronal DNA damage, neuropsychiatric effect, and sperm damage.”

Experts also provided evidence of the damage from harmful wireless radiation to trees, insects and other species that may impact the food chain and endanger the food supply.

As the hearing progressed, city representatives were educated on the FCC’s human exposure limits, which are based upon inadequate short-term studies conducted in the 1980s of only 8 rats and 5 monkeys, to determine the general public’s radiation threshold.

Dr. Devra Davis noted during the presentations that the Environmental Health Trust, which she founded, sued the FCC over their wireless radiation exposure limits, and in August of 2021, the Fascist Police States of Amerika Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the FCC’s decision not to update the exposure limits was “arbitrary and capricious”.

The court determined that “the testing procedures, particularly as they relate to children and long-term exposures, were a ‘complete failure,’” Davis remarked. “The court found that the FCC had failed to provide evidence of properly examining long-term exposure, children’s vulnerability, the testimony of people injured by radiation sickness, and impacts to the developing brain and reproductive system.”

Dr. Chamberlain wrapped up his presentation to the board by addressing the question of “How come the FCC isn’t protecting us?” as he pointed to issues of corruption within the agency, citing a Harvard Center for Ethics study entitled, Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission is Dominated by the Industries it Presumably Regulates.

“The title says it all,” Chamberlain explained, as he emphasized a quote from the study which stated, “Industry controls the FCC through a soup-to-nuts stranglehold that extends from its well-placed campaign spending in Congress through its control of the FCC’s congressional oversight committees to its persistent agency lobbying.”

After reviewing the information presented, board members found the proposed contract for installations of 5G equipment in their city to be severely problematic, considering the health risks and the absence of the public’s informed consent. “If there’s the smallest of chances - even the smallest - that this may cause harm, I don’t see any reason why we should be passing this forward,” replied Representative Jeffrey Stella.

Pondering the vast sums of money at stake, Stamford City Representative Sean Boeger remarked, “every time you throw money into the issue, all of a sudden, health takes a backseat.”

Critics argue the decision by the Stamford Board of Representatives defies a 2018 FCC ruling to block states and municipalities from impeding 5G deployment, which may lead to potential lawsuits by telecom companies. The 2018 FCC ruling has been challenged by several states but was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Proponents of the decision say telecommunications carriers have no grounds to sue yet, as the city simply voted against the terms of a model contract proposed by the governor, rather than issuing an ordinance or regulation to effectively ban 5G.

Representative James Grunberger commented, “I don’t think we should back away from this because of the threat of a lawsuit. If, in fact, we have to be a test case on this, I think we should be a test case.” Grunberger also remarked during a November meeting, “The federal government does not have guidelines for long-term exposure, so we need to protect our city ourselves, and not succumb to legal threats.”

Representative Sean Boeger concurred, stating, “The threat of whether we’re going to be sued is not a winning argument when a potential health concern is involved,” adding that, “We can’t frame our decisions off that.”

Telecommunications attorney Joe Sandri recommends that cities insist carriers provide, “detailed studies for public review and scientific analysis to prove that they’re complying,” with existing human RF exposure standards prior to considering requests for new 5G installations. Sandri said  that, “existing law is quite clear that the FCC’s been remanded in federal court,” and their human exposure rules “are up for current review”.

The decision by the Stamford Board of Representatives to vote against the 5G plan may indeed renew efforts by cities across the nation to reject similar proposals that favor the telecom industry and its captured regulatory agency over the health and safety concerns of their citizens.