Hundreds gather in Tsawwassen to oppose radio towers
Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington speaks at a meeting in Tsawwassen Wednesday, Oct. 23 to voice their concerns about a proposal that could see five radio towers in Point Roberts. The gathering attracted about 200 people.
Photograph by: Sandor Gyarmati , Delta Optimist
The community faces adverse effects, but any mention of Tsawwassen has been left out of an application to construct radio transmission towers just across the border in Point Roberts.
That was one of the biggest points of contention at a community meeting at South Delta Secondary this week on the proposal by BBC Broadcasting Inc. to construct five 45-metre (150-foot) steel towers on an undeveloped lot in Point Roberts.
The towers would transmit South Asian radio station KRPI, AM 1550, which broadcasts from studios in Richmond. The company currently broadcasts using antennae in Ferndale, Wash., but wants to relocate them.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission last year granted a construction permit but a conditional use permit is still required from Whatcom County.
Residents on both sides of the border have been voicing opposition, but what makes Concerned Citizens of Tsawwassen particularly angry is the community doesn't appear to even exist in the application.
Members point to an engineering report as one example, a document that has Ladner as the only Canadian reference, failing to identify Tsawwassen and its population of more than 20,000 immediately north of the border.
"If the towers were 330 metres to the north (in Tsawwassen), Industry Canada would never approve it. If the population of Tsawwassen was in Point Roberts, the FCC would never have approved it," said Arthur Reber, a member of the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee.
He said Industry Canada points to a 1984 international agreement regulating AM broadcasting services as a reason nothing can be done, not taking into account the FCC has overlooked the true population of the surrounding area.
Opponents, including guest speaker Milt Bowling, expressed a myriad of concerns, including potential health impacts as well as interference with frequencies and electronic equipment, issues they say made the towers hugely unpopular in Ferndale. They also note there was no public notification on this side of the border by either the FCC or the applicant.
Steve Graham, who emceed the meeting that had several Point Roberts residents in attendance to voice opposition, told the audience of roughly 200 that Industry Canada must be convinced to urge the FCC to review the application, based on the glaring omission of Tsawwassen. He said once the towers are built, it would be too late.
Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington agreed, urging residents to write letters to Ottawa and sign the citizens' group petition.
Huntington, who met with the station's owners, said residents should make sure to contact local MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who had a senior member of her staff in attendance to observe the meeting.
Whether Whatcom County approves the permit, a decision expected within the next couple of months, a hearing examiner will hear submissions and Canadians can also speak.
For more information about the effort to stop the radio towers, checknotowers.webs.com.
Read more Fraser Valley stories at delta-optimist.com
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