Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >> Michael O'Leary/ The Herald  (click to enlarge) Kim Johson, Brian Gruhn and Jason Kardokus (left to right), from Northstar Broadcast Contractors, connect two sections of a new AM radio station broadcast tower KRKO is erecting south of Snohomish. KRKO owner Andy Skotdal has approval to raise four new radio towers and has applied to Snohomish County to raise two more towers as neighborhood opponents continue to file appeals. (click to enlarge)   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, July 17, 2008 Cheers, fears as AM radio towers rise in Snohomish By Yoshiaki Nohara Herald Writer SNOHOMISH -- Within a few hours, three radio towers went up Wednesday in the Snohomish River Valley. Andy Skotdal, whose family owns KRKO-AM 1380, looked up at the towers in a blue sky. He smiled. "I've waited for this day for 11 years," Skotdal said. "I'm definitely very excited." At a nearby farm, Mark Craven saw the towers standing in the middle of farmland filled with rows of corn, fruit trees, flowers and grass. He winced. "I think it's very sad," said Craven, who fought the project for years with other area residents. "It's terrible." Snohomish County government should protect agricultural land, and allowing the towers to rise doesn't accomplish that, he said. Crews on Wednesday kept busy finishing the three 198-foot-tall towers. They plan today to complete work on another orange-and-white tower, which will stand 349 feet tall. The four towers should increase KRKO's broadcasting power from 5,000 watts to 34,000 watts during the day and to 50,000 watts at night, Skotdal said. With the new towers, the station will be able to reach listeners all the way from Tacoma to Mount Vernon during the day. The four towers are likely to start broadcasting by the end of this year, Skotdal said. "This is a significant event for the city of Everett," Skotdal said. "There are very few radio stations of this size in the United States." Opponents say that the battle isn't over. They believe that the towers will lower their property values and cause health problems. Skotdal's company, S-R Broadcasting Co. Inc., received a federal construction permit for the four towers on May 30. Opponents have appealed the decision to the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC could overturn the permit, said Michael Wagner, assistant chief of audio division for the commission's media bureau. The commission has yet to decide when to rule on the appeal. "I don't know why they are still building," Craven said. "This was such a beautiful valley, and that eyesore is going up." Skotdal said that the federal commission already studied the project in detail before issuing the permit. "We wouldn't be building if we didn't think we are going to win," he said. Skotdal said that he started looking for a place to build new radio towers in 1997. He chose the current site because it has good soil that lets AM signals travel easily. Since 2000, the project has had more than 40 hearings in litigation, Skotdal said. Meanwhile, the county has yet to decide whether to approve building two other radio towers near the four new structures. The Skotdal family wants to build the additional towers to put a proposed new frequency at 1520 AM to reach all of Snohomish County during the day and some cities at night. The two towers won't get a county permit until any potential health risks cited by opponents are addressed. Opponents have cited a study that suggests that electromagnetic energy from AM radio towers increases the likelihood of leukemia in those who live nearby. Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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