A small group of protesters opposed to the installation of
smart meters demonstrated outside the corporate offices of
B.C. Hydro in downtown Vancouver Wednesday morning.
Lower Mainland resident Una St. Clair said the new meters,
which emit radio waves similar to cellphones, are a health
hazard.
“We’re calling for democracy and full public hearings [on
smart meters],” St. Clair, executive director of the
Citizens for Safe Technology (CST) Society, told The
Province.
St. Clair launched a class action with the B.C. Human Rights
Tribunal against Hydro two weeks ago alleging smart meters
create “an environmental sensitivity resulting in an
inability to be well while residing in a residence . . . in
which a
wireless smart meter has
been installed.”
“This is for people with medical diagnosis of a condition
that could be negatively affected by microwave radio
frequencies,” said St. Clair.
The Clean Energy Act, passed in 2010 by the Liberal
government headed by Gordon Campbell, exempted the smart
meter program from the oversight of the B.C. Utilities
Commission (BCUC).
St. Clair said her group also has filed a complaint with the
BCUC.
“The wireless component is outside of the exemption of the
Clean Energy Act,” she said.
“The Clean Energy Act speaks to smart meters, but there’s no
provision for wireless.”
The CST is also undertaking other unspecified legal action
against Hydro, a Crown corporation, she said.
Lending glamour to the demo was actor and filmmaker Joely
Collins, who said she is opposed to the proliferation of
radio microwaves.
“I can feel them and they make me sick,” said Collins.
“I’ve become very sensitive to electromagnetic frequencies —
WiFi and all sorts of things. I’ve got smart meters at my
place of work and they make me feel sick.”
Hydro plans to replace all of its 1.8 million analog meters
with wireless smart meters.
Hydro spokeswoman Jennifer Young said Wednesday the
corporation has installed 843,000 new meters.
Dr. Perry Kendall, provincial health officer, said the
radiation emitted by smart meters “is similar to [cellphone]
radiation, but the exposures would be a lot lower with smart
meters.
“We don’t think there’s any health risk from smart meters in
terms of carcinogens,” he told The Province last year.
Gary Murphy, chief project officer of Hydro’s smart meter
program, said in a prepared statement: “The new meters are a
necessary part of our infrastructure — like poles, wires and
substations.”
They will keep B.C.’s hydro rates “among the lowest in North
America,” he added.
“I want to ensure our customers that safety is B.C. Hydro’s
top priority and we would never put the safety of our
customers at risk.
“Provincial and national health authorities and the World
Health Organization have confirmed that wireless meters pose
no known health risk,” said Murphy.
St. Clair, Collins and other opponents of the program are
demanding Hydro allow its customers the option to opt out of
having a smart meter installed, allowing them to keep the
old, analog device, which is wired to the network.
Smart meter opponents in California have the right to opt
out, after widespread complaints were heard by the local
electrical utility.
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