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Susan Duncan, left, is sworn in as a Santa Fe School Board member on March 5 by Petra Jimenez Maes, chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. (Journal File)
SANTA FE — New to the Santa Fe school board, Susan Duncan is taking on opposition to cell towers near schools as her first cause.
At a school board meeting earlier this month, at which Duncan and Lorraine Price were sworn in as new members, Duncan brought up the issue during board discussion. She expressed concern that AT&T is seeking a waiver from the city to place a cell tower near the Burger King at the corner of West Alameda and St. Francis, next door to Gonzales Community School.
Duncan was advised by board veterans to draft a resolution for them all to consider at the next board meeting on Tuesday
“I’m not sure exactly what it will say,” Duncan said during a phone interview. “The biggest concern is the health concern, but the 1996 Telecommunications Act says you can’t object due to health concerns, so that means we’d have to object for other reasons.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Duncan outlined some of the other concerns that she and neighbors in the area have. Among them were that the proposed site is in a historic district, that it presents a danger to the public should the tower fall, and that it could reduce property values in the neighborhood.
Duncan also maintained that since the Telecommunications Act was written 17 years ago, there have been studies that show a link between long-term exposure to microwave emissions from cellphone towers and cancer.
“I think it’s an important issue because I think there’s research showing that we don’t want cell towers, especially near children and the elderly,” she said.
The effect of cell towers and other wireless technology has become a topic of debate in Santa Fe, at both City Hall and in the courts, in recent years. The studies cited by anti Wi-Fi activists often have been criticized as not supported by the World Health Organization or other mainstream science organizations, and note that the federal government has determined safe levels of exposure.
Duncan said it was her understanding that there was already a contract between AT&T and the owners of the property, TKJ Inc. of Albuquerque, and that appealing to the city’s Historical District Review Board might be the only way to prevent the tower from being built.
