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On Aug. 3, 1999, The Jefferson County Commissioners, following public hearings with sworn witness testimony, denied the rezoning proposal and found that the proposal is incompatible with residential uses in the surrounding area and that Lake Cedar Group had not demonstrated that no alternative existing site is available.

Independent filmmaker and Emmy award winner, Len Aitken, chronicled the conflict in a one-hour documentary film, “Broadcast Blues.”  A videotape of this film is available through Len Aitken.  Here is Len Aitken's description of the movie:

W/cm2
BROADCAST BLUES
A 56 minute documentary by Len Aitken
VHS $32.00

Description
Responding to a mandate from the Federal Communications Commission to begin broadcasting digital television signals by the fall of 1999, the affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS plan to put up a new HDTV tower  on residential Lookout Mountain,  2000 feet above the city of Denver, Colorado. Residents on Lookout Mountain strongly protest the new tower claiming there is evidence that the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) levels on Lookout Mountain are too high and pose a health threat. Lookout Mountain already hosts 18 towers and more than 450 transmission devices, making it the most complex electromagnetic environment of any residential area in the United States. "No problem," says the FCC, "the standards are acceptable and the broadcasters are in compliance."

The stage is set and the battle lines drawn. Armed with studies suggesting that American EMR standards are unrealistically low and evidence that the Denver broadcasters on Lookout Mountain are out of compliance with FCC standards, residents take on an alliance of corporate and government giants. What's more, the battle is waged in Colorado's Jefferson County, where minimal government meddling in business affairs is the way things are done.

At every crossroad, the homeowners' umbrella group, Canyon Area Residents for the Environment (CARE), meets strong opposition. A study completed in the summer of 1998 by the Colorado Department of Health finds that brain cancer rates on Lookout Mountain are unusually high but cannot determine the cause without further study. Months later, the Jefferson County Planning Commission ignores well-documented evidence that broadcasters routinely exceed the FCC's maximum allowable EMR levels, and recommends approval of the new tower.  The case now goes to the County Commissioners.

CARE is dealt another blow when broadcasters successfully lobby Colorado legislators to prevent a new more detailed health study by the Colorado Department of Health. For reasons hard to understand, the setbacks, defeats, inconclusive studies and reassurances by government authorities don't quiet the community. In fact, they have the opposite effect. The stakes for Lookout Mountain residents are high. If the HDTV tower goes in, their exposure to EMR will increase dramatically; EMR levels at the elementary school will increase by a factor of fifteen and real-estate values will plummet.  Additionally, residents suspect that the FCC and the local government are not there to protect them.

>From the efforts of a few individuals, the movement spreads.  This is a story about a community who tackles a maze of conflicting studies, an indifferent beaucracy and an entrenched coalition of corporate giants in an effort to save their community.

Across the country, broadcasters are meeting resistance to their proposed new HDTV transmitters from citizens concerned about the health hazards of excessive EMR. How much is enough? How much is too much? At one time, we asked the same questions about asbestos, radon and tobacco.