25958 Genesee Trail Road, PMB-203 Golden, CO 80401-5701
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C.A.R.E., 25958 Genesee Trail Road, PMB 203, Golden, CO 80401-5701

DOCUMENTARY
Our community faces the challenge of long term exposure to unprecedented levels of electromagnetic radiation from high power TV/FM broadcast antennas and radar at the same altitude and in close proximity to thousands of residents and businesses.  Recently, the major network affiliates attempted to rezone Lookout Mountain land for the erection of a supertower that would increase the effective radiated power from 10 million watts to 20 million watts.

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

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.

Last Modified October 31, 2002