Published: Saturday, September 5, 2009
Battles have long raged over radio towers
Opponents cite studies that have found adverse effects on health and wildlife habitat.
SNOHOMISH — Christine Goff doesn’t approve of the vandalism that toppled two radio towers in the Snohomish River Valley.
Still, she’s not exactly sad to see them flattened.
Their lights glared into her nearby home. On the phone she could hear sports programming from the towers’ radio station. She worried about potential effects on wildlife and human health.
“These towers don’t belong here,” she said.
On Friday, some living in the valley condemned the tactics of the people who stole an excavator and used it to topple two of four towers owned by KRKO (1380 AM).
They also expressed frustration over a project many vehemently opposed — and still do.
Family-owned KRKO spent nearly a decade fighting in the courts.
The latest legal rulings cleared the way for construction of two more towers at the site.
In August, a King County Superior Court Judge upheld a land-use decision by the Snohomish County Council that gives the owners of KRKO approval to build two 200-foot towers. The antennae will transmit a new, stronger signal at 1520 AM.
Tower opponents cited a range of studies claiming that AM radio waves have negative effects on people and wildlife — including increased rates of childhood leukemia and destruction of bird habitat. In the neighborhood above the towers near the Kenwanda Golf Course, signs opposing the tower are still pounded into yards.
The tallest tower poked like an red and white exclamation mark above the trees in front of Albert Highberger’s home. Over nine years he attended hundreds of meetings networking with others who opposed the towers.
Just last week, Highberger said, Citizens to Preserve the Upper Snohomish River Valley decided against appealing the latest ruling in favor of tower construction.
“We tried to do this by legal means,” he said. “Everything is a political decision.”
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
Still, she’s not exactly sad to see them flattened.
Their lights glared into her nearby home. On the phone she could hear sports programming from the towers’ radio station. She worried about potential effects on wildlife and human health.
“These towers don’t belong here,” she said.
On Friday, some living in the valley condemned the tactics of the people who stole an excavator and used it to topple two of four towers owned by KRKO (1380 AM).
They also expressed frustration over a project many vehemently opposed — and still do.
Family-owned KRKO spent nearly a decade fighting in the courts.
The latest legal rulings cleared the way for construction of two more towers at the site.
In August, a King County Superior Court Judge upheld a land-use decision by the Snohomish County Council that gives the owners of KRKO approval to build two 200-foot towers. The antennae will transmit a new, stronger signal at 1520 AM.
Tower opponents cited a range of studies claiming that AM radio waves have negative effects on people and wildlife — including increased rates of childhood leukemia and destruction of bird habitat. In the neighborhood above the towers near the Kenwanda Golf Course, signs opposing the tower are still pounded into yards.
The tallest tower poked like an red and white exclamation mark above the trees in front of Albert Highberger’s home. Over nine years he attended hundreds of meetings networking with others who opposed the towers.
Just last week, Highberger said, Citizens to Preserve the Upper Snohomish River Valley decided against appealing the latest ruling in favor of tower construction.
“We tried to do this by legal means,” he said. “Everything is a political decision.”
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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